Europa League: Mourinho Questions Spurs Players' Attitude As He Recalls Man Utd Stint

Jose Mourinho questioned the attitude of some of his Tottenham Hotspur players after the side reached the last 32 of the 2020-21 Europa League. The former Manchester United boss also revealed that he had faced the same attitude issue with the Red Devils players.

Spurs substitute Dele Alli put his side ahead through a penalty before LASK's Mamoudou Karamoko curled past English goalkeeper Joe Hart in an extra-time equalizer to earn the Austrian side a deserving draw.

"I think it's a question of attitude, which I have experienced before even at Manchester United. I had a similar situation - we lost two matches away in the group phase. When we get into the knockouts and you get better opponents and more difficulties, the team faces matches in a different way," Mourinho said in a post-match interview.

When asked what he had learned during his stint at Old Trafford, Mourinho said, "Nothing new, really. The fact that the Europa League group phase doesn't motivate some of the players, I knew it."

LASK's No. 10 Peter Michorl handed his side a 1-0 lead against Spurs with his strike a few minutes before the half-time break. Fortunately for Spurs, Gareth Bale scored from the spot kick in the added time at half-time to negate Michorl's opening strike.

Spurs' key forward Son Heung-min put the ball past LASK's shot-stopper Alexander Schlager to put Mourinho's side 2-1 up 56 minutes into the game. However, three more goals were scored in a dramatic final 10 minutes to see both sides take a point each eventually.

Tottenham suffered a 1-0 loss to Royal Antwerp in Belgium in October before they defeated Bulgarian club Ludogorets 3-1 in an away fixture last month. With a game to spare, Spurs are through to the next round but will need to beat Antwerp at home next week to finish as Group J winners.

"Our team at home is a different team. When we go to Antwerp, to Ludogrets, to LASK, the stadium, the weather, the emptiness, the atmosphere – I have a feeling, which is not a feeling, it's experience, that some of the players, they feel that they shouldn't be here. But the contradiction on that is that players like Son and Pierre [Hojbjerg], players starting every match, are the examples of the guys that it doesn't matter where doesn't matter the competition, they are there. And they are there for the team all the time," added Mourinho in the same interview.