Jose Mourinho said Tottenham’s lack of attacking intent was not inspired by him after dropping more points from a winning position in a 1-1 draw at Wolves on Sunday.
Spurs have now failed to win in four consecutive league games to heavily dent their hopes of a first league title in 60 years.
Mourinho’s men edge up to fifth, but remain six points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
Tottenham have dropped eight points by conceding equalisers in the final 10 minutes this season after also blowing leads against Newcastle, West Ham and Crystal Palace. They also conceded a 90th-minute goal to lose at Liverpool.
The visitors made a dream start at Molineux as Tanguy Ndombele opened the scoring in the first minute.
But it was a familiar story for Mourinho as, just as against Palace a fortnight ago, they sat on a precarious 1-0 lead for most of the match and were punished.
“We didn’t have that ambition, that desire to go for more,” said Mourinho.
“One point against Wolves normally wouldn’t be a bad result because they are a strong opponent, but scoring a goal in the first minute and having 89 minutes to score more goals, you feel frustrated.
“Defending deep, that’s not the intention. They know what I asked them at half-time, if they couldn’t do better it’s because they couldn’t do better.”
Romain Saiss’s late leveller was no less than Wolves deserved as they dominated after a nightmare start.
“We conceded in the first minute and that requires a lot of character,” said Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo. “We played a good game after that.”
The normally reliable Rui Patricio was at fault for the opener as Ndombele’s shot from the edge of the box deceived the Portuguese international goalkeeper.
Wolves have struggled for goals since losing Raul Jimenez to a fractured skull last month.
The Mexican was at Molineux for the first time since his injury, but his presence was missed on the field as the hosts dominated possession without a cutting edge.
Fabio Silva flashed a shot into the side-netting and Daniel Podence fired too close to Hugo Lloris from the edge of box before the break.
Espirito Santo’s men have made a habit of scoring the bulk of their goals in the second-half and looked like the only side capable of scoring after the break.
Silva’s claims for a soft penalty were waved away as Tottenham largely restricted the hosts to potshots from range.
Ruben Neves curled narrowly over before Wolves’ danger man Pedro Neto saw another effort from the edge of the area deflected just wide.
Neto was the provider when Wolves did score the goal their second-half performance deserved. Saiss beat his marker to a corner at the near post and flicked the ball into the far corner.
Wolves should even have gone on to win the game when 18-year-old Silva wasted a golden chance for his first Premier League goal from open play with a header straight at Lloris deep into stoppage time.
