Jose ‘trusts’ in squad as Arteta plots an ambush
TOTTENHAM boss Jose Mourinho said he now has full trust in his entire squad ahead of today’s north London derby. Mourinho made seven changes to his side for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Dinamo Zagreb in order to give the likes of Gareth Bale, Sergio Reguilon, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Toby Alderweireld a rest.
Being able to make so many changes for an important knockout game is progress for Mourinho, who vowed not to do it again after a Europa League group game with Royal Antwerp.
He changed almost his entire XI and was stung by a poor performance in a 1-0 defeat in Belgium.
‘The reason why on Thursday we changed seven players from the last match was because I trust all the guys,’ he said.
‘The last time I did this, we lost against Antwerp and everybody was killing me. And rightly so, because I made these decisions but in that match I felt a little let down by attitude.
‘I change seven in a very important match and I did it because of trust. To be honest I didn’t change 11 because I didn’t want to give the team a feeling of it’s too much or I’m gambling or something like that because I could have perfectly changed.
‘The reality is we have that, we have everybody playing well.’
Spurs are set to have everyone available except for Giovani Lo Celso, who is struggling with a back injury. The Argentinian has been out since December with a hamstring injury, and picked up a niggle in his return to training.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta will be looking to channel memorable north London derby victories as a player to win his first game against Tottenham as Arsenal manager on Sunday.
The Spaniard has lost his previous two games against Spurs since taking charge at the Emirates Stadium in December 2019.
Both have been played across north London at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but Arsenal play host to their neighbours this time around.
Arteta competed in nine derby clashes against Spurs during his five-year stint in the Arsenal midfield – losing only twice.
Ahead of the latest meeting of the local rivals, Arteta recalled some of his favourite experiences from the fixture, selecting a 5-2 comeback win in February 2012 as his highlight.
‘I played in some magnificent north London derbies. The most important one was probably at the Emirates when we made a huge comeback after going down.
‘Just feeling that the fans were so happy was emotional.’
Arteta’s memories of their last derby, back in December, are not quite as happy as the Gunners dominated possession but ultimately lost 2-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
‘The last game, we started really well, we were dominant and the first time they went over the halfway line they scored,’ he said.
‘That’s the quality, they are a wellorganised team, a big threat in every counter-attack situation, great individuals skills and great organisation.’
Arteta admits it was painful to lose his two first meetings with Tottenham as a manager but is keen to change that this time out – even if there will be no fans present to savour it.
Asked if it hurts to have been defeated in both derbies to date, the 38-year-old replied: ‘Yes.
‘We have played twice, they have been really tight games decided by some small details but hopefully we can change that on Sunday.’