You showed a lot of fight in the second half but maybe lacked a bit of quality in the finish...
"The game was not easy, the second half not easy. They were winning and they were defending basically with 10 players, fighting hard, being aggressive, a good aggressive not a bad aggressive. There were lots of fouls and stoppages. The ball-boys were well coached in the delaying of the game and there was not much play. When we lose out target man Harry Kane we know the part of the game where we are normally more dominant is gone. We played the last 15 minutes of the game plus extra time without a recognised striker and that made it even more difficult."
Is the news on Harry Kane positive or negative?
"I think it's negative. For Harry to come out is negative. Hamstring is always a negative. Is it a tear? Is it a small thing? Is it a spasm? Is it a contraction? In this moment I cannot say."
And a very tight offside...
"For me the referees are not the referees. I think the VAR should change their name because Video Assistant Referee is not true. It should be VR - Video Referee - because they are the referees. It is strange. You see the referees on pitch and they not the referees, they are the assistants. The other guys in the office are the ones who make the big decisions of the game. In relation to the offsides, for example in the past three weeks we had Harry Kane’s goal against Brighton disallowed for offside by I don’t know what margin. Then Norwich had one ruled out against us. I don’t know what half an inch that was. Then today, our goal I also don't know, but this one I confess I haven’t watched yet. What I know is the Dele Alli penalty is a penalty and the VAR didn’t interfere. Then they interfered in the analyse of a penalty that from 75 yards away I knew was not a penalty. It was the Harry Kane shot with the rebound when McCarthy comes with Dele on the second ball, from 75 yards away I knew it wasn’t a penalty. I think they gave the VAR analyse to try to make us blind about the penalty that was a penalty. They decide not even to analyse on the VAR. This is going in a very bad direction, sometimes in our favour like at Norwich, sometimes against us. But the direction it is taking us in is really really wrong and I think the first step should be to change the name from VAR to VR."
Can I just ask you about your yellow card as it was said you approached the Southampton bench?
"I think the yellow card was fair because I was rude. But I was rude to an idiot. And for some reason I was rude, but I was. And because I was rude I deserved the yellow card."
There was some suggestion on the internet that you were trying to look at their notes?
"What?"
Is there any update on how Tanguy is?
"No. He is always injured. He’s injured, he’s not injured, he plays one match, next week he’s injured again, he then plays another match…We are full of hopes but this has been since the beginning of the season."
Is it a concern?
"Of course it's a concern. You think you have a player and he is in the evolution process. He plays very well at Norwich and we were full of hope that today he would be ready for this. And he wasn’t. I cannot say much more than that because it is a situation that comes from the beginning of the season."
You've now lost two players injured today, is that a problem because of four games in a week?
"We had a big problem with Son being suspended in this period 26th, 28th and 1st of January, three matches without Son was a problem for us. Now Son is back Harry Kane is out but that’s the way it is. We have to try to cope the best we can."
