Jose Mourinho launched an impassioned defence of Harry Kane’s form under his playing style at Tottenham Hotspur after pundit Paul Merson suggested the England striker would struggle to score goals in the Portuguese manager’s system.
Merson, a pundit with Sky Sports, said 26-year-old Kane would consider switching clubs if Mourinho continued adopting a conservative style in the Premier League, like they did in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United last week.
Kane has scored seven goals in 10 games under Mourinho but struggled to make an impact against United - his first match since returning from a hamstring surgery in January - and Mourinho said Merson was wrong to judge him based on one game.
“The record of goals that Harry has with me (in charge) is easy for you to see ... I can say I had a few strikers who played for me and they are not bad,” Mourinho told reporters in a virtual news conference on Monday.
In a five-minute-long response, Mourinho then went on to mention the likes of Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Diego Milito and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, reeling off their goal scoring statistics under his tenures at various clubs.
“So dear Paul, I have lots of respect for you,” Mourinho added. “I think Harry Kane has no problems at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he’s fit, when he’s fresh and he has routines of playing.”
Mourinho confirmed forward Lucas Moura was available for today’s London derby at home to West Ham United after recovering from an injury while Dele Alli is also in contention after serving his one-match suspension. “For the first time since I arrived, all six attacking players are available for the game,” Mourinho said.
“I’ve had matches with only one and now finally I have six so I can have people playing and on the bench to rotate players. Our attacking options for this match are really good.”
Spurs are eighth in the standings on 42 points from 30 games and chasing a European spot, while 17th-placed West Ham have 27 points, the same as third-bottom Bournemouth and only outside the relegation zone due to a superior goal difference.


‘West Ham must create more chances in battle for survival’
West Ham United manager David Moyes says his players must create more goalscoring opportunities to ease Premier League relegation fears as they prepare to visit local rivals Tottenham Hotspur today. Only goal difference separates 17th-placed West Ham from the bottom three after Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
West Ham’s first attempt on target did not arrive until the 49th minute, when defender Jeremy Ngakia tested Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio from distance, giving Moyes a cause for concern heading into the remaining eight matches of the season. “We were all disappointed but we got it out of our systems on Sunday,” Moyes, whose side have collected just one win in their last 10 league matches, told a news conference yesterday.
“One of the problems we had was creating chances but that was down to the opponents as well.
“We’ve been here before, but we have winnable games. We want to win the next game which we’ll try to do. We think we will be fine, but we have to show that.”
West Ham secured a 1-0 victory during their last trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Moyes wants his players to produce a “similar show”.
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs have been bolstered by the return of by the return of players such as Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min. Dele Alli is also available after missing Spurs’ 1-1 draw against Manchester United through suspension. “Sometimes you get grounds that work for you and let’s hope this becomes a lucky ground for us,” Moyes said.
“We’ve both got different managers, they’ve got a very good team, but we’ve seen a lot of away wins so far, so let’s hope we can do that.”