Speaking in his post-match press conference, Jose Mourinho has shared what he told his players before their Europa League clash with Dinamo Zagreb even kicked off.
Tottenham were dumped out of Europe in rather embarrassing fashion, losing 3-0 to a team who’s manager had resigned after the first-leg.
As you can imagine, questions were asked about Mourinho’s approach going into the game, and he claims he told his team to go out and play to win.
“I believe that by surprise we were not caught. Before the game I told the players to play to win. Play the game to be dominant. Don’t go in the other direction. Even at 0-0 I said don’t do it. So by surprise they were not caught,” Mourinho said.
Mourinho may have told his players to play to win, but it didn’t look as though they were doing it.
Spurs looked flat against Zagreb. Perhaps a bit of complacency set in after such a comfortable first-leg victory, but they certainly weren’t playing like a team who were desperate to get a win.
Mourinho’s words either didn’t sink in, or there was an external factor stopping the players from treating this how they would any other must-win game.
Unfortunately, Mourinho can’t shirk the blame for this one, his team were incredibly poor against the Croatians and a lot of that has to fall at the manager’s feet.
We can only hope that he can rally the troops for the remainder of the season.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
