Spurs boss Mourinho: You expect Kane to score more – that's his fault

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho feels the expectation for Harry Kane to score more goals than he is currently managing is his own fault, having set his own lofty standards since establishing himself as one of the most feared strikers in football.

Kane was back in action for Spurs after the Premier League returned following the coronavirus-enforced break and has scored one goal in two games since the restart.

But Kane has been singled out for some criticism regardless, with fans expecting more from a proven finisher.

Mourinho, however, was quick to point out that his star man has only recently returned to the pitch following a bad hamstring tear, having picked up that injury on New Year's Day.

“In the game before the goal [against West Ham], I think it was minute 60, we had a defensive corner that Dele Alli cleared with a header and Harry Kane was in the box on a defensive corner,” the Portuguese boss started.

“I think 10 or 11 seconds later, he was in front of [West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz] Fabianski with a left-footed shot that was almost a goal at the far post.

“You expect Harry to score more than one goal in two matches – that's his fault. He created this expectation for you. So when the guy doesn't score many goals you think there's a crisis, but there is no crisis, there's an improvement.”

Another area of his squad that has been pleasing Mourinho is his defence, who recorded their first clean sheet in 10 games across all competitions when they beat the Hammers 2-0 in their previous encounter.

“The defensive organisation is not just about the keeper and the back three or back four,” he said. “It's about the team.

“Speaking about the defensive organisation of my team, I want to speak about my attacking players - the way they close spaces and respect organisation, the way they are learning to defend zonally.

“We are improving. I hope we are not saying this and then in the next two or three matches we concede a lot of goals. Hopefully the stats and the numbers are helping us, but our feeling is that we are improving, we are more stable and the team is getting better. 

“That's why I'm saying, independent of results and the table, I think when we start next pre-season we will be a better team than we are today.”