Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has said the wrong thing after West Ham defeat

Tottenham: Mourinho denies team are in crisis

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When you’ve just lost a game, it’s probably not the best idea to claim your tactics are ‘second to nobody’. Even worse when you’re Jose Mourinho, manager of a Tottenham side outplayed by West Ham. And his latest comments are sure to prompt much mockery across the footballing world.

Tottenham lost again on Sunday.

They went into the match against West Ham having won just three Premier League matches since the turn of the year.

And Tottenham slumped to yet another disappointing loss at the London Stadium, with Michail Antonio and Jesse Lingard striking to give the Hammers all three points.

Mourinho hates losing. And, when he does, he usually gets a bit egotistical.

When Tottenham beat his Manchester United side in 2018, he responded by holding up three fingers. One for each title he’d won.

Mourinho also enjoyed pointing out that he’d won more titles than the other 19 managers put together.

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The thing is he was right. However, the timing of his rant was peculiar and, just months later, he was out of a job. In hindsight, he probably wouldn’t have reacted the way he did.

And now Mourinho has gone on another defensive rant. This wasn’t aggressive like his outburst three years ago, but it definitely has a similar vibe.

Asked if his own way of working with the squad was behind Spurs’ bad form, he said: “No, not at all, not at all, zero.

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“Because sometimes the results are a consequence of multiple situations in football.

“Mine and my coaching staff’s methods are second to nobody in the world.”

Had Mourinho said this a decade ago, few would question him.

But football has changed and the 58-year-old hasn’t. He does now appear to be a man out of time, too stubborn to adapt to the modern game.

Mourinho’s defensive football used to get results. However, attacks across the world have got better to the point he, and the way his side play, is easy to suss out.

This is another comment that can easily come back to bite him.

And whether Mourinho continues at Tottenham remains to be seen, with talk of the Portuguese getting the sack growing increasingly louder.

Brendan Rodgers appears to be the favourite to take over yet it’s unlikely the Northern Irishman will want to leave Leicester just yet, especially given their sublime form.

And that’s a similar story with Julian Nagelsmann, whose work with RB Leipzig has impressed Daniel Levy behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, speaking after the defeat to West Ham to the BBC, Mourinho insisted his side did enough to win the game.

“I think we did [have enough to win],” he said. “Losing 1-0 at half time you have to lift the players and play better in the second half which we did.

“The first thing that happened is that amazing and ridiculous goal.

“You are playing against a team that fought in the second half. They defend. We attacked and created and were unlucky.”

Mourinho also expressed a belief that the Premier League table didn’t properly reflect the way his side have performed this season.

“I feel that we are not in the position in relation to our potential,” he said.

“Even if I think for a long, long time that we have problems in the team that I cannot resolve by myself as a coach.

“Our potential is higher than where we are so of course there is frustration. We should be in a better position.

“To think about a top four spot is getting very difficult. To play in the Europa League will give us a window of opportunity to get a Champions League spot by winning it.

“Of course, difficult, but it is possible.”

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