Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham leapfrogs to the top of the laughing stock list
Tottenham Hotspur took a big L in Thursday night’s final Europa League round of 16, second leg fixtures when they came up short against Dinamo Zagreb and were eliminated from the competition.
A week ago Jose Mourinho’s Spurs had one foot in the quarter-finals, having half the job done with a 2-0 advantage over their Europa League round of 16 challengers, Dinamo Zagreb. All that needed to be done in the follow-up fixture was not to concede and try to at least score a single goal.
Sadly, there was no way that was happening on Thursday night with Tottenham the second-best team for almost the full 90 minutes of football as a scoreline of 3-0 a true reflection of the encounter.
The player who really turned up for the home side inside Stadion Maksimir was Dinamo forward Mislav Oršić. He applied the pressure with his first goal, the leveller with his second, and the final nail in the coffin with his third.
It took a piece of individual brilliance to knock the North Londoners out of the Europa League, cancelling their backdoor entry into the Champions League for next season.
The manager pretty much laid into his team and labelled their lack of character, desire and motivation as the main reasons for their loss.
Jose did what Jose does best, throw his squad under the bus. If they did not feel ashamed of their performance prior to his post-match interview – they undoubtedly felt the embarrassment thereafter.
What Jose Mourinho said when asked, “what happened” on the night:
More from Tottenham Hotspur
- “Hurts me” Arsenal legend makes shock Spurs admission after comeback
- Richarlison stars in Tottenham Hotspur late show amid personal troubles
- Spurs injury news: Ange confirms MAJOR midfield blow vs Sheffield United
- Tottenham beat out UCL clubs to sign generational defender from Croatia
- “Top club mentality”: Harry Kane compares Bayern Munich to Tottenham
"Good question. If I forget the last 10 minutes of the extra-time, where we did something to get a different result and to go through, in the 90 minutes and the first half of the extra-time was one team that decided to leave everything on the pitch.They left everything there, they left sweat, they left energy, they left blood, at the end of the game they left even tears of happiness. Very humble, very committed and I have to praise them.On the other side, my team, and I repeat, my team, I am there, that didn’t look like they were playing an important match.If for any one of them it was not important match, for me it is because of the respect I have for my career and for my own job. Every match is an important match for me."
The manager went on one of his usual rants but had every reason to do as the players on the pitch gave him no reason not to shift the blame onto them.
You 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 to listen to his Jose Mourinho interview 😳
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 18, 2021
He wears his heart on his sleeve as he looks at a horrible night for the club... pic.twitter.com/Wwi2THhPBH
Spurs with more hype than anything else this season
The North London side led by captain Harry Kane applied more hype than anything else this season.
They started off like a house on fire, reaching the summit of the Premier League standings and topping Group J in the Europa League in the early stages of the campaign.
They had the best forward pairing consisting of Kane and Son, but that soon died down and it was a messy show over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. But the season is far from over and there is still a piece of silverware to play for.
In April, Spurs will try to dethrone Manchester City when the two meet for the EFL Cup finals. There is actually no other option but to win.
Must Read. Has Tuchel built an indestructible Stamford Bridge?. light
This will save their season. Currently sitting in eighth place on 45 points, six points off Chelsea in fourth place, with an all-important game in hand. Fourth place seems a far stretch considering Chelsea’s form under Thomas Tuchel.