MATT DOHERTY has revealed what life was like working under ex-Tottenham boss, and admitted he let the Portuguese coach down while at the club.
The Dubliner signed for Spurs from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020 and has struggled to nail down a place in the Spurs side.
The Ireland fullback has had spells in and out of the team, and has now become second choice to Emerson Royal at the north London club.
Before this Jose Mourinho was the Tottenham boss from 2019-2020. He signed the Ireland native during his time at the club
However, Mourinho was sacked after a string of poor results at the club.
Speaking to the Independent in a long interview, Doherty opened up about his time under Mourinho and even admitted to have 'let him down'
"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," said Doherty.
Matt Doherty on José Mourinho:
“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. pic.twitter.com/6mC28G5Ko8— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) October 22, 2022
"The shape was obviously different [from Wolves]. The difference was that, at Tottenham, they have so much ability going forward, with the players they have, that maybe I wasn’t necessarily needed to play high and create stuff. So, my main job was maybe just to be a defender. But my game is about going forward."
Doherty in the same interview also stated that he has no ill feelings towards his ex-manager, but did admit that he had regrets on how was able to perform during his managerial span
"To be fair to José, 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," added Jose.
Doherty and Spurs plays Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday evening in the Champions League. Kick-off is at 8pm.
