Jose Mourinho accuses Tottenham Hotspur players of lacking motivation after Europa League draw at LASK


  • English
  • Arabic

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho accused his players of lacking motivation after his team stumbled to a 3-3 Europa League draw at LASK Linz on Thursday.

Spurs scored penalties through Gareth Bale and Dele Alli either side of Son Heung-min's second-half goal but LASK earned a deserved draw through Mamoudou Karamoko's stoppage-time strike from the edge of the box.

The result gave Spurs the point they needed to reach the knockout stages with a game to spare but they must beat Royal Antwerp next week to finish as Group J winners.

Asked what he learned from Spurs' performance, Mourinho said: "Nothing new really. The fact that the Europa League group phase doesn't motivate some of the players, I knew it.

"I think it's a question of attitude, which I have experienced before even at Manchester United.

"I had a similar situation – we lost two matches away in the group phase.

"When we get into the knockouts and you get better opponents and more difficulties, the team faces matches in a different way.

"When I saw the warm-up before the game I had a feeling and I told the players before the game that there was a huge difference in intensity, communication and enthusiasm in their warm-up and our warm-up because I was looking at both. Nothing surprises me."

Spurs were without striker Harry Kane due to an unspecified injury, but Mourinho said the England international should be fit to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

"I could be now doing some bluff or trying to pretend that he's in big trouble. He's not in big trouble," Mourinho said. "I believe that he's going to play."

________________________________________________

Gallery: Tottenham's 2020/21 salaries

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour

Naga
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMeshal%20Al%20Jaser%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdwa%20Bader%2C%20Yazeed%20Almajyul%2C%20Khalid%20Bin%20Shaddad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Roll of honour 2019-2020

Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain

West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership

UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes

UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II

UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.