Jose Mourinho told Tottenham to play for a draw in their game with Crystal Palace on Sunday, according to Eagles and ex-Spurs winger Andros Townsend.
Tottenham secured Europa League qualification with a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park which, with Wolves beaten at Chelsea, saw them finish sixth in the Premier League.
Since Mourinho took over in north London, Spurs rose from 14th to securing another season of European football, with the Portuguese insisting he is happy to be in the Europa League.
Townsend, though, took aim at what he felt were negative tactics from the visitors.
“We were playing Spurs and they only needed a point to finish sixth,” Townsend told TalkSport. “You could tell the Spurs bench knew and Jose Mourinho was getting messages on to the pitch that they only needed a draw, and in the last 10 minutes they were literally taking the ball into the corner.
“You do need to know [what is happening in other games] because it can change our tactics and the way you approach the last 10-15 minutes of the game.”
GettySpurs and Palace only had two shots on target each in the game, with Harry Kane and Jeffrey Schlupp finding the net in an underwhelming end-of-season affair.
Nevertheless, Spurs finished the season strongly and Mourinho is feeling vindicated in his approach since replacing Mauricio Pochettino, although he admitted they weren’t at their best on Sunday.
“The season was crazy, since they played the Champions League final it has been up and down and really hard," Mourinho told Sky Sports. "We, in this group of matches managed to get results and to perform.
"Not today, it was not the best, but in this period, we played well, got results and were solid to put ourselves in the position to get in the Europa League.
"From a personal point of view, I'm happy because since I arrived, we would be fourth which is good with all the problems we had."
Less than 24 hours after the season ended, Spurs have already confirmed some transfer activity. Jan Vertonghen has announced his departure from the club following the end of his contract, with Michel Vorm also having made his exit.