Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho described the moment Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min became embroiled in a furious bust-up as ‘beautiful’ as the Portuguese claimed responsibility for the heated exchange.
Sky Sports footage showed goalkeeper Lloris racing over to confront his South Korean team-mate as the north London club were leaving the field for half-time during their 1-0 win over Everton.
The Frenchman pushed the attacker and Giovani Lo Celso, Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko had to intervene to separate the pair as they walked into the tunnel at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Mourinho had a unique take on the fiery clash between two of his star men, saying his players are demanding more from each other.
‘It’s beautiful,’ he said after his side secured a 1-0 win. ‘Probably this is a consequence of our meetings, if you want to blame someone for that it is me.
‘I was critical of my boys because they are not critical with themselves enough. I ask them to be more demanding and be more demanding of others.
‘I ask them to call out colleagues and express that team spirit to give everything for everybody and the situation at end of the first half where an amazing kid that everyone loves in Son, a team boy, but in that situation the captain thought he had to give more.
‘I don’t know if there was any push or not, but it was important for the team to grow up. Because for the team to grow up you need to demand from each other and be strong personalities and I was really pleased. I told them at half-time that I had no doubt they would stick together until the end.’
Spurs captain Lloris, who was unhappy with Son’s lack of effort in tracking back when Spurs were defending, expressed guilt that the exchange unfolded on the pitch.
‘It belongs to the changing room,’ he said. ‘Outside you can say what you want but there is a lot of respect inside the changing room. What happened between me and Sonny is just part of football sometimes. There is no problem at all, you can see at the end of the game we are more than happy to be part of the team.
‘Yeah (it was in relation to him not tracking back on Richarlison’s chance). I think to concede a chance a few seconds before half-time because we don’t press properly annoys me.’
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