‘He played like his team – not very well’: Jose Mourinho blasts Ajax boss Erik ten Hag for failing to step up when his team needed him during second-half collapse against Tottenham
- Jose Mourinho has criticised Ajax boss Erik ten Hag after their defeat by Spurs
- Tottenham scored in the 96th minute to complete a remarkable comeback
- Ajax had led the match 2-0 and the tie 3-0 before they capitulated
- Mourinho believes Ajax needed the coach to play well but he did not step up
Jose Mourinho believes Ajax boss Erik ten Hag failed to step up to the mark when his team needed him most during the Dutch club’s stunning Champions League semi-final exit on Wednesday.
Ajax dominated the opening exchanges of the second leg, running up a three-goal advantage on aggregate thanks to strikes from Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech.
But they showed their vulnerability in the second half as two quick-fire strikes from Lucas Moura put the match on a knife-edge, before the Brazilian shocked the Johan Cruyff Arena with a 96th-minute winner.
Jose Mourinho criticised Ajax coach Erik ten Hag after the Dutch side’s defeat by Tottenham
Mourinho said Ajax needed their coach to step up in the second half but he failed to do so
And former Manchester United manager Mourinho believes the Dutch coach deserves huge credit for what he has achieved with his young team, but in the second half on Wednesday, he performed as poorly as his team did.
‘I think, it hurts me a little bit to say this, I want to give 99 per cent credit to ten Hag, the beautiful work he did with this team. But I have to be critical in one per cent,’ Mourinho told beIN Sports.
‘I think in this second half, he has to play more.
‘As a coach there are matches where we don’t play, there are matches where we play very bad, but there are matches where we play very well, and Ajax in that second half needed him to play very well.
‘And I think he played like his team, not very well.’
Ajax raced into a 2-0 lead on the night but conspired to concede three goals in the second half
Lucas Moura scored a brilliant hat-trick for Spurs with his third goal coming in the 96th minute
Ajax eliminated both Juventus and reigning European champions Real Madrid on their way to the semi-finals before facing Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
They were mesmerising in spells in the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and their 1-0 advantage, which they held onto doggedly as the game came to a close, appeared to show an unexpected maturity from a side filled with academy products.
And after de Ligt’s towering header and Ziyech’s rifled finish, the Dutch club appeared home and dry by half-time. But the occasion overwhelmed them as the north Londoners completed a second Champions League miracle on successive nights in order to set-up an all-English final in Madrid on June 1.
‘The second half was amazing, thank you football,’ said a euphoric Pochettino.
Mauricio Pochettino was ecstatic as Spurs booked their place in the Champions League final
‘This type of emotion is impossible without football. Thank you to the fans, those who believed in us and to achieve this is fantastic. It’s hard to describe in words.
‘We were talking before the game that when you work and when you feel the love, it’s not a stress it’s a passion. We showed that tonight. I think in the game against City and today it is amazing.
‘It was a joy to watch this type of game, difficult for Ajax, to compete at this level in this competition this can happen and I am so grateful to be a coach, to be in football and living this moment.’