Jose Mourinho insists Tottenham’s end to the game against Chelsea gives him “positive feelings” – but was none too happy when asked why Gareth Bale wasn’t introduced off the bench.
Spurs were second best throughout and slipped to successive home defeats for the first time in Mourinho’s career. It was also the first time Tottenham had lost three successive Premier League games since November 2012 and the days of Andre Villas-Boas.
Jorginho’s penalty, in the end, was all that separated the sides. However, it was the manner of the performance in the 1-0 defeat that will most upset their supporters.
The defeat piles the pressure on Mourinho and will likely lead to many more questions about his method and tactics.
However, the Portuguese firebrand insists the performance wasn’t as bad as made out and says the way they finished the game gives him ‘positive feelings’.
“We had a great chance by Vinicius, we can analyse the game from the first to the last minute. If you want to be pragmatic, one penalty, one goal, 1-0,” he told BT Sport.
“When a team is in a difficult game against Chelsea, you concede that penalty and are affected by it. By the end of the the first half I saw a team that was struggling but it was totally the opposite in the second half.
“We miss a lot of important players but the spirit in the second half is untouchable.
“We don’t like it (the form) but the way we finished the game gives me positive feelings. It is not that that stops the defensive mistakes but it gives us a difficult smile on the face and to stick together and go tomorrow.
“Hopefully next week Harry Kane will be back but not any of the others. We play Sunday against West Brom and they need points as much as us for different reasons.”
Bale question upsets Mourinho
With Spurs in need of a spark, Mourinho turned to both Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela off the bench. They took to the field on 69 minutes as replacements for Tanguy Ndombele and Steven Bergwijn.
However, Gareth Bale was once again an unused substitute, adding to his frustration since returning to Spurs.
When asked after the game why he didn’t turn to the Welshman, Mourinho appeared to get the hump at the question.
He responded: “Good question but you don’t deserve an answer.”
I asked Jose why he didn’t bring Bale on. He said ‘good question but you don’t deserve an answer’
— Alison Bender (@alibendertv) February 4, 2021
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Pundit questions ‘predictable’ Tottenham
Former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison, watching the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, was not impressed.
“Tottenham didn’t deserve anything as they only started playing in the last five minutes,” he said.
“It has been worse than the Brighton performance and we were looking for a response. Tottenham looked toothless and going forward it was just not good enough.
“Chelsea thoroughly deserved it, they were the better team and in the second half they could’ve scored two or three on the counter attack.
“When Harry Kane does not play, they are quite predictable. [Heung-min] Son was really quiet and they do miss Kane. Today was not good enough, they were nowhere near at the races.”
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James Marshment
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