JOSE MOURINHO hit back at Paul Merson’s claim that Harry Kane will stop firing under his management by sharing the stats of his former strikers.
But the Portuguese boss massively inflated Didier Drogba’s number of goals during his time as Chelsea boss.
Harry Kane struggled to make an impact against Man UtdCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Mourinho got Drogba’s goalscoring stats wrongCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Kane, 26, made his first appearance since New Year’s Day in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United but struggled to make an impact.
He made just 36 touches throughout the match, many of those coming from deep to collect the ball.
Kane has only just returned from a serious hamstring injury that had initially threatened to keep him out of Euro 2020.
His performance drew criticism from Merson who claimed he was “worried for Kane playing under Mourinho.”
The Spurs striker has bagged seven goals in his first 12 matches under the ex-Real Madrid man.
Launching into his own defence, the Spurs boss raged: “I feel a bit strange about some comments, especially because it looks for me that the beginning of some comments and analysis started from Paul.
“I have to say I respect a lot, people like him. And because I respect a lot I want to be nice in my answer. I don’t think he is ready for a bad answer.
“I try to be nice and I try just to say something where people can think a little bit.
“First of all Harry played his first game for six months and if you watch the game and analyse the game, compare Harry Kane with Anthony Martial.
“It was not a game of many chances. Do you give credit to my defence for Martial’s game? Do you give credit to the United defence to the occasions we did create or didn’t create? I think you have to look at it in a balanced approach.
“In our case Harry doesn’t play a game for six months.
“The record of goals that Harry has with me is easy for you, just go to your data and it is easy to see how many matches Harry played with me before his injury and how many goals he scored.”
Mourinho, prepared for his defence, then shared stats of world class strikers that have played under his management.
I think Harry Kane has no problems at all to score goals in my teams.
Jose Mourinho
He added: “I had one guy called Drogba. He played four seasons for me, he scored 186 goals, which gives an average of 46 goals per season.”
But Mourinho had got his numbers mixed up with Drogba making 186 appearances instead of goals.
He instead scored a total of 73 goals during a hugely successful era at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking about Cristiano Ronaldo, Mourinho continued: “I have one guy that is not also bad. He plays for Juventus now.
“He played for me three seasons, he scored 168 goals, which gives an average of 56 goals per season.
“I have another guy that is not also bad called Karim Benzema. He played for me three seasons, he was not always starting because he was quite young, but he scored for me 78 goals in three seasons, which gives a 26-goal average per season.
“I had another one called (Diego) Milito. He played one season for me, he scored 30 goals, he won three titles.
“Of course the average is 30. I had another guy that plays for me one-a-half seasons, because in the other half he had a big injury.
Mourinho shared the stats of former strikers including RonaldoCredit: AFP – Getty
Ibrahimovic bagged 58 goals in two seasons under Jose MourinhoCredit: AFP or licensors
“Tall guy called Zlatan. He scored 58 goals, which gives a 29 average per season.
“So, dear Paul, I have lots of respect for you, I think Harry Kane has no problems at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he is fit, when he has routines of playing.
“So that’s my message to somebody that I have lots of respect for.”
Paul Merson hit out at Kane’s performances under MourinhoCredit: Rex Features
Ex-Man United boss Jose Mourinho laughs to himself after saying something to Bruno Fernandes
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
