Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho read from prepared notes in a lengthy response to Paul Merson's suggestion that Harry Kane would struggle to score goals under the Portuguese manager.
The Sky Sports pundit suggested Kane would want to leave Spurs because of Mourinho's pragmatic style of play and picked apart the England captain's performance in Friday's 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
Kane has scored seven goals in 10 games under Mourinho but struggled to make an impact against United - his first match since returning from hamstring surgery in January.
"He's going to be playing up front on his own and it is going to be hard work," said Merson. "I don't see him getting 25-30 goals next season with the way Jose will want to play."
But Mourinho spent four minutes listed the scoring stats of former strikers Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Diego Milito and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, adding that Merson was wrong to judge Kane based on one game and that the England captain would have no issues scoring goals for him.
"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 at his pre-match press conference previewing Tuesday's visit of West Ham.
"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 (Didier) Drogba, he played for me four seasons, he scored 186 goals - an average (of) 46 goals per season.
"I had another guy who is also not bad, plays for Juventus now (Ronaldo). He played for me three seasons, he scored 186 goals, which gives an average of 56 goals per season.
"I had another guy who is also not bad, called Karim Benzema. He played for me 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 (Diego) 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 (Ibrahimovic). 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. That's my message to somebody I have lots of respect for."
Kane will be again be involved against West Ham as Mourinho has all six of his attacking players available for the first time in his six months in charge.
Lucas Moura has recovered from a knock while Dele Alli has served his one-match ban and they join Kane, Eric Lamela, Son Heung-min and Steven Bergwijn in the squad.
Bergwijn scored Spurs' goal on Friday against United, with a fine piece of powerful play and he has made a big impact since joining from PSV in January but Mourinho has admitted the winger was not his first choice in the transfer market.
"Congratulations to my club, the way they did it," he said. "Initially, and I'm always very honest on this, he wasn't my first option when we decided to make a movement in the winter.
"But in the end, a great decision. A player with a great future, can play on the right and the left.
"We're more than happy, not just his age, but also his professional attitude. The way he trains, the way he lives. He's the kind of kid that can only be better."
Spurs 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 30 June but will now stay for the remaining eight games.
