Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min has revealed that Jose Mourinho embarrassed him during a half-time team talk while he was manager in North London.
Mourinho was a polarising character at Spurs during his 17-month tenure at the club. Many felt the legendary Portuguese manager started off on the wrong foot, having previously been critical of Tottenham during his two stints at Chelsea.
Other critics did not believe that Mourinho's tactics suited the vision of the club, and it was clear that fans were more than happy to see the back of him when he left in April 2021. Despite the clear polarising views supporters held of Mourinho, he always seemed to have a strong relationship with Son.
As recently as May this year, Mourinho spoke fondly of Son and singled him out as a world-class talent. "I don’t look at Son as a Korean player. I look at Son as one of the best players in the world," he told EA Sports FC.
"Maybe Tottenham supporters aren’t going to be happy with what I’m going to say, it’s not disrespectful. He could win titles, he could play for the best teams.
"He could be playing in England for Man City, for Liverpool, for Chelsea. It could be abroad playing for one of the top teams.
"He has that modern mobility of the attacking players. He can play through the middle, from the sides, wide to coming inside."
However, in a recent interview shared on Reddit in South Korea, Son admitted that Mourinho embarrassed him to spark a reaction from his teammates. Explaining what happened, the 32-year-old said: "During half time, he embarrassed me in front of everyone and said: 'You don't wanna be in a game with teams like Burnley and Stoke.'
"I was so upset. After the game, Mourinho apologized.
"He said he wanted to ensure other players weren't lazy by yelling to me as Spurs' best player." After leaving Tottenham, Mourinho won the UEFA Conference League at AS Roma and has now joined Fenerbahce.