Jose Mourinho admitted his Tottenham players were not strong enough mentally in the 3-3 draw with West Ham as Gareth Bale’s second debut descended into a nightmare.
Manuel Lanzini scored the sort of stunning 25-yard equaliser deep in injury time that Bale used to score from Spurs to snatch a point for West Ham after the visitors had trailed 3-0 after just 16 minutes.
Bale came on in the 72nd minute and it was not until 10 minutes later that West Ham even started their comeback to leave Spurs without a home win in the Premier League all season.
“I think you can imagine how frustrated I am. It was exactly when we were in control that we conceded the first and their belief went up.
“My guys were not strong enough to cope with it psychologically.
DON’T MISS: Gareth Bale mindset explained by Tottenham star ahead of West Ham game
“The last few seconds we lost two points. This is a game that was in the pocket and we lost two points.
“It’s difficult to say complacency. To be critical at that level. A team that scores three goals like we did cannot lose like we did.
“They were lucky but maybe they deserved that luck. We were unlucky but maybe we deserved that.
“Harry Kane hit the post. Bale can score the fourth and kill it. Based on free-kicks and second balls, they found a style. We should be stronger.
PREMIER LEAGUE ON TV: Get NOW TV’s Sky Sports season pass now and save 25 per cent
“In the second half, West Ham risked quite a lot, pressing up and giving us more space.
“I don’t know if it was us inviting them or with them with the extra motivation of getting in the game. I can’t identify it is was us or them, maybe both.”
Tottenham striker Son Heung-min added: “The lads are devastated for the result, we think we deserved three points and played really well until the last 10 minutes. It’s a shock.”
Moyes joked that he was keen to avoid giving it the full ‘Mourinho’ with his reaction – referring to the Special One’s antics at Old Trafford after Manchester United beat Porto in 2004.
“I have just seen my celebration… I know someone else who has run and slid down the touchline, so I wasn’t going to copy that,” Moyes said.
“But that David Pleat moment came to mind.
“It is one of these moments you don’t often get in football. At one point you’re saying how bad can this get.
“You get a lot of downs in football when you are working hard and trying to attain the top level, so you have good moments but a lot of bad too. Today was a great moment. It was a moment of brilliance from Manu.”
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission on any sales of products or services we write about. This article was written completely independently, see more details here