Jose Mourinho takes on the press: ‘You don’t have the moral honesty to treat me the same way as you treat others’

Premier League

SPURS 1 (Son 40)
MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (Fred 57, Cavani 79, Greenwood 90)

ANOTHER lead lost, another three points gone: Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham side turned in an exhaustingly predictable performance at home against Manchester United this evening (Sunday) – and the 3-1 defeat left Mourinho in a spiky mood towards reporters afterwards.

He began by praising both sets of players, but that quickly changed with his tenure at Spurs looks increasingly sour.

“[United] have a fantastic record away, because they are a very good team,” said the Tottenham boss. “But this is the kind of defeat where I am not going home upset with my players.

“They gave what they can and they gave it in difficult situations. When they scored the first and second, our best chances were immediately after. We showed that mentally and emotionally we were strong, committed and fighting to win the match.”

Yet Mourinho would not be drawn into outlining why, if he was so happy with his team, they had suffered another disappointing defeat.

He added: “I don’t want to go very deep on my analysis, just say compliments to a good team that won the match, and give my compliments to the team that lost, but was full of players who gave all they had to try and get a different result that I believe we deserved.”

Mourinho then spoke mysteriously – and in a manner that United legend Eric Cantona would have been proud of – to criticise dugout rival Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Solskjaer had riled him during the game and then post-match with a comment about the behaviour of Heung-Min Son, suggesting the Spurs player should be sent to bed without any supper for play acting after being struck in the face by Scott McTominay.

Son had been fouled in the build-up to a disallowed United goal – and Mourinho bemoaned how reporters failed to bring-up Solskjaer’s barbed comments.

He said: “I am surprised after the comments that Ole made, you don’t ask me about it.

“I told Ole already this – if it is me, telling that player A, B or C from another club, that ‘if it was my son, I wouldn’t give him dinner tonight’ – what would be the reaction?

“You don’t have the moral honesty to treat me the same way as you treat others.

“Sonny is very lucky that his father is a better person than Ole. As a father you have to feed your kids, it does not matter what they do. I told Ole what I think.”

Such tittle-tattle could be seen as an attempt to deflect from his sides obvious failings.

You can only blame individual mistakes, or the rub of the green when luck bowls you a googly so many times, but Spurs have now seen 18 points snatched away from winning positions this season.

This damning statistic suggests a lack of confidence and tactical nous – two crucial elements of a successful side that both are firmly the responsibility of the manager.

Today was no different. Spurs and United played like they had some previously unsettled beef – perhaps United were still smarting at the 6-1 drubbing Spurs handed them in heady October.

It made for a niggly match that saw United earn five yellows – and were fortunate not to have at least one red.

Tottenham started brightly, with Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg bossing their opposite numbers in the midfield. It was a bright opening 45 minutes, and Spurs drew first blood just before the break.

The goal came after five minutes of high drama. United believed Edinson Cavani had given them an undeserved lead on 38. The veteran forward played a neat give-and-go with Marcus Rashford and slotted home beneath Hugo Lloris’s flailing attempts to block.

Yet as the striker wheeled away to celebrate, VAR was studying a flick of a hand by McTominay that landed on Son’s cheek. Cavani had found the back of the net while Son lay prone – and as the foul was committed in the build up, VAR chalked the goal off.

It made United even more irate, and their tetchiness boiled over moments later when Cavani tangled with Joe Rodon as they tussled for the ball.

Just before the break Spurs suddenly came to life. A flowing move saw Ndombele hit Harry Kane centrally. He controlled the ball under the clunky attentions of United’s Harry Maguire, and picked out Lucas Moura to his right.

The Brazilian bombed on past Luke Shaw and looked ready to pull the trigger himself. Instead, he unselfishly squared to Son, ghosting in at the back post to give his team a lead, that on the balance of play, Spurs deserved.

Under previous regimes, Spurs would have gone for a killer second – but not Mourinho’s side. Instead, they sat deep and allowed United to ask questions.

It was a risky tactic, and lead to United drawing level on 57 after a spell of disjointed pressure.

Cavani, leading the line in a manner that belied his years, was played in and his shot from close range was expertly blocked by Lloris. Tottenham’s centre-backs – the 15th different defensive line up Mourinho has used this term – were not quick enough to react to the second ball. Fred, not known for his finishing, was on hand to smash it in to the roof of the net.

Spurs looked short of ideas. When they did get forward, the final ball lacked inventiveness and showed an alarming lack of confidence. It came as little surprise then that United took the lead late on when Cavani ghosted in behind Serge Aurier and found the back of the net with a diving header from the edge of the six-yard box that gave Lloris no chance.

Mourinho threw on Gareth Bale, but in the manner of a gambler who hopes the dice might fall in his favour and without the wherewithal to accept the banker never loses.

As Spurs lobbed hit and hopes forward, United were content to hold on to the ball in safe areas. In the last minute of added time, the visitor gave the result a polish when substitute Mason Greenwood fired home from the angle.

Solskjaer said afterwards the sign of a good team is how they came together in troubled times. If this is the case, then Spurs, who still have outside hopes of a top-four finish due to the inconsistency of teams around them, have some big squad issues that need to be addressed.

Spurs: Lloris, Aurier, Rodon, Dier, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Ndombele (Lamela, 77), Lo Celso (Sissoko, 61), Moura (Bale, 82), Son, Kane
Substitutes not used: Hart, Alderweireld, Tanganga, Winks, Alli, Vinicius

Manchester United: Henderson, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Fred, Fernandes (Matic, 90), Pogba, Rashford (Greenwood, 72), Cavani
Substitutes not used: De Gea, Mata, Diallo, Telles, Williams, Van de Beek, Tuanzebe