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March 31, 2020

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Mourinho takes Spurs training through video

Source: Agencies | 00:00 UTC+8 March 31, 2020 | Print Edition

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff put players through their paces from home starting yesterday as the club holds live video training sessions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Spurs’ players are in self-isolation with Britain in lockdown and the English Premier League suspended until at least April 30.

The players so far have been working through their own individual training programs designed by the coaching and sports science teams, and England midfielder Harry Winks said they were still adjusting to the new routine.

“It’s a bit strange for all of us, but I’ve got my head around it,” Winks told the club’s website.

“We’ve all been given a schedule, but it’s flexible, we can do it in our own time. So, for instance, I might have a lie in one day, but then I’ll work later. The important thing is to get it done.”

On Sunday, the club said it gave Steven Bergwijn and Son Heung-min permission to return to their home countries.

Son flew to South Korea for personal reasons, while Bergwijn returned to the Netherlands ahead of the birth of his child. Tottenham said both forwards will continue their individual rehabilitation and training programs while away.

Bergwijn is recovering from an ankle injury picked up against Burnley earlier this month, while Son sustained a broken arm last month.

Meanwhile, Tottenham striker Harry Kane said on Sunday that he could leave the club if the team does not progress in the right direction as he wants to win trophies “sooner rather than later.”

Kane has scored 181 goals for Spurs in all competitions — averaging 30 goals a season since his breakthrough into the starting lineup in 2014 — but he is yet to win a trophy with the London club.

The England striker signed a six-year contract extension in 2018 that would keep him at Spurs until 2024 but admitted in an Instagram Q&A with Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp that he could not guarantee he would stay if Spurs were not successful.

“I’ll always love Spurs, but it’s one of them things. I’ve always said if I don’t feel like we’re progressing as a team or going in the right direction, I’m not someone to stay there just for the sake of it,” Kane said. “I’m an ambitious player, I want to improve and become better. I want to become a top, top player, so it all depends on what happens as a team and how we progress as a team.

“So, it’s not a definite ‘I’m going to stay there forever’ but it’s not a no either.”

Fantastic team

The closest Kane has come to winning a trophy was in the League Cup final in 2015 and the UEFA Champions League final last season, with Spurs losing to Chelsea and Liverpool, respectively.

“We’ve been saying that (Spurs can win trophies with this team) for a couple of years now,” he added. “We have a fantastic team but for one reason or another we haven’t been able to get those trophies.

“It’s a hard thing to take as a player, as a person... I want to win in everything I do. When we come close and don’t quite get there, it’s hard to take and it starts to build up. Of course I want to win trophies, I want to be doing it sooner rather than later.”

Spurs, who were knocked out of all cup competitions this season, are eighth in the league standings — seven points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea and the UCL qualifying spots.

Elsewhere, Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan says it would only be “fair” for rival Liverpool to be awarded the EPL trophy if the season cannot be completed due to the outbreak.

Gundogan told German broadcaster ZDF that Liverpool deserved to be crowned champion given its massive 25-point lead over second-placed City, the current holder, which has left the Reds just two wins away from the title.

“For me, that would be okay, yes,” Gundogan said, on being asked whether Liverpool should be handed its first top-flight title for 30 years should the season not be completed.

“You have to be fair as a sportsperson,” he added, while conceding that it was a difficult decision for football authorities given the impact that the cancellation of the season would have at both ends of the table.

“There are different opinions. For clubs who have had a very good season, it obviously wouldn’t be nice if it was cancelled now,” he said.

“On the other hand, for clubs who aren’t doing as well and are maybe in the relegation places, an abandonment would obviously suit them.”

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