Jose Mourinho has defended Tottenham Hotspur’s six-game winless streak and hopeless situation about winning any trophy this season by talking up the club’s long injury list, and submits that any club in the world with similar situation would also struggle.
Spurs exited the 2019/2020 Champions League in the Round of 16 after RB Leipzig thrashed them 3-0 in the second leg, and 4-0 on aggregate.
Marcel Sabitzer capitalized on Hugo Lloris errors to net a brace for Leipzig in the first half, while substitute Emil Forsberg completed the routing in the second half.
Mourinho’s long injury list includes
Son Heung-min who has been out with a broken arm since February, Harry Kane with hamstring since early January, Ben Davies with a recent hamstring injury and Davinson Sanchez.
Mourinho was asked during the post-match conference what challenges Spurs were contending with aside the injuries.
Also Read: Owen Hails Ighalo’s Impact At Manchester United
“It’s difficult for me to speak about injuries, but you want me to speak about other things when the obvious problems relate to accumulation of injuries?,” Mourinho said.
“If you want to make a mental exercise and imagine Leipzig tonight without Sabitzer, [Patrik] Schick, [Timo] Werner, do you think
they would win the way they did?
“You want to make an exercise of Liverpool without [Mohamed] Salah, [Sadio] Mane, [Jordan] Henderson, Barcelona without [Antoine] Griezmann, [Lionel] Messi, [Luis Suarez, [Gerard] Pique, you want to make this exercise
with every team in the world? I think every team in the world would struggle with five or six of their most important players missing.
“It’s as simple as that and to look at in a very pragmatic and simple way, it’s as simple as that.
“All the players on Leipzig would play, Forsberg would play, [Yussuf| Poulsen would, all of them would play in this moment in my team.”
Mourinho added: “I know that automatically our team will improve next season with these players returning from injury, but we also know we have to improve in other areas.
“Our problems don’t end with injuries, but no team in the world would cope with injuries for such a long time. You can cope for one
or two matches, you cannot cope for three or four months, it’s too much.”
He would also speak on Spurs’ chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
They are currently in eighth position on 41 points in the Premier League – seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and four points behind fifth-placed Manchester United in the Premier League.
“With the squad we have at the moment it’s going to be very, very difficult” Mourinho admitted.
“We have matches to play, we have matches to fight. It’s not like we cannot fight, we’re going to fight.”
10 Comments
Is wolves, Leipzig,Ajax etc are these team struggling?. I love Jose as a person but I have never been his fan as a coach. He has always come into a nearly there team but with a struggling Tottenham, he is exposed. A lesson to be learnt by Baba Segun Odegbami, …
Mr J.M u re wrong in this…say ur weakness.. The team that beat u home and away kindly name the top 2 not to talk of top 6 players in that team RB Leipzig that is world class players
Ur time has gone and no big team’s will like to have u any more as a coach…
So u think RB Leipzig is a small team a team topping Dortmund dt beat PSG 2-1 u people watch only epl..
Mou even if they swap and give you the German team you will still loose, please stop your lies and excuses. This same Salah that you almost messed his career now you see him as world class that Liverpool can not do without, Drey come and carry your father before we use koboko teach am lesson!
Hahahaha… Abeg leave Drey outta dis.
O boy my belle wan explode. Chima leave Dr Drey alone abeg this ona fight make CS invite the two of ona for peace making before kasala go burst o. As for Coachie Jose no be today he dey mess up na 500million him dey find. Even if them give am the money e go still fail and park the bus. Jose go and coach rugby team leave football your time don pass sir.
Hehehehehe…If Mourinho is my father…then you are mourinho’s grandfather, because you r not only a pathetic pathological lair, you also blindly and ignorantly argue albeit without facts even when the truth is being shoved down your throat.
Or what bigger lies can there be than Isaac Success is FAR BETTER THAN Ighalo or that Musa “Kimmich” Mohammed is FAR BETTER THAN Ola Aina….or that James Igekeme is the missing player we need in the SE to reach the semifinals of the World Cup.
The other day you argued Intermilan never tried to sign Ighalo, only for u to b silenced with hard facts and evidence….LMAO. Just this past week, it was about Ehizube playing competitively for the Netherlands and hence needing to get FIFA clearance to play for Nigeria…..as usual, with facts, figures and evidence I padlocked your mouth like a slave being led to the sugarcane plantation. Lolz.
Even devil respects you when it comes to telling lies…. LMAO
@ Chima
…biko go and carry your grandson o.
Joe MUMUNHO, breeze don blow, fowl something don open. The Salah and Debruyne that you considered not good enough are now mega stars at other clubs. How can Mumunho even talk like this? So Lucas Moura, Lo Celso, Dele Alli, Lamela, Bergwein, Ndombele, Vertonghen, alderweireld, etc are not stars? That’s a star studded line up, in most people’s opinion! Mumunho is simply not able to get it right tactically, hence he shifts the blame on others. Pochettino was doing a much better job. If Mumunho can’t get get it right, he will find himself out the door real quick, and there won’t be much sympathy for him. The man needs to shape up, or ship the heck out!
Can’t we all see that this headline is wrong. MOU didn’t say that from all I read.