Tottenham Hotspur manager José Mourinho had a brief chat with the Portuguese press on Tuesday night.
The coach is having a few days off in his home country, and at the airport he was interviewed by Correio da Manhã about his season in charge of Spurs.
Newspaper Record is the one with the quotes. They’ve highlighted the fact that José Mourinho took charge of the club when they were in 14th position in the Premier League, and finished 7th.
The manager claims his team could have done better if not for the many fitness problems during the season.
“Without that dramatic phase of injuries, in which we didn’t even have a striker, we could have scored a few more goals and got a few more points and ended up in the top 4. But it turned out not to be bad,” he told Correio da Manhã (via Record).
Mourinho took charge of Tottenham in November, and had his time at the club split by the Coronavirus break. He claims this wasn’t an easy challenge for him and the team.
“It was all complicated. It was only the second time in 20 years that I took charge of a team in the middle of the season. The other had been at FC Porto and also at Benfica, but early on. Adaptation wasn’t easy. Then Covid-19, the stop of the leagues, the limitation of training. It was an accumulation of difficult situations for us. The good thing was that in these last nine games we were able to attack the goal that was possible.”
Regarding the club’s final position in the Premier League, Mourinho says they deserve to be playing the Champions League next year, but is up for the challenge of taking part in the Europa League.
“Due to our quality, our place is in the Champions League, but due to such a difficult season since the beginning, it was almost impossible to do better.
“It is a motivation for the group. There are those who don’t like playing the Europa League, but I always say that it’s a lesser evil and I prefer to play the Europa League than not being in European competitions.”
The manager was also asked about Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes, and had a little dig at the player.
“Bruno came in, fit in, played very well, improved United’s team and also proved to be a great penalty scorer, one of the best in the world, because he had around 20 to score.”
