JOSE MOURINHO has been going through his diary to check the amount of time Jurgen Klopp got to deliver the title to Liverpool.
And he also crossed out the number of “fake days” which have hampered his own work at Tottenham.
Jose Mourinho has lauded Spurs’ progress ahead of their crunch game with LiverpoolCredit: Reuters
Which all adds up to the fact that he wants us to know what a sensational job he has done to get his team challenging Jurgen Klopp at the top of the league so quickly.
Spurs were 14th in the table when Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino in November last year — but tonight they travel to the home of the champions bang in the mix.
And the Portuguese is quick to point out: “Tottenham are a good team that works hard but Liverpool is the result of, if I’m not wrong, 1,894 days of work with Jurgen and we are the work of 390 days.
“But these 390 days are fake because a lot of them were not even days of work while we were at home in quarantine.
“So for us to be able to compete at this level with 390 days against almost 2,000, I can only give credit to my players and be very happy with what they are doing.”
It was in October 2015 when Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, since when the club has spent around £380million to assemble a squad to win the club’s first Premier League title.
And Mourinho could not resist the temptation to point out that he actually won the title in his first years at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
He said: “In a certain period of my career and the profile of the club I was getting in my hands, I didn’t need much time to reach success.
“We did it without the need of longevity in Porto, Inter, Real and both times at Chelsea.
“It was perfect for my crazy desire to go to different countries because it was about winning and goodbye and let’s try something else.
“The first club where I felt I needed time and was not given, it was at Manchester United, where I left in the middle of the process.
“So I know what it takes for Liverpool to reach this level and their work has had to be perfect to achieve what they have done.
“One of the things they did very well in the 1,894 days was that they had time for Jurgen to establish his principles and profile of play.
“That allowed the club to improve, to stick together, to evolve and then they had huge investment on key targets such as Virgil van Dijk and Alisson.
“Everything they do has been very close to perfection to reach the level of results they are achieving.”
Mourinho admits he’s impressed with the quality of Klopp’s LiverpoolCredit: EPA
The Special One played down talks of an injury crisis for the championsCredit: Reuters
But the Liverpool quality which Mourinho respects above all others is their astonishing consistency which has allowed them to remain unbeaten in 65 home games in the league.
He said: “Some teams are very good in the big matches against the top sides but then don’t have the mentality to be solid for ten months of competition.
“Other teams are afraid of the big matches and hide themselves but perform better in the smaller games when they feel less pressure.
“But this profile of team can never be champions because, to win the title, you have to be there match after match, point after point.
“It’s about the quality of the team but also the resilience of the group.
“It’s a series of factors that create the dynamic that made Chelsea the champions and identifies why Liverpool are now so successful.”
Mourinho denies suggestions a win at Anfield would send out a huge message to Tottenham’s closest rivals in the title race.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min will be looking to fire Spurs to victory at AnfieldCredit: AP:Associated Press
Mourinho is back the pair to outdo Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba’s goal combos at ChelseaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
He insisted: “It’s an isolated game where we won’t change our philosophy.
“We’ll go there and try to win but we don’t have to make any statement. It’s just a match and if we don’t win it we will still be here on Thursday.”
Mourinho says it is only a matter of time before Harry Kane and Son Heung-min break the Premier League record of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, who set up 36 goals for each other at Chelsea.
The Spurs duo have already combined 31 times but Mourinho has played down hopes of South Korean star Son, 28, signing a new contract any time soon.
He said: “I don’t press for that because it’s probably not the right moment when there is this instability around football.
“I just trust Sonny and Mr Levy because I know they both want him to stay here until the end of his career if possible.”
SPURS (likely): Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Sissoko, Lo Celso, Ndombele, Son, Kane.
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