SPURS...0 COVID.....1
Jose blames pandemic for miserable loss
JOSE MOURINHO claimed a coronavirus outbreak had destroyed any chance of his side making a decent start to the season as they slumped to a dismal defeat.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second-half goal gave Everton the three points after a limp display by Mourinho’s men, who were well off the pace.
Mourinho, who did not name the players infected, said he “did not like his team” and they lacked intensity but insisted their poor preparation was down to the virus.
He said: “Harry Kane trained with us once, Moussa Sissoko, a couple and I am not going player by player.
“For different reasons many of our players did not have proper pre-seasons.
“We had cases of positive Covid, we have the right not to say which players, but we had players, other players in quarantine due to proximity with positive players.
“We had a player in quarantine because he was on holiday in a country which the government quarantined.
“We had national teams where many of them went to their team so it was a difficult pre-season. I couldn’t expect them to be sharp, intense, agile but I was expecting much more individually and collectively.
“It disappoints me and that is where I have now to work.
“The players who didn’t have pre-season, we don’t have now the possibility to give them a pre-season but we have a lot of matches to play consecutively.
“We have to use these matches, not just to win them and the knockout ones are obviously decisive ones with everything decided in 120 minutes or even penalties, and try to use this to improve the form of some players.
“Some of them were really in trouble out there.”
Spurs had some decent chances in the first half but were complete no-shows after the break and Calvert-Lewin’s 55th- minute header was enough for Everton.
It came from Lucas Digne’s free-kick but Mourinho was not happy with where the delivery was taken from. He said: “I didn’t like my team but I didn’t like that so many referees on the pitch and on the touchline and in front of the screen allow a free-kick to be taken five or six metres in front for a different angle of delivery.
“I can complain now because I was complaining before the goal. But I didn’t like my team.”
For Everton, this was a statement of intent that this could finally be the year they crack the top six after a number of false dawns. Carlo Ancelotti has been backed in the summer and all three signings – Allan, Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez – impressed in a win that could have been by more .
The Italian said: “I am satisfied, the performance of the team was brilliant.
“It was an important one against a difficult team.
“I am really pleased that we started the season well.
“I have a lot of confidence in this team.
“I had some before this game and now I have more but we have to remain focused.”