‘I guessed’ – Mourinho dismisses spying allegations after Chelsea defeat

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho laughed off claims from Frank Lampard that he had used his Chelsea contacts to engage in espionage prior to Saturday’s London derby. 

Mourinho had sprung a surprise the day before his return to Stamford Bridge by reciting the formation and tactics he expected Lampard to use in the clash. 

He turned out to be uncannily accurate, although that knowledge did little to help Spurs’ chances as they fell to a 2-1 defeat. 

Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso hit to put the hosts two ahead, meaning that Antonio Rudiger’s late own goal proved only a consolation for Mourinho’s men. 

Lampard, however, was not happy to see his strategy laid bare by a rival coach and, in an episode that brought to mind last season’s Spygate saga between the former Derby boss and Leeds United‘s Marcelo Bielsa, suggested that Mourinho had used illicit means to gather that information. 

“Serious, that’s the world we live in. I am not being sinister about it, but it is the world we live in,” the manager replied when asked if he thought Mourinho had a mole inside his coaching staff. 

“When someone has worked at the club previously, I think that can happen. When you have been working on a back three for two or three days, I am not that trusting always in terms of everybody but that’s life.”

Mourinho gave the idea short shrift, suggesting that Lampard’s switches were entirely consistent with his previous behaviour. 

“I guessed because there is a logic to it,” he told reporters. 

“When they have a run of bad results, they go to five, when they have a run of bad results they go to Alonso and that’s what they did when they played against Lille and against us in the first match.

“That’s what of course I knew they were going to do today again. It’s obvious. When they’re in a run of good results, they go to different players.

“When they are in trouble, five at the back and Alonso. No one leaked me anything. They are loyal to him.”

Saturday’s defeat leaves Spurs four points shy of their London rivals in fourth place, and they could drop out of the top five altogether if Sheffield United and/or Manchester United record victories at the weekend.