Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho believes he is placed under different levels of expectations to his contemporaries, claiming: “People look at me with different eyes.”
Spurs were 14th in the Premier League when Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last November and has steered the club back towards the European places with two matches remaining.
Only Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United have collected more points than Spurs since Mourinho’s arrival and, while a Champions League return for next season is not possible, Europa League qualification is in the offing ahead of Sunday’s game against top-four hopefuls Leicester City.
However, criticism on social media of Mourinho and his methods remains and the Portuguese himself was frustrated with a question in a news conference about his selection policy after a 3-1 win at Newcastle United on Wednesday.
“People look at me with different eyes,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
“I know people expect me to do things that you don’t expect with many others. I don’t read much, but with some of the questions I get, I have that feeling, yes.
“For example, the other day after a game, the first question was about a player that didn’t start [Steven Bergwijn].
“When a player is not playing with other coaches, it’s never a problem. They make rotations. They make decisions. They leave on the bench incredible players and everyone looks at them and feels that this is their job. That’s the way a big team has to be.
“But when Tottenham, for the first time in the season has, for example, Lucas Moura, Steven Bergwijn, Erik Lamela and Son Heung-min [all available], people always ask me about the ones that are not playing. So, yes, in some aspects, I feel that a bit.”
Mourinho believes he has had an encouraging first nine months at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, despite feeling the season was “broken” by his side’s “incredible sequence of injuries”.
“We, myself and the staff, analyse internally and we know we are doing a very positive job,” he said.
“I can compare it a little bit with my experience at Porto. When I got to Porto in January [2002], that half of the season was really hard, but was so important for the preparation of the next one.
“So that’s what I’m doing now, accumulating knowledge and experience in the club to prepare for what’s next.
“I’m happy with the globality of the squad I have, and I hope we can give some little touches to improve and make us better, more competitive, more adapted to my way of thinking with a balance I always try to find in a squad. If we manage that, then we will see.”
