“I feel very disappointed. In the first half, I wasn’t happy with our performance. From the beginning, we had a plan and we didn’t respect the plan,” said the Tottenham Hotspur manager after a frustrating away European performance.



Though it was actually Mauricio Pochettino in the wake of September’s 2-2 draw at Olympiakos, rather than Jose Mourinho after the defeat by RB Leipzig on Tuesday night.



Indeed, Mourinho was arguably upbeat by comparison, even if his claim that: “All the players that were on the Leipzig bench, in my team they would play” was instantly held up as evidence of his inherent negativity. To his detractors, this was eerily similar to his claim two years ago after Sevilla inflicted an equally-painful Champions League exit on his Manchester United side that: “In Sevilla, there are many players who would play in my team.”



It should be pointed out that nobody is suggesting Pochettino and...