London Football News

Mourinho defends tactics and team selection after ‘totally unfair’ Spurs defeat


Jose Mourinho stood by his tactics and team selection after what he described as a “totally unfair” defeat against Wolves.

Tottenham were beaten 3-2 at home by the Midlands side, who moved above them into sixth place in the Premier League table.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, Spurs boss Mourinho insisted: “Tactically the team was really good. We didn’t have one single problem apart from Wolves’ individual qualities.”

Mourinho revamped his defence, surprisingly leaving out both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen while deploying Eric Dier at the back.

He felt the performance of Dier justified that decision.

“Eric played very well. I think Eric played very well,” Mourinho said.

“If Eric’s performance was not as good as it was I would understand questions, but I think he was very good.

“The thinking was simple: Davinson and Tanganga are the two fastest central defenders that we have. Eric is the one who by nature is a midfield player so playing in the middle between those centre-backs is the one who is normally more comfortable to step up. He’s more comfortable with reading the game and passing.

“So it was a mixture of giving security but at the same time keeping fast people at the back. I think they played well. Eric especially was very, very good.”




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