Jose Mourinho Claims 'the Best Team Lost' & Blasts Jurgen Klopp's Touchline Antics
By Tom Gott
Tottenham Hotspur came within minutes of snatching a point against Liverpool on Wednesday, only for a late Roberto Firmino header to seal a 2-1 victory for the Reds.
In a typical smash-and-grab performance, Spurs fell behind to deflected Mohamed Salah strike but levelled up a few minutes later through Son Heung-min. They defended well for the rest of the game but couldn't prevent Firmino from securing all the points late on.
Here's what manager Jose Mourinho had to say about it all.
On Whether Spurs Deserved to Win
"Yes, of course," he said (via football.london). "I think even a draw would have left us with not the best taste because we had them there to win it.
"It was not just the big chances, it was the moment of the big chances and the moment was when they were in trouble, in their worst moment, and we had it there to kill it, but we missed it. Then normally in matches at this level you pay for it. I thought we were going to pay for it in just taking a point but in the end we didn't even take a point and it was very disappointing.
"Looking to the performance I'm happy with the team, happy with our proposal, the proposal of going into every match and looking to win it. Sometimes you can't do it and sometimes you cannot play better than you did because of the opponent. Today, I really think in such a difficult game against such a good team, the boys were very good and we are punished."
On Learning in a Title Race
"You know I think the first thing that makes title contenders is to go to every match to win it, with that ambition. I promise you that the ambition is there. If in any match you see us not trying to win it, it's not because we won't want or that's not our proposal, it's because the opponent pushes us to different situations.
"That's the first step but normally you have to kill matches of this dimension. You have just to kill it. The game was there. We were in the face of the keeper two or three times and we just have to kill it.
"Steven Bergwijn has two face to face with the keeper, we have the corner of Harry [Kane] with the free header, we had other counter-attacking situations that we didn't finish. We had it, we knew how to hurt and we should do much more than we did."
On Jurgen Klopp's Touchline Behaviour
Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp shared an uncomfortable moment after the game which left the Spurs boss frustrated, and he went on to claim that both Klopp and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola get special treatment on the sidelines.
“I told him the best team lost and he disagreed,” Mourinho told Amazon Prime. “That’s his opinion. If I behave the same way on the touchline like he does, I have no chance to stay there. I’m out a minute after.
"That is animated? Or do you want me to take the table with the time from the fourth official’s hands [like Guardiola]? See what happens to me. I am saying that for some reason I’m different.”
Mourinho also told BBC Radio 5 Live: "The referees let him behave the way he does. It's not my problem. I feel sad for it because I cannot do it, but it's just the way it is."
On How to Raise Players' Spirits
"It's just to follow the same road. It's not because we win here tonight or we lose here tonight that we are going to leave that road.
"The road is the match after match, the road is to improve, the road is to prepare the future of this team better and better and better like other clubs do.
"Like other managers they have to do, so we have a big game again on Sunday against one of the best teams, and we have to move on. And tomorrow we are there, and let's go for Sunday again."