An ‘upset’ Jose Mourinho took to Instagram to criticise his Tottenham players in the wake of their dismal 1-0 defeat to Royal Antwerp in the Europa League.
Lior Rafaelov broke the deadlock with a clinical strike for Antwerp in the 29th minute in Belgium and the hosts kept hold of their narrow advantage to stun Spurs in the Group J clash.
Mourinho rung the changes at the halfway stage as Giovani Lo Celso, Dele Alli, Steven Bergwijn and summer signing Carlos Vinicius were all hauled off but the substitutions did not have the desired effect for the north London club.
An anonymous Gareth Bale was also replaced just before the hour-mark as Mourinho deployed talismanic duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min to find an equaliser which never came.
Mourinho was less than impressed with his players’ display at the Bosuilstadion and admitted in his post-match press conference that he would have hooked his entire starting XI at half-time if he could.
‘I would like to make 11 [changes],’ the Portuguese said.
‘I didn’t make five as was afraid of a long 45 minutes.
‘At half-time I tried to improve the situation but it was not enough.’
Mourinho believes his side raised their game as the match wore on but conceded that Antwerp were deserved winners.
‘In the second half we improved but In the end though Antwerp got what they deserved,’ he added.
‘The best team won and the worst team lost.’
Mourinho has been good value on Instagram in recent weeks and the Special One did not disappoint following the side’s poor showing in Belgium.
‘Bad perfomances deserve bad results,’ Mourinho posted with a picture of him looking furious on the team coach.
‘Hope everyone in this bus is as upset as I am.
‘Tomorow 11 AM training.’
Mourinho’s men then have a trip to Bulgaria for their next Europa League match with Ludogorets in a weeks’ time.
