Mourinho: Tottenham Road Not Changed After Liverpool Loss

Odds were Tottenham Hotspur were going to lose again this season, just hurts when you feel like you should have won regardless Spurs will not change course.

Tottenham Hotspur are a team that have been working on a major identity makeover under coach José Mourinho. The coach’s ethos of going into every match to win is a philosophy and belief he is trying to instill in his players. As such one loss, even one as heartbreaking as the loss to Liverpool was at the death is not going to change that path for José Mourinho or Tottenham Hotspur.

Mourinho Disappointed Not to Have More

No one has ever accused José Mourinho of being a special loser the way he is a special winner. However, in our experience at Tottenham, Mourinho is typically quite gracious in defeat giving credit where credit is due to the opponent when they deserve it. This past weekend against Crystal Palace is a great example where Mourinho went out of his way to compliment the effort and ambition of Palace.

After this match something was different, we saw a much fierier coach than we often see. Upon going to shake hands with Jurgen Klopp, Mourinho told him the best team did not win. Maybe it was just some Jedi mind games but I think it may just be what he honestly believes. According to Mourinho “even a draw would (have) left us not with the best taste, because we had them there to win it”.

The Portuguese coach continued about a “moment of the big chances” and a time “when they were in trouble”. However, Tottenham “had it there to kill it but we miss it and then normally at matches of this level you pay”. The problem was while the coach thought the payment was going to be “just taking a point” to not even take one point was “very disappointing but looking to the to the performance I’m happy with the with the team”.

Tottenham Have to Kill It

What seemed to be more upsetting to Mourinho was the fact that Spurs did not do the job and win the game. It was not the “they are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook” rant of Denny Green from Monday Night Football in the US, but Mourinho was clearly disappointed that Tottenham did not kill the match with the opportunities presented in the second half.

In speaking about trying to contend for a title he said the first step is “you have to kill matches of this dimension, you know you have just to kill it and the game was there were there in the face of the keeper two three times and we just have to kill it”. Unfortunately for Tottenham they were not able to kill the game in those opportunities.

Mourinho noted how “Bergwijn has two face-to-face with the keeper” and how Kane has to do better “with the free header” off the corner. The disappointment came full circle for Mourinho when he finished by saying that Tottenham “knew how to hurt” Liverpool and “should do much more than we did” in the game. In other words, Spurs let them off the hook and be more clinical.

The Loss Changes Nothing

While being three points out of first is not as good as being in first place Tottenham Hotspur are not about to let one loss define their season. As we know from the refrain of Mourinho and the team the goal is to go to each match to win.

So “it’s not because we win here tonight, or we lose here tonight that we are going to leave that road and the road is the match after match the road is to improve” Mourinho commented. In other words, Tottenham will continue to take things one game at a time.

We as fans must remember that it takes time for the improvement we want to see. What makes the process even more difficult is how little time there actually is for the team to get better as Spurs are on again “Sunday against one of the best teams” according to Mourinho as Leicester City come to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The good news is we already know the goal for the match, which is win the game.