Hugo Lloris was left stunned as Tottenham fans booed Davinson Sanchez during the defeat to Bournemouth with Cristian Stellini urging supporters to stand by the players.
Spurs missed the opportunity to move into the Premier League top four after stoppage time winner from Dango Ouattara sealed a 3-2 win for the Cherries in north London.
Sanchez was brought on after 35 minutes to replace the injured Clement Lenglet with Spurs leading 1-0 thanks to Heung-min Son’s effort.
Bournemouth equalised three minutes later with Pedro Porro caught in possession after receiving the ball from Sanchez, who turned the ball into Dominic Solanke’s path for the visitors’ second.
Just 28 minutes after he was brought on, Stellini made the change with Arnaut Danjuma coming onto replace Sanchez, with Spurs fans booing the defender as he left the pitch.
‘It started earlier, when he came on earlier. I’ve never seen this in my career. I feel really bad for Davinson because he is a teammate and a friend. He’s been fighting for Spurs for many years now,’ Tottenham captain Lloris told BeIN Sport.
‘The story is sad for the club, for the fans and the player’. You don’t want to see it in football.’
Stellini explained post-match he made the change for tactical reasons with Tottenham chasing an equaliser – a decision that looked to have paid off with Danjuma scoring a late equaliser before Bournemouth snatched all three points.
‘I understand it’s a tough moment for everyone and we have to analyse this moment, everyone needs to analyse how important is to support the player, ‘ Stellini said.
‘I take the responsibility for the decision we made. I thought it was early in the game to use a striker more because it was the first half and we were one up, so I didn’t think it was the moment to change with a striker.
‘After, when we were 2-1 down I thought it was the moment. Davinson has to know it was only a tactical decision but we need to support him because it’s a tough moment for him and also for all the team. So we have to create unity in our dressing room and in between us, and we will do.’
Tottenham are three points off the top four and now face back-to-back games against Newcastle United and Manchester United, who are third and fourth respectively.
They head to Tyneside next weekend before hosting Erik ten Hag’s side on 27 April with Stellini insisting he will not hesitate to play Davinson in front of the home crowd if the situation calls for it.
‘If we need, yes,’ the caretaker boss said. ‘He’s a professional player. We need to go strong for the team. But I repeat, if the team pushed more when we scored the first goal, we are here to speak about a different situation. It’s the mindset that needs to change, not only Davinson, it’s the whole team that can help, every player that came onto the pitch.’
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