THE MASK SLIPS
Snarling Mourinho returns after brilliant Ings strike sinks Spurs
THE leak got worse and so the great dam finally burst. Through ten games and countless defensive blips, Jose Mourinho just about kept hold of that mask of affability but in the 11th match, on the eighth day of Christmas, he perhaps saw a bit too much.
And so he ran his mouth, just like the one we used to know.
The full Jose Mourinho? Oh, it was close. Gloriously close, a bingo sheet of gripes which, in some kind of order, reviewed the time wasting of the local ballboys, the injustices and impotence of referees in the VAR era, an ‘idiot’ on the Southampton bench and a lament that Tottenham’s most expensive signing, Tanguy Ndombele, is ‘always injured’.
That brought it all flooding back, a reminder of why you either love this guy or loathe him.
We know what it is, of course. If only his defenders could deflect like he does, then Tottenham would be in the top four and Mourinho would have maintained his calm into a 12th game.
But these are deep, pre-existing problems at Tottenham and in fairness to Mourinho, a gentler soul may have erupted before now. That being said, it remains enormously puzzling that, for all his progress at Spurs, this pragmatist has failed to address the issue of conceding, be they soft goals or otherwise.
The one that won this game was quite beautiful in its execution, given how Danny Ings looped a ball over Toby Alderweireld’s head before finishing on 17 minutes, but such an assessment overlooks how Alderweireld bought a feint that was obvious to all. But that wasn’t on Mourinho’s mind in his press conference. Other times, yes — he has been honest about those failings of late. Here, though, he had other things to discuss, so let’s start with the flashpoint of his booking by Mike Dean around ten minutes from time (left). Initially it appeared he had wandered to the Southampton bench and peeked at the tactical notes made by Andrew Sparks, the home side’s goalkeeping coach, except Mourinho himself explained his behaviour was a little more aggressive.
‘I think the yellow card was fair because I was rude,’ he said. ‘But I was rude to an idiot.’
It transpired he had been unhappy with Sparks’ role in a previous substitution that may have eaten up some time in the final quarter of an hour. On a similar theme, Mourinho had said: ‘They were winning and they were defending basically with ten players, fighting hard, being aggressive, a good aggressive.
‘There were lots of fouls and stoppages. The ballboys were well coached in the delaying of the game.’
Classic Mourinho. And a blinkered appraisal if ever there was one of a game in which Southampton had all the best chances, including clear openings for both Cedric Soares and Nathan Redmond before Ings’ strike.
Mourinho instead bemoaned a penalty for Dele Alli that was not referred to VAR in the first half, and also brushed over what appeared a clearer shout for one to Southampton, when Ryan Bertrand’s cross was handled by Alderweireld.
‘For me the referees are not the referees,’ he said. ‘It should be VR — Video Referee — because they are the referees. What I know is Dele Alli penalty was a penalty and the VAR didn’t interfere.’
With Harry Kane departing the ground on crutches, one suspects Mourinho’s mood won’t be improving anytime soon.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-2): McCarthy; Cedric, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand; Armstrong (Romeu 90), Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Djenepo (Long 58); Ings (Obafemi 75), Redmond. Subs not used: Gunn, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Adams. Booked: Bednarek, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo. TOTTENHAM (4-3-2-1): Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Sessegnon; Sissoko, Ndombele (Lo Celso 25), Eriksen; Alli, Moura; Kane (Lamela 75). Subs not used: Vorm, Sanchez, Winks, Skipp, Tanganga. Booked: Aurier, Sissoko, Lo Celso. Man of the match: James Ward-Prowse. Referee: Mike Dean. Attendance: 30,976.