Ange Postecoglou explained that Tottenham Hotspur's busy schedule was the reason for Son Heung-min's benching against Newcastle United.
The 32-year-old rarely completes the full 90 minutes for Spurs, often coming off late in games, but has balanced Premier League duty with Carabao Cup and Europa League exploits, as well as flying to the other side of the world to represent South Korea.
However, it was somewhat surprising to see Son left out against in-form Newcastle, who overcame the early hurdle of conceding Dominic Solanke for emerge victorious 2-1 – Anthony Gordon, in questionable circumstances, and Alexander Isak goalscorer for the Magpies.
Spurs have now lost half of 20 Premier League the matches they have played this season and are in 12th place in the table. Their position is all the more remarkable because their record at this stage of the season is almost identical to last season – 42 goals scored with one more goal conceded, yet they are 15 points worse off.
Explaining Son's omission, as well as the absence of James Maddison and Yves Bissouma, Postecoglou said: “Just a combination I thought we would need some power and energy early on and as the game went on we would be able to use the experience of the guys that came and I thought it worked well.
“We finished really well. We started the game really well and the only thing that stopped us in our way wasn't the football. That was the whole idea about it. Guys like Sonny, Biss and Maddison to a lesser extent, they have played a lot of football and having them fresh helps them mentally as much as physically and I thought all three of them coming on made a real difference to us.”
The Greek-Australian was fired up at the officials' decision on the award NewcastleThe opener – despite replays showing the ball clearly hitting Joelinton's hand in the line-up – but refused to openly criticize referee Andy Madley, instead pointing out the fact Tottenham would have fared better on a “level playing field”.
“No, because I know what everyone wants me to say, but all I'm going to say is that on any other day, on a fair pitch and even, we would have won that game,” Postecoglou said when asked in his opinion.
“How simple. Don't ask me about the decision. If you guys don't have an opinion on it, that's fine. I know what my opinion is and, like I said, if it was a different day and it was level playing field honestly we would have won that game.
Upon further probing, he continued: “I know you just want me to say something, but I'm not going to say it. I think it's clear. Now whether people agree with me or not whether it wasn't handball or it was accidental , I'm just not interested in any of that discussion, what I'm saying is, any day with a fair and level playing field and logical thought processes, we would have won that game, that's it .
“You can make what you want of that. I don't know what else to say about it.”