2:11 Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho says he was very happy for his players after their 3-2 Premier League win at West Ham in his first game in charge
“It was very, very important,” he said. “Eleven months without music in the away dressing room. Without a smile, without happiness, and they did it. I am very happy with them, I am very happy for them.
“It was very difficult for us to win but my feeling is that we were closer to 4-0 than West Ham were to 3-1 but this is the Premier League and their first goal changed things a little bit. I think also my players paid a little bit the price for a very, very difficult week.
“It was a week where they arrived back from their national teams, some of them from difficult matches, some of them from travelling, to a change of manager, and a new guy arrives. New training sessions, new ideas.
“The emotional thing that surrounds that, I don’t think ever is easy for a football player. They work with a coaching staff and then the next day other people are there. It is difficult to process.”
‘That was the old Dele Alli’
Alli more than played his part at the London Stadium, making Heung-Min Son’s opening goal with a creative assist while lying on the floor on the touchline, and played a part in their second as well.
It left Mourinho, who also said he had spoken to Alli personally to try to improve his confidence, waxing lyrical about the midfielder.
He said: “I think Dele was like the team. Brilliant for 60 to 65 minutes and then he also paid the price of the tiredness so he went a little bit down. But I think he was the old Dele Alli. The Dele Alli of a couple of years ago that impressed not just England but the world.
“He did exactly what I wanted him to do. In two days of work, some action and information. I tried to make it clear for him exactly the spaces where we wanted him to play, offensively and defensively. Intelligent football player to understand what we wanted and very important for the team. Very pleased with his performance.”
Pellegrini: We’re struggling with pressure
Defeat for West Ham made it eight Premier League games without a win for Manuel Pellegrini’s side in the Premier League, dropping them further into the bottom half and leading to audible boos from the crowd at certain times during the second half.
The manager refused to be drawn on the performance of goalkeeper Roberto, who could have done better with two of Spurs’ three goals on the day on the back of a number of poor performances, but admitted the pressure was getting to his players because of their run of form.
0:30 West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini rued his team’s defensive mistakes after they were beaten 3-2 by Tottenham at the London Stadium
When asked what their biggest problem had been, he said: “The first thing is that we are playing under big pressure. We know we haven’t got the results we wanted, especially here at home. This was a special game against Tottenham and we wanted to do it better. We couldn’t.
“I think that the team never gave up until the end. We tried to draw but we are doing too many mistakes, especially without the ball, and every time that we make a mistake when defending, it is a goal.
“The manager and the players both have the possibility to play well, both have the possibility to win games and have good results, so you cannot separate one from the other.
“We need to try to win the next game. When we were winning games, the media asked me the same question – where are you going to finish this season? You try to win the next game and see where you arrive when the season ends.”
Sourse: skysports.com
