Danny Mills has defended Jose Mourinho against those who say he is playing negative football.
Spurs have brought in the Portuguese manager to win trophies for them, and he is on the verge of doing that.
His team had topped the Premier League at some point this season, but they are currently outside the top four.
They face Manchester City later today and that game sees two of the best managers in England go head to head.
While Pep Guardiola has built a reputation for managing his City team to win trophies by playing beautiful attacking football, backed up with unlimited funds, Spurs have been more defensive and rely on counter-attacks.
Some Tottenham fans would like their team to play like City, but Mills says the current players at the club cannot play that way, so Mourinho is using them the best way he can.
He asked the Lilywhite’s fans if they will prefer to win trophies with boring football or win nothing with exciting football.
Speaking about how both managers compare to each other, He told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: “It’s trophies, simple as that. That’s what it comes down to. Mourinho hasn’t won the Premier League for a while and hasn’t won the Champions League for a while either.
“They are two different managers and both incredibly good at what they do.
“City have gone under the radar, even though they’ve won 15 games in a row because they’ve done it in a steady way. Before it’s been 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, blowing teams away, scintillating football.
“I feel a bit sorry for Mourinho, I’ve always liked and admired him as a manager. But the players aren’t good enough to play how he wants to play, so he thinks he has to be really defensive. With Son, with Kane, they know they can nick a goal.
“Everyone’s saying, ‘Oh it’s too negative, we don’t like it.’ Okay, then go and play your fancy football and go and get beat 5-4…
“Tottenham fans, what do you want? Do you want to go to the cup final against Guardiola and win it with a boring performance or do you want to lose it 7-6?”
Reguilon has been outstanding – it would help if you didn’t post disinformation
Your first two sentences: This.
If I read one more Bl**dy post implying that boring defensive football is the only way football teams win matches I’m going to sit here continue to be slightly irritated.
Winning football tends to be beautiful football. I can’t think of a top team in the last twenty years that regularly won by playing boring negative football.
Italian teams of the sixties were renowned for defensive one nil type football and the Don Revie Leeds were maybe a win at all cost team but there was something to admire even in their organisation and the individual ability of their players.
I don’t like this either or type reasoning. As for winning trophies we won the League Cup with Jonathan Woodgate’s header, so what, a nice memory but it didn’t lead to greater things, in fact Levy broke that team up and sold the best players. Winning it this season has to be the start of something not the end.
Yes Danny, I would rather see Spurs play entertaining football every week. We’ve sold our soul for the hope of a Silver Pot, but when the team is unwatchable is it worth it? Mourinho wants to play the same way no matter who he has in his squad, so the “players just aren’t good enough” routine does wash. The sooner he is out the door the better.
If pep had our back four? Yeah right. At the beginning of the season when José let them go out and play he soon realised (though winning)that this is not sustainable with this defence. We’d soon get found out. A solid defensive unit is the corner stone of all conquering teams
It will be interesting to see if Jose decides to park the bus today or whether he keeps the press with Lamela and Lucas as he has done since the second half against Chelsea. The trouble with the Lamela/Lucas approach is that it only works against weak teams as both of them lack the.vision to make decisive passes (with the notable exception of Lucas and the second goal against WBA) or put themselves in dangerous positions to receive the ball. In fact they are both possession losing machines, dribbling the ball into blind alleys or demanding it when surrounded by defenders. Jose obviously sees this just as we do so we should probably expect to see 10 players behind the ball and hopes pinned on Kane/Son breakaways.
Earlier in the season it was turgid football with positive results, then we were getting beat and drawing against ‘average’ teams with that same style. Losing is not good, no matter what the style of football a team plays, but if you have a ‘go’ surely that is better than inviting defeat, no?
The point Mills fails to make is we have players who make too many mistakes. Poch found that out and now Jose. If Pep had our team and played his tactics it would be a disaster.