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José Mourinho is often accused of “parking the bus” and throwing certain people “under the bus”, but on Sunday night he went further and effectively led a coach and horses through his relationship with his players .
Having singled out Dele Alli for a mistake that led to a goal in Stoke last week, Mourinho turned against his team after they failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to get back into the top three and back within four points. of the league leader, Liverpool.
Tanguy Ndombele put Tottenham in the driver’s seat at the Wolves by scoring after 57 seconds, but the Spurs retreated to the defensive football Mourinho has imbued them with, and it was inevitable that they would not have such a slim lead for 90 minutes. And so it turned out when Romain Saiss headed a draw for the Wolves in the 86th minute, to condemn the Spurs to another draw from a late draw. Tottenham have now dropped nine points from winning positions this season, more than any other team in the division, and that is hurting them and their coach.
Mourinho was frustrated and made it clear that it was not his idea or instruction to lag behind once they had gotten ahead. Instead, he turned the blame firmly on his players, saying they had gone against his talk and team tactics before the game and at halftime by playing so defensively for most of the game.
In fact, Tottenham did not register a shot on goal after the 21st minute, relying on a once tough defense, seemingly weaker every week, to survive.
It didn’t work and it wasn’t, Mourinho claimed, his game plan. “I’m frustrated with the result, we were in control of the game and we had 89 minutes to score more goals, but we didn’t,” he said.
“It wasn’t just about not scoring, but also about not being dangerous and ambitious and for me that’s the problem.”
When asked about the reasons, he said: “I don’t want to say much. I know the way I prepared the team, what I asked the players, I know what I said at halftime. I know my team better than anyone and I don’t want to say much more.
“I give some credit to the Wolves, because they pushed us. We managed quite well, we controlled the game well, we did not have the ambition or desire to go for more ”.
Certainly Nuno Espirito Santo’s team deserves applause for bouncing back from an early setback and never giving up, but they shouldn’t have had a chance to get back into the game if Spurs had shown cruelty earlier in the season, when they scored five goals. at Southampton and six at Manchester United. Unnervingly they sat down and invited pressure, and with a defense that is no longer the worst in the league, that’s always a risky tactic. It is debatable if Mourinho’s football philosophy fails or if his players have become so used to playing defense that they cannot improve their attacking game.
Either way, the hard facts make for a sobering read. Since defeating Manchester City to announce themselves as serious title contenders five weeks ago, Spurs have won just one of their six subsequent league games and have accumulated just six points out of a possible 18. Something went wrong.
However, they started very well for the Wolves, who have been struggling this season. Ndombele sent the Spurs flying when he scored with less than a minute left on the clock. Heung Min Son took a corner from the left, the ball only cleared to the edge of the area and Ben Davies left it for Ndombele to land a shot from Rui Patricio from 25 meters. It was neither lightning nor a precision effort in the corner of the goal, but the keeper, possibly ignored by his defenders, reacted too slowly to make what should have been a routine save.
After taking the lead, Tottenham withdrew to allow the Wolves to have most of the possession, defending deeply and taking advantage of most of what the opposition had to offer.
Adama Traore was the most obvious threat, and after slipping down the right and crossing low to the near post in the 28th minute, Fabio Silva fired into the side net.
Daniel Podence volleyed wide, Hugo Lloris leapt to Silva’s feet and then stretched out to avoid a far shot from Pedro Neto. But when time was running out, the Portuguese midfielder took a corner and Saiss passed Davies and Harry Kane at the near post for a header. It wasn’t the first time Spurs had conceded a late goal on a set piece, but Mourinho said: “Of course it’s a concern, but it’s more of a concern that we score early goals and don’t kill games. You should try and it’s as simple as that. “
WOLVES 4-4-2 Patrick 6; Semedo 6, Coady 6, Saiss 6, Marcal 6 (Ait-Nouri 75); Traore 7, Moutinho 6 (Otasowie 83), Neves 6, Podence 6; Silva 5, Net 7
TOTTENHAM 4-2-3-1 Lloris 7; Doherty 6, Sánchez 6, Dier 6, Davies 6; Winks 6, Hojbjerg 6; Son 6 (Lamela 83), Ndombele 7 (Sissoko 70), Reguilon 6 (Bergwijn 63); Kane 6
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