Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says ‘nice boys only win the Fair Play Cup’… and he’s not interested in that

Fighting talk: Jose Mourinho
REUTERS
Richard Parry7 July 2020

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has said that nice boys only win the Fair Play Cup after captain Hugo Lloris and Heung-min Son were involved in clash against Everton on Monday.

Lloris, who later confirmed was angered by Son for not tracking back at end of the first half, was involved in a heated exchange with the South Korean with the Spurs duo having to be refrained by their teammates.

Mourinho said to Sky Sports after that match that it was ‘beautiful’ to see their passion, albeit it that it should have been kept for the dressing room.

And in his post-match press conference Mourinho cited that all of his successful team had ‘big fights’ over the years.

He said: "A team of good boys, a team of nice boys, the only thing they can win at the end of the season is the Fair Play Cup. Something I have never won and have no interest in winning that."

"You have to have a certain characteristics. I don't like a team without communication in a critical way.

"What happened should not happen on the pitch, it should happen inside the dressing room, but I promise you my winning teams we had big fights, big fights in the team.

"When I was arriving (in the dressing room) I saw the back of it, everything was over and they were hugging each other. In the last minute of the first half it ended with a Richarlison shot, Hugo thought that in that minute of the game attacking players should do a little bit more.

"Hugo was arguing with Son and Son with him, I wanted to make sure the players understood I was happy with that.

"When I told them that I think they realised that nothing was wrong."

Lloris also played down the incident, saying that the disagreement is part of football.

In Pictures | Tottenham vs Everton | 06/07/2020

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He told Sky Sports: "It just belongs to the changing room. Outside you can say whatever you want. What happened is just part of football sometimes.

"There is no problem at all, you could see after the game we were fine. I think to concede a chance a few seconds before half-time because we didn't make a press annoyed me but yeah, that's football."

Photo: PA
PA

That drama was the main talking point of an insipid game, settled by Keane's first-half own goal.

The win reignites Spurs' European hopes as they move back into eighth ahead of a midweek round of Premier League fixtures.

Everton never really threatened and only forced Lloris into routine saves in a defeat which damages their own European ambitions.

Additional reporting by the Press Association

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