Jose looks invigorated and ready to get Spurs firing for a strong finish

I WAS struck by Jose Mourinho’s claim as he prepared for the restart that he needed two weeks more to get his Tottenham stars fully fit. His words told me he had learned the lessons of Chelsea’s title defence in 2015-16 when they took weeks to get going after some poor, poor planning from Mourinho (left) and his coaches at Stamford Bridge.

Certainly, Tottenham were a different beast to that

Blues side on Friday in their

1-1 draw with Manchester United.

They looked hungry, fit and sharp, and produced the performance that, pound for pound, is the one I have most enjoyed since Premier League football returned last Wednesday.

On the touchline, Mourinho looked full of passion and it was as if the fire in his belly translated directly to his players.

I liked the fact he went nuts when referee Jon Moss awarded United a second penalty late on for a trip by Eric Dier on Bruno Fernandes, which was eventually overturned by VAR. That reaction wasn’t just playing up to the supporters, because there were none there.

So we know it wasn’t for effect and I’m beginning to wonder if we might just see a different version of Mourinho in north London to the one we’ve seen in recent years.

Wherever he has gone of late, Mourinho has followed a formula.

He comes in as The Happy One, there’s an upturn on the pitch, a bit of success and then things get spiky and spiteful. He burns bridges with his players and, roughly three years after walking through a door, he’s on his way out – and both he and his bosses are quite happy that he is moving on.

Right now, though, he is probably casting an eye around Europe and thinking, ‘I love London, Tottenham is a big club and they have ambition, so maybe it’s just a case of keeping my head down and knuckling down’.

Spurs had a poor run into lockdown but the break has given him and his squad time to work together, and I see them being one of four teams, along with Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, who really could finish the season strongly. There was no doubt the team reflected what Mourinho wanted on Friday and he couldn’t have been anything other than satisfied with their performance.

I know there has been some criticism of Harry Kane, but I’m not at all worried about that.

Kane just needs to get games into his legs and if you look at the performances of Steven Bergwijn and Heung-min Son, as well as fullbacks Serge Aurier and Ben Davies, who got into good positions, then it won’t be long before he’s getting on the end of the chances those four are creating.

As a striker, when you have been out for a while you have to get back into the rhythm of playing week in, week out, and that will come.

He needs to get a goal off his backside sometime soon, even against West Ham tonight, and he will be up and running in no time.

If he can do that, then after the short break he will head into next season firing on all cylinders.

And with the Euros at the end of it, that will only bode well for club and country.

‘I know there has been some criticism of Harry Kane, but I’m not at all worried about that’