‘Friends’ Fognini and Caruso feel the heat
Now Spurs boss has his say
ITALIAN “friends” Fabio Fognini and Salvatore Caruso had to be separated by the court supervisor after a furious bust-up on another emotional day in Melbourne Park.
Fognini, the No16 seed, finally won their five-set clash 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 at the end of a 20-minute match tiebreak. But the two started arguing at the net and the row went on for several minutes before the official pushed them apart.
World No78 Caruso was furious that Fognini called him
“f ***** g lucky” and responded on court: “It’s not the way to do it. I didn’t expect it from you.”
But Sicilian Caruso later refused to lift the lid on the fracas, saying: “We just had some different opinions and this is something that should stay in the locker room, and I will speak with him because we are friends.”
Fognini, who has a long rap sheet for bad behaviour, added: “We are good friends. For me, things that happen on court, stay on court. I have nothing to say about that question.”
Defending champion Sofia Kenin broke down in tears in her press conference after losing 6-3, 6-2 to world No65 Kaia Kanepi, above.The shattered American, 22, said: “I guess it’s the outside pressure. I felt really nervous.”
JOSE MOURINHO went public on Gareth Bale’s state of fitness because he was angry about an Instagram post by the Wales international.
On Tuesday, Bale captioned an image of himself in action at the training ground with the words “good session today” – just as the rest of the squad were flying up to Merseyside to play an FA Cup match without him.
The Tottenham manager was said to be incensed that it looked as though he had made the decision to leave behind a player who had declared himself fit to play.
And Mourinho is clearly fed up with being made to look like the bad guy.
Instead, he revealed Bale, who has struggled to get a place in the side since returning to Spurs on loan from Real Madrid at the start of the season, had asked for a scan on a muscle injury on Monday and then declared himself unavailable for the 5-4 FA Cup defeat to Everton.
“I was informed that his desire would be to work with the sports scientist for a couple of days to strengthen that area where he was not feeling comfortable,” Mourinho clarified after the game.
Worryingly for Mourinho and the club’s supporters, Bale appears to be regressing to his old Tottenham ways by pulling up in training with minor injuries. Former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, left, spelled out Bale’s tendency to seek medical intervention in the autobiography that the former Tottenham manager wrote shortly after the 31-year-old signed for Real Madrid.
“He was always getting a little knock in training, too,” Redknapp wrote. “He’d go down then limp off, and I always thought the physios made too much fuss of him.
“It was the same pattern every morning: Gareth would tumble and stay there, and they’d all go running over.
“In the end I told them just to leave him alone.” The acid test of Bale’s true fitness will come next month when he is expected to be called up for three internationals with his belovedWales.
They have World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Czech Republic sandwiching a friendly against Mexico.
This season, he has been involved in two goals, both assists, in four internationals, working out at a goal involvement every 144 minutes.
The winger has produced a shot every nine minutes and a pass success rate of 81 per cent.
By contrast, for Spurs in the Premier League and Europa League, those main figures more than double.
He has managed a goal involvement every 361 minutes and a shot every 20 minutes.
At the same time, Bale’s pass success rate drops to 78 per cent.
Mourinho will be intrigued to see which Bale turns out for Wales manager Ryan Giggs next month.
The sight of a prone Dele Alli looking up to see a yellow card being brandished in his direction for simulation at Goodison Park was the perfect metaphor for a career which has nosedived badly.
Alli has been caught out before throwing himself off the high board with tuck and pike.
But back in the day the dark antics were mixed with flashing bursts of brilliance. On Wednesday evening his substitute cameo in Spurs’ crazy FA Cup exit featured nothing of positive note.
In a madcap game of wide-open spaces, in which every attackminded player worth his salt added to their highlights reel,Alli found cul-de-sacs instead.
PSG? OMG more like it. This, remember, was arguably England’s player of the 2018 World Cup, someone who is still only 24. Yet, cast into the shadows, he is in danger of becoming a lost talent.
The 13 minutes plus extra-time he was given by Jose Mourinho off the bench at Everton served only to underline how far off the pace he has fallen.
To see Alli at all on a football pitch was a rare treat. He has started just one Premier League game all season.
With the move he craved to Paris Saint-Germain and his old boss Mauricio Pochettino having collapsed,Alli faces more misery under a manager who does not trust him.
The Amazon documentary, which saw Mourinho questioning Alli’s lifestyle and his training, was a window into a relationship destined for divorce.
But, with the January transfer window having come and gone, both parties remain entwined.
Alli’s contract at Spurs runs until 2024. Is he to become the next Danny Rose? It would be a terrible waste if that were to be the case.At his best there is the sort of player who can elevate a football match to a higher plane.
There is a cheeky chic about Alli which is so easy on the eye.The swivelling volley against Crystal Palace as a teenager which announced him to a wider world came off the top shelf of the football library’s restricted section.
He has magic in his boots with his array of flicks and tricks. Sadly, they have become predominantly training ground entertainment. A start for Spurs is a stretch.As for
England, that has disappeared over the hill. Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish and James Maddison have all overtaken him as attacking midfielders.
Alli’s last involvement with the national team was 20 months ago against Switzerland in the Nations League third-place play-off.That was also Jesse Lingard’s last game for England.
There are parallels in their subsequent drift into the backwaters at their clubs but where Lingard has engineered the perfect reboot move with his loan toWest Ham – two goals on his debut against Aston Villa last week was the ideal start – Alli remains stuck in his rut at Spurs.
He has deep roots at the club and close friends like Eric Dier but he has to get out when the transfer window reopens.Too much time has been wasted already. It may suit
Alli’s ego to think of hooking up with the Champions League finalists in Paris – and if his agent can pull that one off good luck to him – but he should not be snooty about his destination.
He has a career to think about and he is wasting it as things stand at Tottenham.