Tottenham Hotspur manager José Mourinho has always been a specialist in giving good post-match interviews, especially when his side has just won a derby.
The coach had a chat with the Brazilian media following the 2-0 win over Arsenal yesterday. With a good mood and even a hint of a Brazilian accent, he talked about his form in charge of Spurs.
Mourinho was first asked about the claims that he’d been past his peak, and if he’s now proving everyone wrong by taking Tottenham to the top of the Premier League table.
“When people said my peak was over, I won three titles at that club. So my peak passed, I won a Cup, a Super Cup and a Europa League. It was at the moment that my peak passed. Imagine others who never get that,” Mourinho told Renato Senise.
“I’m calm, I’m happy. Obviously Tottenham are Tottenham, people are not used to it. But I’m used to it. And maybe that feeling of deja-vu, this situation of having already lived these positions many times, maybe it helps to reassure the players.”
Perguntei para o Mourinho:
1) Diziam que o auge dele tinha passado:
“Meu auge passou quando ganhei 3 títulos no clube? Imagina os outros que não ganham!”2) Ganhar com menos posse de bola:
“Posse é para os filósofos do futebol. O que me interessa é o que você faz com a bola.” pic.twitter.com/65SkNxj18l— Renato Senise (@renato_senise) December 7, 2020
Mourinho was also asked about Tottenham’s playing style, since he’s managed to win big games despite having less ball possession than his opponents.
He was quizzed on whether he’s been working on a winning mentality for the time being and if he’ll then move on to securing more of the ball during big matches, but he made it clear that isn’t something he thinks about.
“Well, this ball possession story is more for sports philosophers than it’s for me. No one has ever seen me say ‘I lost that game but I had more possession’. You never saw me say anything like that. You may have heard me say ‘we lost that game, we didn’t deserve to lose, we had more opportunities than the opponent’. You can hear me say that.
“But you never heard me say in 20 years ‘we lost that game and the opponent had more ball possession than we did’. What matters is what you do with the ball. Whatever you want to do with the ball. And with the ball we scored two fantastic goals today. And when we had it, we never lost it in conditions where the opponent could hurt us.”
Tottenham now play Antwerp in the Europa League in London this week, as they look towards success during the knock-out stage of the competition. Their next challenge in the Premier League is against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
