Muntari jumps to Jose Mourinho's defense over 'negative football' criticism

Muntari celebrating Inter's 2010 Champions League title with Mourinho

Ex-Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari has leapt to the defense of his former coach Jose Mourinho following comments that he plays ‘negative’ and ‘demoralising’ football.

The much-traveled Portuguese tactician, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham last November, has been faced with opprobrium over his defensive philosophy throughout his career.

The outspoken gaffer has been accused of sending the wrong messages to his players but Sulley Muntari believes otherwise.

Having played under Mourinho at Inter Milan for two years, Muntari thinks criticism over his former boss' tactical approach is blown out of proportion as he's been successful wherever he has coached.

“I really don’t buy it because I know who we are talking about here," the 35-year-old told Metro FM.

"He is the leader and you need to obey what your coach tells you, and that’s what he wants from his side. So if he wants them to defend in a certain way, they have to do it.

“Every coach has his style of play and that’s the way he wants his team to play, that’s his choice.

"For instance, when he was our coach, he didn’t say anything during matches because we know what he wanted. We knew where we wanted to be, we knew we wanted to win trophies.”

Former Udinese and Portsmouth midfielder Muntari went on to play for AC Milan and Pescara in Italy, Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna and Ittihad in Saudi Arabia after his Inter adventure.

He is currently on the search for a new club since ending a short spell with Spanish second division fold Albacete last year.