French national team boss Didier Deschamps has mocked Jose Mourinho’s spell at Tottenham Hotspur, implying he expected more from his disappointing recent spell in North London.
The Portuguese boss, who has recently been appointed head coach of Serie A giants AS Roma, was in charge of Spurs between November 2019 and April 2021.
He was named as the successor to the ever-popular Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham and despite initially being talked up as the club’s route to major silverware, was sacked after an underwhelming spell.
The 58-year-old former Chelsea boss has been busy since though, giving his assessment on the upcoming European Championships.
Mourinho has even gone as far as labelling France as favourites, stating that they “have to win” the tournament in order to be successful.
He has been given a scathing reply back though, with Deschamps pointing to Mourinho’s poor spell in charge of Spurs.
Talking to French television outlet TF1, the ex-Chelsea midfielder said: "I thought the same thing about his Tottenham team, but it did not end up happening like that.
"Automatically, with the status of world champions, we are favourites, with three more years of experience. I have a very important offensive potential.
"But it's not just that. You talk about balance but I don't disconnect them from our midfield too. We will do everything to have the ball as much as possible but there will be times when we will not have the ball.
"It is not a pressure, it is a reality, we will not run away from the debate: France is one of the favourites for this Euro."
In all, Mourinho oversaw 86 matches in charge of Spurs, winning 45 of those.
He also led the club to the Carabao Cup final but was sacked before the slender 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
