Jermaine Jenas claims which Jose Mourinho decision ‘didn’t make sense’ in Tottenham defeat

The former Spurs man wasn’t impressed with the boss’ substitutions.

Former Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas has told BBC Sport that he didn’t understand Jose Mourinho’s decision to withdraw Dele Alli at half-time on Sunday.

Tottenham slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Everton as Carlo Ancelotti reigned supreme of the Portuguese manager, getting the Blues off to a flyer in the process.

According to Who Scored, Alli had a 91% pass success during the first-half and although he didn’t have a shot he was probing and asking questions of the Everton defence.

Jenas didn’t think the decision was a wise one and in truth, the decision did give Everton a firmer foothold in the game.

The ex-England man told BBC what he thought of Mourinho’s tactical decision on last night’s edition of Match of the Day 2.

He told the BBC: “Spurs lacked everything and even Mourinho’s subs were poor.

“Taking off Dele Alli at half-time didn’t make sense to me – at least he had looked like nicking a goal in the first half.

“I know it’s only the first game of the season, but the situation does already seem stark.”

Jenas saying Alli looked like nicking a goal is perhaps wide of the mark, considering the 24-year-old didn’t have a shot on goal.

He was dangerous though and linked play up nicely between the attackers selected by Mourinho.

Alli didn’t have a bad season during 2019/20, scoring nine goals and registering six assists, typically operating in the No.10 role.

Mourinho is clearly demanding more of the £100k-a-week (Spotrac) player and obviously wasn’t as impressed with his first-half showing yesterday as Jenas was.

Alli needs to keep his head down and continue to work hard, as the chances will come under Mourinho this season.

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