Shortly before boarding his flight to Holland on Wednesday, Nuno Espirito Santo began to bristle.
He baulked at the suggestion that the Europa Conference League was a mere afterthought. He rejected the notion that Tottenham now had two teams – one for the bustle of the Premier League, one for these journeys into the backwaters of European football.
What a pity then, that those messages failed to filter down the plane to the players who joined him in Arnhem.
None of the 11 who started last weekend’s win at Newcastle were among them.