Mourinho wants improvement as Tottenham reach Carabao Cup final

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho admitted that his side were not at their best despite beating Brentford to reach the Carabao Cup final on Tuesday night.

Moussa Sissoko and Heung-min Son scored in each half as Spurs defeated the second-tier club to book the final against either Manchester United or Manchester City.

Brentford came very close to equalise before Tottenham’s second goal but VAR ruled out Ivan Toney’s goal for very tight offside.

“It was not brilliant when we had the ball, we have to do better, but we were very solid, defensively we were very compact,” Mourinho told Tottenham’s official website in his post-match interview.

“The offside goal comes from a throw in and I always say when the ball is in the air, you cannot press, there is no pressing when the ball is in the air. Big guys, three giants, difficult second ball, we were lucky that was offside.”

However, the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager was pleased his team saw out the game comfortably.

He added: “Apart from that, we were in good control. They had one penetration in the box where Davinson Sanchez was very clever not to touch the opponent, and the opponent was fair, because some other guys would get that penalty.

“Apart from that we were always in control, didn’t play very well with the ball. We have to have more quality in the first touch, the decisions, sometimes we play backwards when we have open lines to play in front and into the pockets. We have to do better, but semi-finals are there to win, not to play beautifully.”

Mourinho, who has won the Carabao Cup with both Chelsea and Manchester United, is looking forward to the final.

“We work for ourselves, for our pride, for our own jobs, but at the end of the day, we work for the fans,” he said. 

“So, I’m really happy because we managed to give them that happiness, but finals without trophies are sad days, finals with trophies are amazing, eternal days in our memory.”

Manchester United and Manchester City will meet at Old Trafford on Wednesday night for a place in the final.