Jose Mourinho has denied that Tottenham’s loss of a three-goal lead in just 13 minutes against West Ham United makes his side ‘Spursy’.
Tottenham were 3-0 ahead in Sunday’s London derby before the Hammers’ dramatic comeback earned them a point.
But while the club had a reputation of falling short and disappointing – leading to the tag ‘Spursy’ – Mourinho is adamant that their weekend mishap was a one-off.
He said: "I believe that winning 3-0 in minute 80 we can play 50 more matches and it's not going to happen again so I don't want to be sticking on this and no stories about 'Spursy' and this kind of thing.”
While Mourinho’s teams usually excel defensively, Tottenham are yet to keep a clean sheet in all competitions this season but the Portuguese believes their current issues revolve around dead-ball situations. West Ham’s first goal came when Fabian Balbuena headed in Aaron Cresswell’s free kick while Manuel Lanzini’s equaliser came after Spurs did not clear a free kick. “We just need to defend better from set pieces,” he said.
Davinson Sanchez, whose own goal was West Ham’s second strike, was adamant there will be no action replay of Tottenham’s late collapse.
"The last 10 minutes we can't repeat or concede to any opponent,” said the Colombian. “It was hard to take, we know that. It had to be better.”
Midfielders Erik Lamela and Giovani Lo Celso could be available again for the Europa League tie against LASK of Austria and striker Carlos Vinicius could make his debut but Sanchez is certain to start with Eric Dier and Japhet Tanganga still injured.
Mourinho has strengthened Tottenham’s defence with the summer signings of full-backs Matt Doherty and Sergio Reguilon and centre-back Joe Rodon.
Wales international Rodon, who joined from Swansea City on Friday, is ineligible to make his bow on Thursday because he was signed after the deadline to register players for Europe. "We got him because we see a future in him and a player that can be adapted to the way we play,” explained Mourinho.
Danny Rose has been omitted from Spurs’ Premier League and European squads for different reasons. The left-back can only feature in the Carabao Cup in the remainder of 2020. The England international’s contract is up next summer and his Tottenham career is effectively over after he fell out of favour with Mourinho. The Portuguese blamed Rose’s agent for the fact he is still a Tottenham player.
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"Danny is not part of our squad,” he said. “Danny wanted very, very much to leave in the January window last season. Why? Because he wanted to play and play and play. Then he went to Newcastle [on loan]. With Danny, the players and agents make the market. If the agent didn't find a solution for Danny to move then it's a question you have to ask him."
Mourinho has flagged up his fine record in the Europa League as he looks to complete a hat-trick of wins, adding: “We are going to try. It is the third time I played the competition. The other two times I won with Porto and [Manchester] United so the record in the Europa League is great, never knocked out. My job is to win it.”
Gareth Bale could make the first start of his second spell at Tottenham with Mourinho insisting Spurs should not expect to see the same player they sold to Real Madrid seven years ago.
He added: "No player is the same after such a gap of time. 2013 to 2020, we are speaking about seven years, not seven months. Not just Gareth Bale, every player in the world. They change. Sometimes not better or worse, it is just change, an evolution."
