Soccer

José Mourinho hits back at Paul Merson with list of stats

Pundit had said Harry Kane would want to leave Spurs because of Mourinho’s style

Tottenham manager José Mourinho defended his style of play after criticism from Paul Merson. Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Jacob Steinberg
Mon Jun 22 2020 - 15:27

José Mourinho has denied his playing style will force Harry Kane to leave Tottenham. The manager responded to criticism from Paul Merson by defending Kane’s performance after six months out with a hamstring injury in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United and pointing out forwards such as Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahmovic had excellent goalscoring thanks to his coaching.

“I feel a bit strange at some analysis and some comments, especially as it looks for me at the beginning of some comments and analysis have started from Paul,” Mourinho said. “Because I respect him a lot, I want to be nice in my answer. I don’t think he’s ready for a bad answer so I try to be nice and say something that people can think a little bit.

“First of all Harry played his first game for six months and if you watch and analyse the game, compared Harry Kane with Anthony Martial. It was a game of many chances, it was a game where the two strikers had a lot of chances. Do you give credit to my defence for Martial’s game, do you give credit to the United defence for the occasions we create or didn’t create?

“You have to look at it in a balanced approach. Harry doesn’t play a game for six months. The record of goals that Harry has for me is easy for me. Go to your data and it’s easy to see how many matches he played with me and how many goals he scored before his injury. I had a few strikers that played for me and they’re not bad.

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“I have a guy called Drogba. He played for me four seasons, he scored 186 goals – an average 46 goals per season [in fact Drogba scored 73 goals in just over four seasons]. I had another guy who is also not bad, played for Juventus now. He played for me three seasons, he scored 168 goals, which gives an average of 56 goals per season. I had another guy who is also not bad, called Karim Benzema. He played for me three seasons, he was not always starting because he was quite young at the time, he scored 78 goals in three seasons, which gives a 26-goal average per season.

“I had another called [Diego] Milito, he played one season, he scored 30 goals, won three titles. I had another guy, he played for one and a half seasons seasons, in the other half he had a big injury. A tall guy called Zlatan. He scored 58 goals, which gives a 29 average per season [in fact those goals were scored across two and a bit seasons]. So dear Paul, I have lots of respect for you. I think Harry Kane has no problem at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he’s fit and fresh and has routines of playing.”

Spurs, who have Dele Alli and Lucas Moura available for Tuesday’s home game against West Ham, have announced that Jan Vertonghen and Michel Vorm have signed short-term extensions until the end of the season. – Guardian