Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has defended his tactics during Saturday's 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
The hosts allowed the visitors to boast 73% possession in the first half as Liverpool went into the break with the lead courtesy of Roberto Firmino's goal, and the Tottenham fans regularly voiced their displeasure at the performance of the team.
However, Spurs avoided any further damage and almost took advantage of staying in the game during the closing stages, when Son Heung-min and Giovani Lo Celso both missed golden chances to earn a point.
Mourinho believes that his side deserved at least a draw from the game, and insisted that his players would have 'collapsed' had they played the entire match as they did in the final 20 minutes.
"It was about the plan. Liverpool works with this coach for about five years - the players are totally adapted physically to the football that he wants to play, and this is a very important thing. Sometimes when people speak about physical condition, the important thing in football is that the physical condition is adapted to the way the team wants to play," Mourinho told reporters at the post-match press conference.
"If we tried to play the way we did in the last 20 minutes from the beginning, I think we would collapse because the players are not used to playing in this style and they are not adapted. On top of that, we don't have many solutions. In midfield - [Christian] Eriksen played central midfield with Harry Winks. Jordan Henderson, [Georginio] Wijnaldum, [Alex] Oxlade[-Chamberlain] - intensity, difficult.
"I think our plan was good. What we didn't plan was to concede the goal obviously, but we knew that without a striker but with creative players - even with [Erik] Lamela not starting a game for three months and being away for two months - we knew Lamela and Giovani they could turn the game in 25-30 minutes. I think we did the maximum we could do and I think we deserved more."
The defeat leaves Spurs having won just one of their last six games across all competitions and with only four points from their last five league games.
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