Football Focus: 'Spurs must aim higher than just finishing above Arsenal'

News of all that transpired on and off the football field

Spurs must aim higher than just finishing above Arsenal: Mourinho

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has said finishing above Arsenal in the Premier League is a matter of pride for supporters but the club has to aim higher.

Toby Alderweireld's 81st-minute header sealed a 2-1 victory against Arsenal on Sunday, moving Spurs up to eighth and two points above their north London rivals with three games left.

While Tottenham are looking to finish above Arsenal for a fourth straight season Mourinho said he would not be satisfied with that.

"I have to be more ambitious than that," he told reporters.

" ... I don't want to look at it just as a fan that is happy to finish above Arsenal."

Spurs can secure a place in the Europa League by finishing sixth and Mourinho said he would be keen to play in Europe's second-tier club competition, which he won with Manchester United and Porto.

"It's not a competition that I'm in love with or like very much to play, but when you cannot play Champions League, you play Europa League," Mourinho added.

"In my career I only played Europa League twice, and I won it twice. It wouldn't be bad to play it a third time and to win it a third time."

Rodgers calls on Leicester to show mettle in title run-in

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has called on his players to show some steel after Sunday's 4-1 Premier League defeat by Bournemouth.

Fourth-placed Leicester, who host Sheffield United on Thursday, have won just once in six league games since the season's restart.

"It's not a happy changing room and it shouldn't be, because that is not acceptable, to deliver that level, especially when you work so well," Rodgers told the club's website.

"The Sheffield game will be a great challenge for us because we need to show a greater level of physicality and mentality. That'll be a really good test.

"We had a great result at Bramall Lane earlier in the season and now this is a game where we've really got to show our mettle and look to get working again."

Leicester are fourth on 59 points, a point and a place ahead of Manchester United, who face Southampton later on Monday. Leicester end their campaign with games against Tottenham Hotspur and United.

Manchester United's De Gea needs more trophies, says Solskjaer

Goalkeeper David de Gea will not be content with personal accolades and needs to win more major trophies at Manchester United, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said.

De Gea, 29, has won United's Player of the Year award four times since arriving from Atletico Madrid in 2011 but the club have won the Premier League just once during his nine seasons at Old Trafford.

They have also won the FA Cup, Europa League and League Cup once during his stay.

"I don't think he will be happy until he wins more of the bigger trophies. Staying at Manchester United in this time and not having won more, I think that's something that he will feel is a black dot in his career," Solskjaer told British media.

"I don't think David is that type who cares about personal awards, he wants the team to lift the big ones as well."

De Gea is set to become just the second goalkeeper after Alex Stepney to make 400 appearances for United.

"He has come out and said that he wants to play many, many more – maybe 10 more years," the United manager said. "How long he will be able to stay at the top is just up to him."

United are fifth on 58 points, a point and a place behind Leicester City. They host Southampton later on Monday.