Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has criticised the behaviour of Manchester United manager José Mourinho, stating that the coach put Spurs midfielder Eric Dier in a "compromising position" during the 2016/17 season after the Englishman was linked with a move to Old Trafford.
Player is being destabilised
The 23-year-old has emerged as one of the most important players in Pochettino's young side, having been brought from Portugal and was rewarded for his efforts with a new five-year contract in September last year.
However it is fair to say that the midfielder/defender's form never reached the same heights last season, with the 23-year-old being heavily linked with a possible move to Old Trafford both last and this summer.
United opted for Nemanja Matić from Chelsea in the summer transfer window but it is clear that it had an effect on Dier's game, Pochettinho revealed his book that Dier and Mourinho spoke after last December's 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford and stated that it put Dier in a "compromising position".
“I found out that United have made an approach and the player is being destabilised,” Pochettino told The Daily Mail. “His people have been putting pressure on him, although United are not promising anything."
“Mourinho and I had finished our interviews at Old Trafford [after the 1-0 defeat by Manchester United, December 2016]," the manager revealed. "And the players were doing their warm-down on the pitch."
"When Jose was done with the press, he stood by the entrance to the tunnel and regarded the returning players," the Argentine proclaimed. “He greeted Moussa Sissoko and hugged Dier. They passed by me en route to the dressing rooms, laughing, speaking in Portuguese."
"Maybe it is a common Mourinho tactic, but he put Eric in a compromising position," Pochettino added. "You cannot do that after a defeat.”
Didn't do enough for the three points
Dier could have been very much used on Saturday as The Red Devils' unbeaten streak came to an end on Saturday, as they put in a poor performance during their short trip to Huddersfield.
Two major errors in the first-half proved to be the nail in the coffin as goals were gifted to Aaron Mooy and Laurent Depoitre, Marcus Rashford got one back but it wasn't enough to preserve their unbeaten record and Ander Herrera stated that they "didn't do enough" to earn the three points.
"It was a very tough day because we had a big chance to keep winning games," Herrera told MUTV. "We didn’t do it."
"They were more aggressive in the first half and played with more passion in the first 30-35 minutes," the Spaniard admitted. "They deserve the victory."
"We didn’t do enough to get the three points and we cannot think now that we have lost everything because we still have to play a lot of games," Herrera concluded. "We now have two very tough Premier League games, you never know, you can win against anyone and lose against anyone."