‘Second to nobody’: Mourinho defends coaching methods after Spurs defeat to West Ham
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José Mourinho insisted that his coaching methods are still the best in the world after Tottenham’s dismal form continued with a 2-1 defeat to West Ham.
Spurs are languishing in ninth place after winning three of their last 13 games in the league and find themselves nine points below West Ham, who climbed to fourth thanks to goals from Michail Antonio and Jesse Lingard. David Moyes’s side held on for a crucial win in the race to qualify for the Champions League despite Lucas Moura setting up a frantic finish with a fine header.
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The defeat means Mourinho has earned 81 points from his first 50 games in charge of Tottenham, his lowest total at any stage of his managerial career. But while the Portuguese admitted that it will be hard for his side to finish in the top four, he insisted that he is not past his best after being asked if he is questioning his methods.
“Not at all,” Mourinho said. “Zero. Sometimes the result are a consequence of multi situations in football. Mine and my coaching staff’s methods are second to nobody in the world.”
Mourinho insisted that Tottenham are not in a crisis but he accepted that their current form is not good enough. “I don’t know what you mean by crisis,” he said. “If crisis is frustration and sadness in the dressing room, I would say so because nobody is happy. When a team fights the way the team did until the last second, it is never a group crisis. Groups are in crisis when you are not together in search of better results. I wouldn’t say crisis. I’d say a really bad run of results. We are losing too many matches.”
Mourinho suggested that Tottenham could qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League. West Ham, though, exposed their deficiencies in defence and attack with a spirited display that underlined their improvement under Moyes.
“We’re trying to stay away from ‘oh Chelsea didn’t win, someone else didn’t win’,” Moyes said. “I think we’re still improving. We’re trying to find our best form. What West Ham couldn’t do was find consistency. I’d like to get a consistent level of performance. We’re trying not to get ahead of our station at this time.”
Moyes was unfussed about his first win over Mourinho. “I was obviously aware of it because of how often the media mention it,” he added. “The most important thing was beating Tottenham.”*