José Mourinho may have kicked off the mind games yesterday, but Harry Redknapp refrained from being drawn into a battle that has beaten other managers as well as their teams.
Four days before Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, Redknapp, the manager, said that he would focus on football and he has more than enough to occupy his thoughts with injuries to key players.
Redknapp stopped short of doubting Mourinho, but he showed plenty of suspicion about the Madrid coach’s claim that Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Marcelo will miss Tuesday’s tie. “We’ll have to see,” Redknapp said. “I’m not kidding anyone about my injuries. There is no kidology with me.
“We have a massive game against Wigan Athletic today, we’ve got to try to get into the top four again. Real is the bigger game but this game is big.”
William Gallas’s knee injury is his main concern. The France defender has had three scans and cannot kick a ball without pain. Gareth Bale, the winger, will not face Wigan, but is “80 per cent” fit after a hamstring strain.
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Rafael van der Vaart will be among the first names on Tuesday’s team-sheet, but his impact this season did not prevent Redknapp from giving the Holland playmaker a warning.
Van der Vaart went down the tunnel directly after being substituted against West Ham United a fortnight ago, the second time that he has shown such petulance. He has completed only eight of 26 club games in all competitions this season, most recently against Blackburn Rovers on February 2.
“I haven’t spoken to him about it but I will do, as I have never liked players doing that,” Redknapp said. “Players should sit on the bench and watch their team finish the game, you’re all in it together, and that’s how I want it here.”
Redknapp believes that Van der Vaart tires later in games but queried why he played all but eight minutes of Holland’s Euro 2012 double-header against Hungary in the past week. “I don’t want to overdo it with him against Wigan and then he’s struggling for Tuesday again,” Redknapp said. “It’s my decision if I decide to sub him.”