Jose Mourinho turns on his Tottenham players after Wolves draw

Jose Mourinho is often accused of 'parking the bus' and throwing certain individuals 'under the bus', but on Sunday night he went farther and effectively drove a coach and horses through his relationship with his players

Sun, 27 Dec, 2020 - 22:35

Gerry Cox

WOLVES 1 (Saiss 86) TOTTENHAM 1 (Ndombele 1)

Having singled out Dele Alli for a mistake leading to a goal at Stoke last week, Mourinho turned on his team after they failed to capitalise on a golden chance to go back into the top three and move back to within four points of league leaders Liverpool.

Tanguy Ndombele put Tottenham in the driving seat at Wolves by scoring after 57 seconds, but Spurs retreated into the defensive football Mourinho has imbued in them, and there was a grim inevitability that they would not hold such a slender lead for 90 minutes. And so it proved when Romain Saiss headed an equaliser for Wolves in the 86th minute, to condemn Spurs to another draw from a late equaliser. Tottenham have now dropped nine points from winning positions this season, more than any other team in the division, and it is hurting them and their manager.

Mourinho was frustrated and made it clear that it was neither his idea nor instruction to go on the back foot once they had taken the lead. Instead he turned the blame firmly back on his players, saying they had gone against his pre-match and half-time team-talk and tactics by playing so defensively for the majority of the game.

Indeed Tottenham did not register a shot on target after the 21st minute, relying on a once resilient defence, that is looking weaker by the week, in order to survive.

It did not work and was not, claimed Mourinho, his game plan. “I am frustrated with the result, we had control of game, and we had 89 minutes to score more goals but we didn’t,” he said.

“It was not just about not scoring but also not being dangerous and ambitious and for me that’s the problem.”

When pressed on the reasons why, he said: “I don't want to say much. I know the way I prepared the team, what I asked of the players, I know what I said at half-time. I know my team better than anyone, and I don't want to say much more than that.

“I give some credit to Wolves, because they put pressure on us. We coped quite well, controlled the game well not did not have the ambition or desire to go for more.”

Certainly Nuno Espirito Santo's team deserve plaudits for recovering from an early setback and never giving up, but they should not have been given the chance to get back into the game if Spurs had shown the ruthlessness of earlier in the season, when they scored five goals at Southampton and six at Manchester United. Bafflingly they sat back and invited pressure, and with a defence that is no longer the meanest in the league, that is always a risky tactic. It is a moot point whether Mourinho's footballing philosophy is at fault, or his players have become so used to playing defensively that they are unable to raise their attacking game.

Either way, the hard facts make sobering reading. Since beating Manchester City to announce themselves as serious title contenders five weeks ago, Spurs have won only one of their six subsequent league games, and collected just six points from a possible 18. Something has gone awry.

Yet they started so well at Wolves, who have been struggling this season. Ndombele got Spurs off to a flier when he scored with less than a minute on the clock. Heung Min Son swung in a corner from the left, the ball was only cleared to the edge of the penalty area and Ben Davies laid it off for Ndombele to place a shot past Rui Patricio from 25 yards. It was neither a thunderbolt not a precision effort in the corner of goal but the goalkeeper, possibly unsighted by his defenders, reacted too slowly to make what should have been a routine save.

Having taken the lead, Tottenham then retreated to let Wolves have the lion's share of possession, defending deep and batting off most of what the opposition could offer.

Adama Traore was the most obvious threat, and after wriggling free down the right and crossing low towards the near post in the 28th minute, Fabio Silva shot into the sidenetting.

Daniel Podence volleyed wide, Hugo Lloris saived at Silva's feet and then stretched to keep out a long shot from Pedro Neto. But with time running out, the Portuguese midfielder whipped in a corner and Saiss rose above Davies and Harry Kane at the near post to flick home a header. It was not the first time Spurs have conceded a late goal from 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 off matches. You must have a go and it’s as simple as that.”

WOLVES 4-4-2 Patricio 6; Semedo 6, Coady 6, Saiss 6, Marcal 6 (Ait-Nouri 75); Traore 7, Moutinho 6(Otasowie 83), Neves 6, Podence 6; Silva 5, Neto 7

TOTTENHAM 4-2-3-1 Lloris 7; Doherty 6, Sanchez 6, Dier 6, Davies 6; Winks 6, Hojbjerg 6; Son 6 (Lamela 83), Ndombele 7 (Sissoko 70), Reguilon 6 (Bergwijn 63); Kane 6