NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO has told his Tottenham outcasts Dele Alli and Harry Winks to stop sulking and prove him wrong.
The Spurs boss left the former England pair out of his matchday squad for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win at Burnley.
And Winks was not even on the bench for their 1-0 Prem defeat at West Ham on Sunday after he publicly slammed his Portuguese gaffer’s tactics and treatment of fringe players.
Winks and Dele are unlikely to be involved when Tottenham host Manchester United this evening.
Nuno said: “I wish all the players were equally committed. But it would be absurd to tell that is the reality because the players have their own expectations.
“Many of them work very, very hard during the week. And then comes the weekend and the coach decides to go with other players.
“It’s not because you’re not committed, but you are upset. You are annoyed. That is respectful. It doesn’t have to do with the commitment of these players.
“These players then have to go beyond. They have to make a conscious effort that he has to go again from the beginning of the week to change the opinion and the idea of the manager.
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“This is how it works. In this industry, this is what the player should do. Unfortunately, it’s not what is always happening.”
Dele and Winks could take heart from their midfield team-mate Tanguy Ndombele who has fought his way back into Nuno’s plans after being frozen out by him at the start of the season.
Tottenham’s record £65million signing from Lyon in July 2019 said he wanted to leave the club last summer – now he is one of the first names on the team-sheet.
Asked what inspired this French renaissance, Nuno said: “I am sorry I will not tell you the details of our conversation as you understand.
“All the individual situations that we have with the players we take care of them personally when we feel that is the moment.
“And maybe times we are here and me personally to listen and observe and to make decisions. And those decisions are made on many situations.
“What happened with Tanguy happened due to many situations. There is one thing that is the outside expectations that goes around this kind of situation with players that you must ignore.
“You must judge in the right moment and be patient and then take care of the situation because at the end of the day what we want is for all the players to be involved and committed.
“This word is very important. Commitment is very important.
“When you are committed you understand better some kinds of decisions. You are more patient and keep doing what you should do.
“Just focus on your task, day after day.”
Winks and Dele are believed to be open to leaving the club in January.
Nuno said: “They are our players, they are here with us. There’s nothing to be worried about. It’s a situation where we have to work, we have to improve all the players, build momentum on the performance of the players.
“This is what a squad is about. Making decisions, taking advantage of the moment, the talent, what we want for the game. All the players we count.”
Elsewhere at Spurs, Ryan Sessegnon remains sidelined through injury while Bryan Gil is a doubt after limping off at Turf Moor.
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