JOSE MOURINHO has brushed aside his own issues as Tottenham boss – because the team have been failing for YEARS.
A third defeat in a row, against Chelsea last night, accounts for the club’s worst run since 2012.
Jose Mourinho has pointed to Tottenham’s years without a trophy amid his own bad spellCredit: Guardian News & Media
But the combatant coach stated afterwards that the problems go back much further for Tottenham – who last won a trophy in 2008 and the title in 1961.
Mourinho said: “I put pressure on myself every day. I don’t need others to put pressure on me.
“I put pressure on myself every day. Every day.
“So since 2012 without three defeats in a row? But since when without a title?
“Maybe I can give one.”
The North Londoners looked toothless without crocked striker Harry Kane as they lost 1-0 on Thursday night.
The England captain, his club’s leading scorer with 19 goals, is not due to return to action until next week after injuring both of his ankles in last week’s 3-1 defeat at home to Liverpool.
Mourinho, whose side host relegation-threatened West Brom on Sunday, said: “It’s always the old story.
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“A team is not a player. A team cannot depend on a player.
“Other players they have to step up. That’s the reality of things.”
Tottenham have lost four of their last five top-flight matches when Kane has not played and Mourinho said: “There are players that are special players in different teams.
“Even the biggest teams in the world, when Player X is not there, they miss him.
“We can have many examples of what these players mean for certain clubs, and for certain teams. And for sure Harry is very important for us.
“He leads. He creates. He has dynamics of closed eyes with Son [Heung-min] for example. But of course, other guys they have to step up to be honest.
“Today, [Carlos] Vinicius tried his best. He couldn’t score his goal, but I’m happy with him, period. I don’t want to say much more. I’m happy with his effort.
“The other guys, apart from Sonny, we know they are not goal scorers, they are not the kind of players that, as attacking players, can score eight, 10, 12 goals in a season. You know these are not their characteristics.
Tottenham won a league-and-cup double way back in 1961Credit: Getty Images – Getty
The club’s last trophy came in the 2008 League CupCredit: AFP – Getty
“So we have to fight with what we have, and against West Bromwich with Harry Kane, without Harry Kane, we have to go, we have to win that match.”
Tottenham have slumped to eighth in the Premier League table, seven points off fourth-placed Liverpool – albeit with a game in hand – and FOURTEEN behind leaders Manchester City.
After the Baggies’ visit on Sunday, Mourinho’s men travel to Everton in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday before a tough top-flight trip to table-toppers City next Saturday.
Spurs will also face Pep Guardiola’s team in April’s Carabao Cup final.
But the way things are shaping up it looks like their best chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League will be as winners of this year’s Europa League.
Tottenham take on Austrian unknowns Wolfsberger over two legs in the last-32 of the continent’s second competition later this month.
But Mourinho, having lost back-to-back league matches as a manager for the first time at the 327th time of asking, said: “The most important thing now is West Bromwich.
“I don’t even want to think about Everton or about City. I think after City, we go to Austria, again on Europa League, which is a big competition for us, we have good expectations in that competition.
“But I don’t even want to think about that. I want to think about West Bromwich. That’s a big game.
We need to leave the position we’re in, not a dramatic position like [WBA’s], but it’s a very bad position for us. We need to win.
Jose Mourinho
“Sometimes big games are just against the top six, or the London derbies.
“Other times, big games can be games like this. It is a big game for West Bromwich, because they need a victory, they need points, they need to survive.
“They need to get out of where they are. It’s a big game for us.
“Because we need to leave the position where we are, which is not a dramatic position like theirs is, but is a very bad position for us, we have to leave it, we need to win, we need to break the dynamic of three defeats like you saw.
“So it’s a very important match for us. But the reality is that, until the end of the month, we have great motivations in front of us.
“The Europa League is something that, since the beginning, we put a lot on.
“I cannot forget that we had to play how many games to qualify for the group phase, and games with two days in between, travelling around Europe to do it.
“So we want, the team wants, the team is waiting for that, and maybe the squad needs that.
“But let’s focus on West Bromwich because it’s the next match and as you say, after three defeats, we have to win against West Bromwich, we cannot even think a different thing.”
Spurs dealt massive title race blow as Brighton take the win with 1 goal to nil
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
