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Tottenham Hotspur: Matt Doherty now opens up on struggles under Jose Mourinho

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Tottenham Hotspur wing-back Matt Doherty has admitted that he let the former Spurs manager Jose Mourinho down during his time in north London. 

The Irishman was speaking to the Independent ahead of Tottenham’s outing against Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And he has been reflecting on his time in N17 having made the move from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Spurs back in 2020 whilst Mourinho was at the helm.

Doherty was purchased for just over £15m and has gone on to make 61 appearances for Spurs having nailed down the spot at right wing-back last season before suffering a serious injury.

Despite returning to the starting XI in recent weeks, Doherty has looked back at his struggles under Mourinho and rubbished the notion the Portuguese manager wasn’t good for him:

“I let him down. People think he was bad for me, but it was the other way around. He put a lot of faith in me and I didn’t really perform. I just didn’t play well, I just didn’t grasp it … I don’t know. I just wasn’t able to get going there at the start,” he said.

“To be fair to Jose, they tried to play me high, but it wasn’t working for the team. We were leaving too much space. I just didn’t perform for him. He’s a great guy … I could sit here with him now and have dinner with him and have the best time ever. I spoke to him a few times about it, but I don’t know what it was. It’s a bit of a regret that I wasn’t able to perform like how he saw me in his head.”

TIF Thoughts on Doherty’s comments…

It is fair to say Doherty has not been able to reach the high standards which he set for himself during his days at Molineux with an impressive return of 11 goal involvements in the Premier League during the 2018/19 campaign.

Who should start at RWB on Sunday?

Matt Doherty

Matt Doherty

Emerson Royal

Emerson Royal

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Djed Spence

However, during his spell under Mourinho, the 30-year-old was only able to provide a return of four assists across his 27 appearances in all competitions (via Transfermarkt).

Although this does seem like a disappointing return, it has to be remembered that Doherty was technically being played out of position having joined as a right wing-back.

Mourinho was keen to use a four-man defence which left Doherty restricted at right-back. Now under Conte, Doherty has returned to his favoured position and has shown signs of discovering his best form.

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