Mourinho needs to ‘have a good look at himself’ after lazy jibe at Tottenham players, says Sheringham

The former Spurs and England striker says the manager must take some blame for his side’s shortcomings

Former Tottenham and England star Teddy Sheringham says that Jose Mourinho has to “have a look at himself” after saying that Spurs’ players were guilty of being “lazy”.

Mourinho was frustrated following Spurs’ 1-0 loss to Everton to open their Premier League season, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring the game’s only goal.

Following the match Mourinho said that Spurs were “lazy” with their pressing, allowing Everton to get a foothold in the game, but Sheringham took exception to that, saying the manager must take responsibility for his own role in the team’s failures.

“Players aren’t lazy in general. I’ve had this many times with the England team in the past when top international teams had come to Wembley and passed it around us, everyone was trying – but the tactics might have been wrong,” said Sheringham, who was speaking at Maurice Newman’s charity golf day in aid of Great Ormond Street hospital in Essex.

“If you’re not all on the same wavelength about when you press, when you don’t – that’s where you end up. You look like you’re tired, you look like you’re lazy, but you’re not, it’s just the tactics are not right. That’s how Tottenham looked against Everton.

“It’s only the first game of the season, it’s hard to say as they could play at the weekend, get their tactics right and look fantastic. It could easily change.

“But from one game and the way Mourinho spoke about his players, I wasn’t overly excited about how he distanced himself from what the problem was.

“You have to be careful that you don’t lose the dressing room, we’ve seen that he’s done that in his last couple of jobs at Chelsea and Manchester United. He’s got a tough job on his hands.

“He’s got to have a good look at himself about where he is and what he’s saying to the press otherwise it could be the same again.”

Mourinho is in his first full season in charge of Spurs, having replaced Maurizio Pochettino last season following a difficult start to the campaign. The Portuguese manager helped the club finish sixth in the table, sealing a spot in the Europa League.

Spurs faced a scare in the Europa League on Thursday, having to come back from a 1-0 deficit to take down Lokomotiv Plovdiv on Thursday. They will face Southampton on Sunday before taking on Leyton Orient in the Carabao Cup two days later.