Here is the Tottenham Hotspur morning digest for Tuesday, September 15.
Davies responds to Mourinho’s ‘lazy’ comments
Ben Davies has responded to Jose Mourinho’s criticism of his attitude.
Spurs began their season with a disappointing defeat at home to Everton thanks to a goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The result saw Mourinho deliver a scathing assessment of the work rate of his attacking players.
“The struggle started in the way we pressed or, I will say, in the way we didn’t press because our pressure up top was very poor,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
“I would say it was lazy pressure and when you have lazy pressure, you don’t press, and you let opponents build from the back, and then they have players with incredible quality, which is not just Everton, it’s almost everybody in the Premier League.
“When you let them play from the back then they are comfortable with the ball.”
Davies was then asked about the comments from his head coach.
“Look it’s a tough one, I think everyone worked hard,” said the left-back.
“Personally I gave my all, I wouldn’t doubt everybody else in the team gave it their all. It’s hard to put it down to a lack of effort. Sometimes you have off days. But I’m sure in the next few days we’ll look at it and evaluate it going forward.”
You can read the full story here.
Pochettino issues at Tottenham highlighted
Tottenham fans have made no secret of their desire to see greater financial investment in the football club.
Daniel Levy has overseen the club’s rise to a Champions League level side, but the latter part of Mauricio Pochettino’s time in charge was defined by a little investment in the first-team and a team overachieving by reaching the Champions League final.
The situation has been exacerbated this summer by the spending spree going on at rivals Chelsea. Now Swiss Ramble, a Twitter account that delves into the finances behind football, has reported over the last five years the current 20 Premier League clubs have benefited from £1.9 billion net financing, with 81% (£1,569 million) of that coming from their owners and the other 19% (£366 million) sourced from banks.
As you can imagine the situation differs at each club, and you can read the full impact of the report at Spurs here.
Why Spurs signed Doherty clear
There were certainly some eyebrows raised when Jose Mourinho sought to do a deal for Matt Doherty.
The Irish international enjoyed a good season with Wolves last year, but it had been expected the club would venture into the continent to try and secure a new full-back.
Doherty made his Spurs debut on Sunday, and it was clear to see why Mourinho was so keen to bring him on board.
Rob Guest wrote about how the player fits into Mourinho’s plans, and you can read about it here.
