A number of players in the Tottenham dressing room are growing frustrated with manager Jose Mourinho's continued willingness to throw them under the boss after a poor result.
Mourinho has regularly blasted his side for continuing to make costly individual errors, deflecting any of the blame that comes his way, and he summed the whole situation up perfectly after the recent 2-2 draw with Newcastle.
When asked why Mourinho had lost his ability to defend leads in matches, the Spurs boss brutally responded: "Same coach, different players."
That seems to have been the final straw for some of the Spurs players as The Telegraph state that some in the dressing room are tiring of being constantly blamed for everything that goes wrong, with Mourinho refusing to accept any responsibility.
While the Spurs squad will be well aware that they haven't hit the heights expected of them this season, they want more support from their boss and not to be scapegoated as soon as any little thing goes wrong.
There is also plenty of confusion over Mourinho's reason for leaving out centre back Toby Alderweireld against Newcastle.
Mourinho claimed (via The Times) the Belgian had only returned from international duty the day before the game and was therefore not able to take a COVID-19 test before the match, but Alderweireld was spotted in videos of club training on Thursday, Friday and the Saturday before the match.
The possibility of Mourinho making a genuine error has not been ruled out, although given the current sentiment towards the boss, many players aren't giving him the benefit of the doubt.
It's unclear how chairman Daniel Levy has reacted to the growing animosity. He previously backed the squad and sacked former boss Mauricio Pochettino, but whether he is prepared to pay up to force Mourinho out early remains to be seen.
It is understood that Mourinho's compensation figure can vary depending on numerous clauses, with the boss entitled to less money if he fails to guide Spurs into European competition.
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Source : 90min