The honeymoon period is over for Jose Mourinho at Spurs. The initial bounce that came after his appointment is long gone, with the reality of the challenge facing the club now clear.
They were held to a 0-0 draw by Watford this afternoon, meaning they have won just one of their last six Premier League games.
It was a game that could have gone either way. Troy Deeney missed a penalty in the second half, before Erik Lamela came excruciatingly close to grabbing a last minute winner. His shot was cleared off the line by Pussetto and it really cold not have been any closer to being given.
👀 Saving a goal with 10.04mm to spare... 👏👏👏#WATTOT https://t.co/eaF20hcgWs pic.twitter.com/Km9UF103Yo
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 18, 2020
While Jose Mourinho accepted the goal line technology was correct, he used it as an opportunity to have a dig at VAR. The Spurs boss was unhappy with the decision to ignore a high tackle from Etienne Capoue in the first half, a challenge he felt was deserving of a red card.
Speaking after the game, he made it clear he wouldn't discuss VAR after himself raising the issue unprompted:
"Goal-line technology doesn't make mistakes like VAR"
Jose Mourinho believes his team deserved to win at Watford but doesn't want to speak too critically of the refereeing performance.
🎙 @DesKellyBTS pic.twitter.com/pQ3pzzRRWs— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 18, 2020
That's the way it is. I know that it's a couple of millimetres but the goal line technology doesn't make mistakes like VAR makes.
We have to accept that by two millimetres it was not a goal...
The Tottenham performance, separate from the referee and VAR decisions because I prefer not to comment, the Tottenham performance was good...
There are various decisions but I will leave it for you, for the pundits and the referee's specialist. I prefer not to speak more than what I did.
This being Mourinho in the midst of mid-season transfer window, he couldn't let the opportunity pass without putting a bit of pressure on his chairman.
He has been vocal in recent days on the lack of strikers in the squad, saying he doesn't have a single one to choose from. As Irish fans are well aware, there is a 17-year old Dublin native that he continues to overlook.
Eric Dier was given the Troy Parrott treatment this afternoon. Mourinho lamented the fact that he didn't have a single defensive minded midfielder on the pitch, despite the fact that he left Dier on the bench for the whole game:
Apart from the back four, we played without one single defensive player. Winks is a link player, after that Dele Alli is an attacking player, Lo Celso is, Lamela, Lucas, Son.
We had no striker, but no defensive players.
