Tottenham ultimately failed to qualify for the Champions League at the end of that same 2020-21 season, with Mourinho recalling that the ownership had made it clear that a top-four finish was imperative, and perhaps of more importance than the League Cup final.
“I was up to it (managing Spurs in the final). I remember we played in that week, we should play Southampton before the final, and my focus was totally on the final. So it was a shock.
“I believe that one of the reasons was exactly that my focus was on the final and not Southampton. Because for the club, not the fans, the owners, it was more important to try to qualify for the Champions League, for financial reasons, so Southampton was a very important match.
“For me, the important match was the final. It was a medal, a cup, joy for the fans, and Harry Kane was injured. He was a doubt for the final. And in case Harry doesn’t recover for the final, the striker had to be Son. Imagine the final without Son and Kane!
“So when the boss asked me: ‘What do you think about the Southampton match?’ I told him: ‘I want to win, we are going to try to win, but without Harry I will leave Son on the bench’. It was a kind of contradiction because for them the final didn’t matter much, for me and the players it meant everything.”
