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José Mourinho had to stop from a run down the touchline when Harry Kane scored the winning goal at West Brom
José Mourinho has too much experience to talk about winning the Premier League.
It was only for a couple of hours, but with his Tottenham team at the top of the pile after one of those narrow and contested victories that characterize title-winning teams, Mourinho was asked if his team has what it takes. .
The Portuguese saw it coming and took evasive measures.
“I don’t care,” he said, referring to both the title race itself and the results of Leicester and Liverpool in the games that were played after he had spoken that it would have a direct effect on where they would be. the Spurs when they head to the international break.
Yet in a way, that Mourinho was even answering a question like that is a relative success.
In December 2018, following his dismissal by Manchester United at the end of a tortuous period in which ranks and recriminations were far more important than whatever his team was producing on the Old Trafford ground, he generally he felt that Mourinho was broke.
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Although others might have thought it, Mourinho never felt like the man of yesterday. He also didn’t feel that his methods of playing the game were out of date, as others claimed.
He is still an organizational coach. He also still wants to be a winner.
On more than one occasion during his post-match press conference, Mourinho linked a 1-0 win at West Brom with similar success at Burnley in Tottenham’s final away game on 26 October.
The scorer that day was Son Heung-min in the 76th minute. Against West Brom it was Harry Kane in the 88th minute. Whether it’s Gareth Bale, as he was at The Hawthorns, or Carlos Vinicius, who replaced the Welshman in the later stages, Mourinho feels he has the power to score goals anywhere, anytime.
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The key is what happens in the back.
Tottenham kept just two clean sheets away from home in the Premier League last season.
They’ve already matched that total this season and Mourinho feels the collapse against West Ham – when his team conceded three times in the final eight minutes to tie a game that seemed to have been won in the first 16 – was the trigger for greater strength. .
“This game has some similarities to Burnley’s, where a clean sheet kept us in the race for three points,” Mourinho said after Sunday’s victory. “So when you score a goal, it’s time to be compact and fight for that victory.
“We feel the pain against West Ham and since then, strategically, the team has behaved differently.”
Mourinho’s key decisions The arrival of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton has added strength to Tottenham’s midfield
It is tempting to say that Mourinho inherited a better squad than he had at Manchester United, so he is getting better results.
This may be true. However, the 57-year-old has made a few key personnel decisions, all of which fit his demand for organization, which explains why he was so delighted with the defensive performances at Burnley and West Brom.
First, he has switched to both sides. Matt Doherty showed as a winger for the Wolves how effective he can be. The Irishman has been traded to an orthodox full-back position now, but he has the defensive conscience Mourinho craves as well as being a threat in the future. It was no coincidence that he gave Kane’s winner the cross.
When Tottenham signed Bale from Real Madrid in September, the arrival of Sergio Reguilón, from the same place, at the same time, something went under the radar.
But the 23-year-old could turn out to be a better signing. Loaned to Sevilla and part of the team that won the Europa League last season, Reguilon is a modern winger. He goes ahead, takes free kicks and shoots from long range. But, like Doherty, he can also defend.
And then there is Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, a £ 15 million arrival from Southampton during the closed season, which also brings solidity to Tottenham’s midfield.
Hojbjerg is not a picky player. At West Brom, he showed what he does: he receives the ball and passes it. The presence of the 25-year-old Dane allows Moussa Sissoko to advance further and add strength in the midfield that Mourinho likes.
Dele Alli’s omission is seen as the coach’s big decision since he replaced Mauricio Pochettino, but fellow England midfielder Harry Winks, a longtime Spurs fan, also appears to be suffering from the demand for general improvement from His trainer.
In isolation, none of these moves seem all that significant, not in conjunction with Kane and Son’s goals.
But Pochettino’s Tottenham never reached the top of the table. While it was only a fleeting visit for now, the changes Mourinho has made may mean that they, and he, return there in a more substantial way before the season ends.
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Source: bbc.com
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