Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho accuses 'powerful clubs' of forcing through five substitutes rule

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Jose Mourinho has accused the Premier League's "powerful clubs" of forcing through a move to five substitutes as Tottenham prepare to restart their season against Manchester United tonight.

For the remainder of the campaign clubs can name nine subs and use up to five, following a recommendation by Fifa to protect players from injury after such a long layoff.

Manchester City and Arsenal both used their full allocation of subs in Wednesday's meeting, with the hosts demonstrating their strength in depth by introducing £170million-worth of talent from the bench in Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Rodri, Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero in a 3-0 win.

Mourinho claimed the rule-change would benefit clubs with the strongest squads and suggested it was never put to a vote of top-flight shareholders.

"It was not our idea, it was not our request," Mourinho said when asked by Standard Sport for his view on the temporary new law.

"We just decided to let it go and to let the majority decide. Or not the majority, because I don't think it was even a vote of the organisations to make the decision. And that's it. We'll adapt to it. When I was asked, I was not in favour and not against, so I just adapt to the way it is.

"I think it's good for the teams with better benches, with strong squads with lots of good options on the bench. And I think – no, I can confirm – that the idea came from powerful clubs, and that confirms my theory. But you don't need to be very clever to understand that," he added.

Mourinho's own squad is now considerably stronger than back in March, with the Portuguese revealing that Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Moussa Sissoko will all start tonight after recovering from surgery during the three-month break.

Mourinho claimed Giovani Lo Celso is not fully fit after being unable to receive treatment on a long-term groin problem during lockdown, while Spurs will be without Japhet Tanganga (back) and Dele Alli, who is serving a one-match ban.

Mourinho suggested Alli's punishment for posting a social media video mocking the coronavirus outbreak in February was "unfair" given other players had escaped FA sanctions for transgressions of "bigger dimensions" since the start of the crisis.

Spurs resume the campaign seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and four shy of tonight's opponents, and Mourinho was quick to play down suggestions that his side are in a strong position for a late surge into the Champions League places.

"It’s a second chance but we don’t start these nine matches with the same number of points as our opponents," he said. "If this was Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Sheffield, Wolves, United [in a] tournament starting with zero, then I would say amazing great chance to go for it. But that’s a different situation.

"We have minus six, five, four, I don’t know. One point more than Arsenal and apart from that, everyone has more points than us. So it’s a difficult one.

"The reality is we are now in a better position in relation to our options than where we were before. When we were in Leipzig [a 3-0 defeat without Kane, Son, Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn], it was completely impossible.

"We are in a better position at least for myself because it’s easier to choose my team to play now than it was before the lockdown."

Mourinho added that the club is hopeful of tying down Jan Vertonghen, who is out of contract on June 30, to a temporary deal until the end of the season.

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