‘I’d better not say too much’: Tottenham star Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg channels his inner Jose Mourinho after Man United defeat as fans claim his comments are evidence Nuno Espirito Santo has lost the dressing room
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has described Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United as ‘unacceptable’ – before saying he’d ‘better not say too much’ about the team’s current crisis.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo is under pressure after three defeats in Tottenham’s last four matches in all competitions – and some fans have interpreted Hojbjerg’s comments as a sign of dressing room discord.
They have now lost five of their opening 10 Premier League games – winning the other five – and sit eighth in the table.
Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg said his side’s 3-0 loss to Man United was ‘unacceptable’ and his remarks has been interpreted as criticism of Nuno Espirito Santo (R)
But Nuno is the first Spurs manager since Christian Gross in 1997-98 to lose five of their first 10 league matches.
Fans at the game on Saturday were left furious when he decided to take off Lucas Moura for Steven Bergwijn nine minutes into the second-half.
And there were jeers at the final whistle as goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford earned United an easy win to alleviate some pressure on their own under-fire boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
And Hojbjerg, speaking to Match of the Day, said: ‘To show up like this, it’s unacceptable and at home, where there should be fireworks and determination and character really pushing high, it wasn’t there at all. I’d better not say too much.’
Hojbjerg tries to stop Scott McTominay during a comfortable victory for United on Saturday
His last comment has been interpreted by some fans as being a coded criticism of Nuno, with one tweeting: ‘Nuno has lost the dressing room for sure’.
Another described it as ‘an interesting choice of words’ from the Dane.
Nuno looked crestfallen as he reflected on his team’s poor performance, telling Sky Sports: ‘We didn’t play good. Man United were stronger than us. We allowed counter-attacks. They were organised, with three centre-halves it’s difficult.
The Danish midfielder is challenged by United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka during the contest
‘We could not do it, we were not able to find the combinations. It was a bit better in the second half but the finish wasn’t there. [It was] a bad performance.
‘We’re trying to find solutions, working on the training ground, there’s no other way.’
Spurs return to action in the Europa Conference League when they host Vitesse this Thursday before a visit to Everton in the league next Sunday.
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