Tottenham play Bournemouth at 6pm on Thursday at the Vitality Stadium; watch it live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel
Tuesday 7 July 2020 16:37, UK
Tottenham midfielder Lucas Moura says Monday night's on-pitch row between his team-mates Heung-Min Son and Hugo Lloris showed the desire within the squad to be successful.
The row came after Spurs boss Jose Mourinho publicly took his squad to task last week - saying they needed to be "mentally stronger" following a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United.
Mourinho was a happier man on Monday after a gritty performance delivered a 1-0 victory over Everton - with the main talking point coming when goalkeeper Lloris clashed with Son as the players walked off at half-time.
Asked what he thought of the confrontation, Moura told Sky Sports: "It's completely normal, in a team.
"I think every team has this.
"It shows that we want to win, we want to be in a better position.
"We know that we can do better, we know our quality.
"When we get angry with each other on the pitch, it's to show that we can do better."
Regarding Mourinho's criticism of the team last week, Moura says the squad have taken the words of their manager on board.
"It is normal, we are professional guys," he said.
"We need to know how to accept this and to use this.
"Yesterday (Monday), the intensity was good, I think the energy was very good.
"I think we need to keep this mentality and show it in the next games.
"He [Mourinho] spoke to us [in a meeting held in between the two games] and always he is very clear when he speaks, very clear with the message he wants to show us
"I think it was good, we accepted it very well, and we showed it."
Spurs are eighth in the table, nine points behind Chelsea in third, but Moura is not yet giving up on Champions League qualification, nor would he be downcast about a place in the Europa League.
"We still have five games to play and we still have the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League," he said.
"We know it's very. very difficult but it's not impossible. We know, in football, anything can happen.
"If we qualify for the Europa League, it's not our objective because we want Champions League, but it is also a beautiful competition."
The toast of Tottenham after his dramatic hat-trick against Ajax sent them to the Champions League final last spring, Moura has been enduring a quiet spell of late - with only two FA Cup goals to his name since mid-December.
"If you speak about numbers, of course it's not very good," he said.
"But the way I see football is not only numbers.
"I know that I'm important for the team. I know how many balls I recover, I know I do my best during the game.
"I know that I start a lot of action, that ends by a goal
"My job is to please the coach and, if I am playing now then he is happy with me, but of course I know it is important to score.
"I give my best every game and I feel good with this."
