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Job done, as Joe Hart wouldn’t say. This victory does not heal the wounds opened by the dismal defeat at Arsenal and Thursday’s humiliation by Dinamo Zagreb, but it showed that Spurs still have at least some players who can do “the basics of life”, which José Mourinho He condemned certain members of his team for not doing it in Croatia.
Mourinho has never been an easy coach to feel sorry for, not even when he presents himself as a victim of the tricks of referees, directors, journalists, opponents, football associations or an international humanitarian agency. But going into the game at Villa Park had been somewhat pathetic for him, and not only because he declared himself “more than sad” about his team’s performance in Zagreb. There he seemed angry at his players’ refusal to carry out orders, but also almost resigned to his own helplessness, like a meteorologist weakly shaking his fist at the clouds for bringing rain after forecasting the sun.
It made one wonder what is worse for a coach: having players who can’t do what he wants, players who don’t listen to him, or players who listen to do the exact opposite of what he wants? In either scenario, the manager knows that he is in a bad place. But if Mourinho’s inability to connect with at least some of Tottenham’s players has been cited as evidence of his obsolescence, it must also be remembered that Mauricio Pochettino, who is not a dinosaur, suffered a similar frustration during the end of his reign. on the Spurs. And Hugo Lloris’ comments after Thursday’s game revealed divisions in the locker room, suggesting that some players have been just as exasperated as the coach with the attitudes of others.
The questions at Villa Park, then, were to what extent can Mourinho continue to influence events? Does Tottenham have enough willing and able players to play as he demands? Turns out yes.
Aston Villa were a suitable opponent given that Mourinho said they are the team he has most enjoyed watching in the Premier League this season. Of course, he said that in January, before Jack Grealish’s injury, he deprived them of magic, but, even without their captain, Villa overall has been dynamic, solid, energetic and ambitious throughout the season. A good example for the Spurs, in other words. It was interesting to see which players Mourinho chose to face Villa after a week in which the Spurs failed in two games with almost two different lineups.
The disease apparently ruled out Serge Aurier and Toby Alderweireld, but Mourinho made other unforced changes to defense, a sector where lack of reliability has been the only constant for Spurs this season. Eric Dier was left out, while Joe Rodon and Davinson Sánchez made up the fifth pair of central defenders Mourinho has used in the league this season, and they did well after a questionable start. Japhet Tanganga was reasonable as a right back, while Matt Doherty was not even among the substitutes.
Carlos Vinícius got off to an unusual start up front, while Giovani Lo Celso entered midfield, and Dele Alli and Gareth Bale left to contemplate the meaning of life on the bench. Two 16-year-olds, Alfie Devine and Dane Scarlett, were with them because Mourinho wanted “to show others that we too look to the future.” That suggested that when Mourinho stressed after the defeat in Zagreb that Spurs were “my team”, it was not a show of humility and shared guilt: it was a warning that he has no intention of being sent off, and that players who do not do as their ways, it is better to learn to accept them or look the other way. We’ll find out if that’s a war he can win.
Initial signs weren’t promising at Villa Park as the Spurs got off to a slow start. There were some honorable exceptions, most notably Lucas Moura, whose burst from midfield in the ninth minute allowed Tottenham to stretch Villa’s defense for the first time. Other than that, the Spurs posed no threat.
Villa appeared to be in command, but if there’s one thing Mourinho has never lost faith in, it’s the other teams’ ability to goof around, giving his team a chance to explode. Villa has eradicated many of the individual mistakes they used to make last season, in part because Emi Martinez has built confidence from behind, so it came as a surprise when the goalkeeper made the mistake that turned the game in Spurs’ favor. Moura made the most of it, beating Matty Cash with a loose shot from Martinez before trading passes with Harry Kane and presenting Vinícius with an easy invite to score his first Premier League goal.
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The Spurs didn’t need to be more than competent after that, and, in a welcome development for Mourinho, they rose to that modest challenge.
They even increased their lead thanks to a cynical deception from Kane, whose clumsy touch confused Cash but gave the forward a chance to land on his leg. Martinez went the wrong way for the penalty and the Spurs got back on the right track. For now.
