Mourinho hits back at criticism of Harry Kane's record

Video Credit: Reuters - Sports
Published on June 23, 2020 - Duration: 02:15s

Mourinho hits back at criticism of Harry Kane's record

Tottenham Hotspur's manager Jose Mourinho defends striker Harry Kane against a pundit's suggestion he could struggle under the Portuguese manager's system.


Mourinho hits back at criticism of Harry Kane's record

RESENDING WITH UPDATED SCRIPT AND ADDITIONAL QUOTE WHERE MOURINHO TALKS ABOUT THE RECORD OF SOME OF THE STRIKERS HE HAS COACHED VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, FILE FOOTAGE OF TOTTENHAM CAPTAIN, HARRY KANE AND TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR TRAINING SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 22, 2020) (TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL) 1.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, ON HARRY KANE, SAYING: "I try to be nice and I try just to say something where people can think a little bit.

First of all Harry (Kane) played his first game for six months, and if you watch the game and you analyse the game, compare Harry Kane with Anthony Martial.

It was a game of many chances, it was a game where the two strikers had a lot of chances.

Do you give credit to my defence for Martial's game, do you give credit to the United defence to the game and the occasions that we create or we didn't create?

I think, you have to look at it in a balanced approach.

And in our case, Harry doesn't play a game for six months.

The record of goals that Harry has with me is easy for you; you just go to your data and it's easy to see how many matches Harry played with me before his injury and how many goals he scored.

For you not to lose time I can say that I had a few strikers that played for me and they are not bad.

I had one guy called (Didier) Drogba, he played for me for four seasons, he scored 186 goals, which gives an average of 46 goals per season (SIC - Drogba scored 73 goals in 186 games for Chelsea while Mourinho was manager).

I had one guy that is not also bad, he plays for Juventus now (Cristiano Ronaldo).

He played for me for three seasons, he scored 168 goals, which gives an average of 56 goals per season.

I had another guy that is not also bad called Karim Benzema.

He played for me three seasons, he was not always starting because he was quite young at that time but he scored for me 78 goals in three seasons, which gives a 26-goal average per season.

I had another one called (Diego) Milito.

He played one season for me, he scored 30 goals, he won three titles and of course the average is 30.

I had another guy that played for me one and a half seasons.

I say one and a half because in the other half he had a big injury, a tall guy called Zlatan (Ibrahimovic).

He played for me one and a half seasons, he scored 58 goals, which gives a 29 average per season.

So dear Paul (Merson), I have lots of respect for you.

I think Harry Kane has no problems at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he's fit, when he's fresh, when he has routines of playing.

So, that's my message to somebody I have lots of respect for." MADRID, SPAIN (FILE - MAY 31, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2.

VARIOUS OF TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STRIKER, HARRY KANE, TRAINING IN THE BUILD-UP TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL AGAINST LIVERPOOL LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 22, 2020) (TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL) 3.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, ON PLAYERS COMING BACK FROM INJURY AND HAVING ALL SIX ATTACKERS AVAILABLE, SAYING: "Only good news.

We only have good news.

Lucas (Moura) is back from injury.

Dele Alli is back from punishment.

And no injuries coming off the game against (Manchester) United.

So, we didn't lost any players and we have two extra players that make our squad really, really good.

That gives me for the first time since I arrived - it's the first time I have all the six attacking players available for the game.

I've had matches with only one and now finally, I have six.

So, I can have people playing, people on the bench, rotate the players.

And our attacking options for this match are really good." 4.

WHITE FLASH 5.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, SAYING: "They are all players that I like very, very much.

I always like the players that were here when I arrived and then in the January window we got (Steven) Bergwijn.

And Bergwijn, (Erik) Lamela, Lucas (Moura) and Sonny (Son Heung min), Dele (Alli) and Harry (Kane); six attacking players, all different, all very good and this is the first time that I have all of them available which is a kind of problem that we coaches we just love it." LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - NOVEMBER 25, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, WALKING BEHIND PLAYERS BEFORE TRAINING 7.

CAPTAIN, HARRY KANE, LEADING OUT PLAYERS LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - FEBRUARY 18, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8.

VARIOUS OF SQUAD PERFORMING EXERCISES OVER HURDLES 9.

SQUAD JOGGING STORY: Jose Mourinho launched an impassioned defence of Harry Kane's form under his playing style at Tottenham Hotspur after pundit Paul Merson suggested the England striker would struggle to score goals in the Portuguese manager's system.

Merson, a pundit with Sky Sports, said 26-year-old Kane would consider switching clubs if Mourinho continued adopting a conservative style in the Premier League, like they did in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United last week.

Kane has scored seven goals in 10 games under Mourinho but struggled to make an impact against United -- his first match since returning from a hamstring surgery in January -- and Mourinho said Merson was wrong to judge him based on one game.

"The record of goals that Harry has with me (in charge) is easy for you to see ... I can say I had a few strikers who played for me and they are not bad," Mourinho told reporters in a virtual news conference on Monday.

In a five-minute-long response, Mourinho then went on to mention the likes of Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Diego Milito and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, reeling off their goal scoring statistics under his tenures at various clubs.

"So dear Paul, I have lots of respect for you," Mourinho added.

"I think Harry Kane has no problems at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he's fit, when he's fresh and he has routines of playing." Mourinho confirmed forward Lucas Moura was available for Tuesday's (June 23) London derby at home to West Ham United after recovering from an injury while Dele Alli is also in contention after serving his one-match suspension.

"For the first time since I arrived, all six attacking players are available for the game," Mourinho said.

"I've had matches with only one and now finally I have six so I can have people playing and on the bench to rotate players.

Our attacking options for this match are really good." Spurs are eighth in the standings on 42 points from 30 games and chasing a European spot, while 17th-placed West Ham have 27 points, the same as third-bottom Bournemouth and only outside the relegation zone due to a superior goal difference.

(Production: Kurt Michael Hall)

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