Mourinho confident he can leave positive Spurs legacy

London club are nine points outside the top four, making a return to the Champions League next season appear unlikely

LONDON:

Jose Mourinho is confident he will be remembered for the right reasons at Tottenham despite overseeing a collapse in Spurs' form during his first full season in charge.

Mourinho's men were top of the Premier League in early December but have taken just 12 points in 13 games since to slip to ninth.

They are nine points outside the top four, making a return to the Champions League next season appear unlikely.

However, the Portuguese does have a shot at redemption when his side face Manchester City in the League Cup final in April.

Spurs are also well set to reach the last 16 of the Europa League, 4-1 up after the first leg of their tie against Austrian side Wolfsberger, with the second leg taking place on Wednesday.

"I want to give happiness to everyone, the chairman, the players, the fans, everybody connected to the club," Mourinho said on Tuesday,

"I feel one of them and I want to give happiness to them. I believe that we will win through and that I will be in Tottenham's history for the good reasons and not for the bad reasons."

Spurs have lost five of their past six Premier League games, an unprecedented run for Mourinho in a long and mostly successful managerial career at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

"I want to know which coach has always had blue sky and never cloudy or a bit dark," he said.

"Perhaps only a coach who is always at a dominant club in a league. It shows how beautiful my career has been. Does it make me depressed? No. It's a challenge. I work for the club, the players and the supporters."

Mourinho said he was "hurt" by the poor run of results but felt more motivated than ever.

"Nobody is happy but nobody is depressed," he added. "I feel positive. Maybe a bit weird for you after losing so many matches but I'm positive. I'm not happy but I wake up wanting to come here. Everybody is loving training and working hard with so many matches."

Mourinho said he was in constant contact with chairman Daniel Levy and there was no friction between the pair.

"My relationship is the same since day one, which is one of respect and open communication," he said. "We respect each other. There is no contradiction between us because we both feel the same."