Jose Mourinho has taken aim at the critics who have suggested Tottenham are a “defensive” side after the team reached 100 goals in all competitions on Sunday.
Spurs secured their fourth successive win with a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace thanks to doubles from Harry Kane and Gareth Bale.
Kane’s second was momentous for two reasons. For one thing, it saw the England captain make history alongside Son Heung-min – the pair have now combined for more goals in a single season than any other duo in Premier League history.
Secondly, the header was Tottenham’s 100th goal of the season, something Mourinho brought up to reporters about after the game.
“If the stats I was given are correct – 100 goals scored in the season, which for a very defensive team, a very negative team, is not bad,” said the Spurs boss (via the London Evening Standard).
There have been games this season in which Tottenham have gone 1-0 up and tried to sit on their lead instead of extending it, but that wasn’t the case against Palace.
The team’s offensive flow has been helped by Bale’s return to form, and Mourinho was keen to praise the attacking talent at his disposal on Sunday night.
He added: “We have very good attacking players and they allow me to do what I did today which was Dele Alli, who played really well against Fulham, to leave him out for Lucas [Moura] this time.
“Sonny [Heung-min], Gareth, Kane and then [Erik] Lamela comes and comes well and [Steven] Bergwijn didn’t even come. Tanguy [Ndombele] stayed on the bench.
“We are a team with a lot of talent in this area but this Gareth is an extra for us and a plus.
“This Gareth didn’t start the season, this Gareth is playing this way for a couple of months and of course the quality is amazing. He is a fantastic player.”
The likes of Ndombele, Alli and Bergwijn will surely start against Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday with a view to impressing ahead of the north London derby this weekend.
