Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho has suggested he is treated differently than other Premier League managers, claiming he would be sent off if he behaved the same way as Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Mourinho’s side fell 2-1 to the Reds in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, as Roberto Firmino’s 90th-minute header settled the top-of-the-table clash at Anfield.
Tottenham had just 24 per cent possession and two shots on target compared to Liverpool’s 11, but they could have easily escaped with a point or even all three had Steven Bergwijn or Harry Kane have put away good chances in the second half.
At the conclusion of the match, Mourinho and Klopp exchanged words on the touchline. When asked by Amazon what was said, Mourinho said he told Klopp that Spurs deserved to win the match and that there is a double standard when it comes to coaching behaviour.
“I told him the best team lost and he disagreed, but that’s his opinion,” Mourinho said of Klopp. “If I behave the same way he does on the touchline, I do not stay there. That’s animated? For some reason I am different.”
Speaking to the BBC, Mourinho added that he felt Klopp and the Liverpool bench were putting undue pressure on the officials to show Giovani Lo Celso a second yellow, forcing him to remove the Argentine after 58 minutes.
“The game was always under control. I feel it was a very undeserved result, but that’s football,” Mourinho added. “At half-time we move a little bit the pieces, but overall the game was always under control and I am very pleased with the performance.
“The changes were to find counterattack situations which we did immediately, but with Gio’s yellow card and the incredible pressure these guys on the touchline put on the officials, I was afraid of the yellow card and I had to take him off. I am not the one to speak to my colleagues about their behaviour on the touchline.”
Spurs dropped to second place with the defeat to the defending champions, who went three points clear at the top of the table. Still, Mourinho felt his opponents on the night didn’t demonstrate their title credentials.
“Very good performance, of course some mistakes, some things to improve, a very unfair result. My team told me I am right when I say from the beginning of the season we go to every match to win. We played against the champions in their stadium and we had the best chances to win,” Mourinho added to Amazon.
“The team was brilliant. Today Liverpool didn’t look a team that is champion, European champion, world champion – that difference was not on the pitch.”
Source: goal.com