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One year after his reign at Tottenham Hotspur, José Mourinho is exactly where he wants to be: at the top of the table.
While Mourinho certainly ran into his fair share of difficulties after replacing Mauricio Pochettino last season, the current campaign has been a much more positive story.
After an impressive summer of recruiting, Spurs are ahead of Liverpool on top in goal difference with both teams having earned 20 points in their first nine games.
And there is no doubt that Mourinho’s men have improved. With nine goals conceded, they have the tightest defense with Wolverhampton Wanderers, and with 21 goals scored, only Chelsea have shown a more lethal attack.
Since their home loss to Everton on Opening Day, Tottenham have lost just four points, outscored Manchester United six and ruined Manchester City’s title hopes with a 2-0 win over Pep Guardiola’s side. Saturday.
Mourinho is rarely associated with exciting football, but few teams have been as deadly as Spurs in the past two months.
Much of that, of course, is down to the form of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, who have 16 goals and 11 assists between them in nine games.
That’s a remarkable comeback and while Mourinho appears to have established an assembled winning formula and a team capable of challenging Liverpool’s supremacy, there are inevitable rumors of an over-reliance on the aforementioned duo.
In fact, only three of Tottenham’s 21 goals have not directly involved Kane or Son. They are the only two players who have scored more than once, while Sergio Reguilón is the only player outside of them who has achieved multiple assists.
Their combined loot is truly impressive, but surely there would be a concern on Mourinho’s part if one of his two key men were to be injured.
Last season, Mourinho lost Kane and Son in January and February respectively, and without them Spurs struggled, unable to win any of their last six games in all competitions before the lockout in a streak that saw them knocked out of the Cup. FA and the Champions League by Norwich City and RB Leipzig respectively.
Losing either player at this stage would be a potentially devastating blow given the streak Mourinho’s men face for the next four weeks.
Their win over Manchester City was preceded by a relatively favorable streak of matches for the Spurs when they faced Burnley, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Bromwich Albion, three of the bottom five in the division.
However, four of his next five league outings include trips to Chelsea and Liverpool and home games against Arsenal and Leicester City.
During that period, they must also visit Crystal Palace and LASK Linz in the Europa League, as well as European home matches with Ludogorets and Royal Antwerp.
While Mourinho will undoubtedly be glad the internationals have laid down until March, Spurs’ match schedule shows no signs of slowing down with 11 games between now and the new year.
And if they lost to Son or Kane, it would put intense pressure on the players recruited for substitutes. After an impressive debut that gave LASK two assists, Carlos Vinicius, on loan from Benfica in the summer, has not shone.
The Brazilian has only managed 12 minutes of action in the league so far, and although he scored 24 times in all competitions for Benfica last season, the chances of the 25-year-old replicating Kane’s influence in the final third are rare at best with England. captain having shone both in front of goal and in more withdrawn positions, where he has managed to create chances for Son.
As for Son, the South Korean international’s nine goals already put him within two of his tally from last season and five of his best streak in a single season since he joined the club in 2015.
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Like Kane, the 28-year-old is virtually irreplaceable. Spurs strengthened their options by bringing in Gareth Bale on loan from Real Madrid, but the Welshman is not the same player who left the club to join the Spanish giants in 2013.
His win against Brighton showed that he is still capable of making a difference, but producing 21 league goals, as he did in 2012/13, seems beyond 31 years.
This is all hypothetical, of course. For now, Kane and Son are healthy. However, there is a strong chance that one of them will take a hit as the matches continue to get thick and fast.
Liverpool have already shown how they can get by without their most influential players. Against Leicester City on Sunday, Reds coach Jürgen Klopp was left without eight players, including defensive rock Virgil van Dijk, captain Jordan Henderson and attacking talisman Mohamed Salah, but still managed to plot a 3-point win. -0 on a Foxes team that has been quietly threatening. to repeat his 2016 title-winning heroism.
Mourinho’s team has yet to stretch to that level, but even if Spurs manage to keep their players in shape, next month he could make or break his season as the title race begins to take shape.
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