Arsenal legend explains what Jose Mourinho is doing wrong at Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal legend Martin Keown has criticised Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho for how he treats his players.

Keown believes that Mourinho‘s public statements regarding his players greatly harm their confidence and feels that the Spurs coach ought to begin appreciating the importance of his players’ self-esteem.

Spurs’ drop in form.

Tottenham faced off against London rivals Chelsea on Thursday and came away with a 1-0 defeat. The result condemned them to their third straight Premier League loss — the last time they did the same was back in 2012.

Mourinho’s side have fallen a long way since topping the table back in December. They currently find themselves in ninth place — 14 points behind league leaders Manchester City.

Spurs have gone from being labelled title contenders earlier in the season to fighting for a place in the top four.

Given his side’s dramatic drop in form, Mourinho has come under fire for failing to overturn his side’s lacklustre performances in recent weeks.

Keown on Mourinho.

Keown spoke to talkSPORT and felt that the ex-Real Madrid coach needs to be more mindful when speaking of his players in public.

“The negativity of what Mourinho said afterwards impacts the players that played last night,” the former Gunners defender said.

“If I’m a player like Ben Davies, and Sergio Reguilon is being talked about as ‘a player we miss’, how does Davies feel about that? Why can’t Davies do what Reguilon does?

“He probably feels he’s protecting his players, but no, he’s actually wiping them of any confidence they might have had.”

Keown also explained that the Portuguese couldn’t hope to win trophies with the club if his side lacked self-esteem.

“He’s talking about how you win trophies and your self-esteem goes through the roof,” the former Everton man added.

“But you don’t win trophies without good self-esteem, so you have to work on that first. That’s a lesson he needs to learn.