Jose Mourinho apologises to Eric Dier for first-half substitution during Tottenham win

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Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_26 November 2019

Jose Mourinho says he apologised to midfielder Eric Dier after taking him off less than 29 minutes into Tuesday night’s Champions League win over Olympiacos.

Mourinho made the decision to sacrifice Dier in favour of Christian Eriksen after his side got off to a nightmare start in the key Group B encounter, falling 2-0 down inside 20 minutes to goals from Youssef El Arabi and Ruben Semedo.

Dele Alli’s goal just before half-time sparked a comeback which eventually saw Spurs run out 4-2 winners and book their spot in the competition’s knockout stage.

Dier has only just been recalled to the starting line-up, having fallen out of favour under previous manager Mauricio Pochettino, and Mourinho explained his decision to BT Sport.

“The first thing I want to say is to publicly what I did in the dressing room is to apologise to Eric Dier,” Mourinho said. “It is never easy for a player but not for the coaching staff either.

“It was for the team and we needed a different solution. We were losing 2-0, they were closing really well and I needed a second man with Dele Alli to come into the pockets. It was between Dier and Harry Winks but a hard decision.

“They understand, Eric understands but the reality it is never easy and to make it clear, it was about the team not individuals. I thought about taking out one of the centre-backs and putting Eric in defence.”

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