Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho insists he knows what it takes to get the best out of Harry Kane

Portuguese reels off names of top strikers he has coached – including Drogba, Ronaldo, Benzema and Ibrahimovic – in response to suggestion his tactics do not suit Spurs' star attacker

Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane failed to get a single touch in the Manchester United box during a 1-1 on Friday. PA

Jose Mourinho strongly defended his record of getting the best from top strikers on Monday after criticism the Portuguese manager's style could see Harry Kane look for pastures new.

Kane played his first game for six months in Tottenham's 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Friday, but failed to get a single touch in the opposition box.

Mourinho's tactics were again in the spotlight as Spurs tried to hold onto a 1-0 lead for most of the second half before Bruno Fernandes's penalty secured a point for United.

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson said he "worried" for Kane under Mourinho and a lack of trophies could also force the England captain to move on.

Mourinho addressed Merson personally during a video-conference ahead of Tuesday's clash with West Ham United and reeled off a list of statistics detailing the scoring rates of Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Diego Milito and Zlatan Ibrahimovic during his time in charge of Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Kane scored seven goals in 10 games following Mourinho's appointment before tearing his hamstring on New Year's Day.

"I feel a bit strange at some analysis and some comments, especially as it looks for me at the beginning of some comments and analysis have started from Paul [Merson]," Mourinho said.

"I have to say I respect a lot people like him and because I respect him a lot, I want to be nice in my answer. I don't think he's ready for a bad answer so I try to be nice and say something that people can think a little bit.

"First of all Harry played his first game for six months. The record of goals that Harry has for me is easy for me. Go to your data and it's easy to see how many matches he played with me and how many goals he scored before his injury.

"I had a few strikers that played for me and they're not bad. I have a guy called Drogba, he played for me for four seasons. He scored 186 goals which gives an average of 46 goals per season [Drogba scored 73 goals in 186 games for Chelsea].

"I had another guy who is also not bad, plays for Juventus now [Ronaldo]. He played for me for three seasons, he scored 186 goals, which gives an average of 56 goals per season.

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"I had another guy who is also not bad, called Karim Benzema. He played for me for three seasons, he was not always starting because he was quite young at the time, he scored 78 goals in three seasons, which gives a 26-goal average per season.

"I had another called Milito, he played one season, he scored 30 goals, won three titles.

"I had another guy, he played for one-and-a-half seasons, in the other half he had a big injury. A tall guy called Zlatan. He scored 58 goals, which gives a 29 average per season.

"So dear Paul, I have lots of respect for you. I think Harry Kane has no problem at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he's fit and fresh and has routines of playing."

Mourinho was also criticised for leaving a visibly tiring Kane on the field for the full 90 minutes last week.

Spurs wilted in the final quarter as Mourinho made just two of five allotted substitution compared with United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who used his full complement.

Mourinho bemoaned his lack of options from the bench, with Dele Alli suspended and Lucas Moura injured.

Alli and Lucas will be available for selection against West Ham and Mourinho is looking forward to having six attacking players to choose from for the first time as Tottenham boss.

"[Steven] Bergwijn and [Erik] Lamela, Lucas and Son [Heung-min], Dele and Harry, six attacking players, all different, all very good and it is the first time I have all of them available, which is the kind of problem which we coaches love."

Spurs, meanwhile, have extended the contracts of Jan Vertonghen and Michel Vorm until the end of the season.

Both men were due to leave the club on June 30 but will now stay for the remaining eight games.