Jose Mourinho says there are similarities between Tottenham's 3-3 draw with West Ham and their season so far; Spurs were leading 3-0 before they conceded three late goals; watch West Ham vs Tottenham on Super Sunday from 11am on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off 12pm
Thursday 18 February 2021 23:59, UK
Jose Mourinho says Tottenham's incredible 3-3 draw with West Ham in October is in many ways a reflection of their season so far.
With Spurs three goals to the good after 16 minutes they endured a horrific second-half collapse as Manuel Lanzini's last-minute stunner secured West Ham a draw on Gareth Bale's Premier League return.
The result left a lasting impression on Mourinho following a first-half performance that he described as "amazing".
It also brought back memories of Mourinho's first match in charge last season when Tottenham won 3-2 at West Ham after again being three goals ahead.
Speaking ahead of trip to the London Stadium on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, Mourinho said: "The first game against West Ham (this season) is a little bit of a reflection of our season and a reflection of some of our problems.
"If we had won that game you would all say that we played amazingly well which we did. We had an incredible first half, lots of quality, incredible dominancy. We played really, really well in that match but we didn't win it.
"And this season is a bit of a reflection of many of our matches. We played well, we should win, but then the final result is not a victory and the perception, and not just the perception the reality, is that we didn't win. The result is not good and then people can say the team didn't play well. I think the team played so well but we made mistakes.
"But if you want to go also to my first match (against West Ham) when I arrived it was a match that was not very different.
"We started very well, we dominated the game for 70-75 minutes, we were winning and then we conceded two goals and we finished the game looking like we were in trouble .
"So this team many, many times plays very, very well, should get different results, but in the end for different reasons we don't get it."
Tottenham are just six points off the top four with a game in hand ahead of the weekend fixtures and Mourinho says it will be the players, not him, that deserve the praise if they close in on a European place.
"Special teams win lots of matches. We coaches, we are as good and as bad as our players make us," he said.
"We depend a lot on them especially coaches with lots of experience and long histories.
"We go through every possible experience, we get to a stage of our career when we feel much more stable, much more humble and we realise that with all the experience we have that the ones that are really responsible for our careers are the ones that play for us.
"So hopefully next weekend the guys have a great performance and they can make me look good because they are the ones that make us look good or bad."
