Stat’s a fact for Jose amid ‘soft Spurs’ talk
JOSE MOURINHO admits the stats make it difficult to argue with the pundits’ assessment that Tottenham are a soft touch after they lost more points from a winning position against Manchester United.
Sky Sports summarisers Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp were locked in a heated debate before United’s 3-1 win in north London, with Keane saying Spurs had been ‘soft for the last 40 years’.
It proved a topical conversation as Mourinho’s side squandered the lead provided by Heung-min Son as goals from Fred, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood sealed the victory for United.
Spurs have now dropped 18 points from winning positions this season, 14 of them through goals conceded in the final 15 minutes, and manager Mourinho said: ‘The pundits can say what they want.
‘Many times of course (they are) right. Sometimes wrong. That’s nature of the job. I can’t say what I think. You know that.
‘I would say one thing is opinions, another thing is facts. Opinions can be discussed but facts, they cannot be discussed. If you go to certain numbers, to certain stats, you arrive to conclusions, facts, and then of course pundits, people with experience, with vision, with knowledge, they can have the opinions they want. Many, many times I would agree, other times I would disagree.’
In contrast, United are making a habit of winning after falling behind and captain Harry Maguire said: ‘We need to stop conceding that first goal and make it a bit easier for our fans and the staff to watch. But we’re giving them great entertainment.’