Jose Mourinho has revealed Dele Alli was ‘quiet and sad’ after being substituted at half-time in Tottenham’s opening Premier League game of the season against Everton amid reports of a bust-up with the midfielder.
Spurs started the new campaign on a sour note, losing 1-0 at home to Carlo Ancelotti’s side on Sunday in a disappointing performance.
England international Alli was hooked by Mourinho at the interval, with midfielder Moussa Sissoko brought on in his place.
Reports have claimed that Alli and Mourinho had fallen out in the lead-up to the game, but, speaking ahead of Spurs’ Europa League qualifying tie against Lokomotiv Plovdiv on Thursday, the Portuguese suggested there were no issues with the player.
"The change at half-time was not the first time in my career, won't be the last time," Mourinho told a news conference on Wednesday.
Next Match
"The last one was with Eric Dier against Olympiacos when I took him off after 25 or 30 minutes. When I do these kinds of things, I always do it for the team, not against the player.
"In some cases, the option was proven right, in some other cases proven wrong. In this case, it didn't work. The team in the second half was not better than the first half.
"That's my job to make decisions to try to make the best for the team when I am not happy with the performance. There is no story.
"Dele is a very polite guy. Very calm. I think he's a bit introspective, when you think a lot about things. So I think the way he reacted was [like] Dele.
"He was quiet, was sad but in the end after the game he was just one of many. But again, I repeat, he's a good boy. Very, very polite. Good boy, really good boy."
Dier was the subject of an early change in Mourinho's first home game in charge of Spurs against Olympiacos last year, and the 26-year-old dismissed the suggestion Alli would be negatively affected by the decision.
"He took me off after 30 minutes, even worse!" Dier told reporters. "I think Dele is fine. We're big boys.
"Football is not a nice world, it's all about results and performances. Dele is not the first to be taken off at half-time. That's a thing that can happen.
"If you want to be a big club or a big player, it's about the way you react and move forward. Knowing Dele and his mentality, he'll work even harder and try to push on."