Smith counting on Terry to ‘plot downfall’ of Jose
DEAN SMITH admits he has been “picking John Terry’s brain” for Jose Mourinho’s secrets as Aston Villa put together a Special game plan for tomorrow.
Villa are preparing to host Mourinho’s Tottenham when the clubs return to action after the winter break.
Former Chelsea captain Terry will be in the home dug-out as Smith’s assistant to face his old mentor Mourinho for the first time on the touchline.
The pair won eight trophies in two spells together at Stamford Bridge after Mourinho took over in 2004 and declared himself the ‘Special One’.
Smith said: “I have been picking JT’s brains for the past 18 months. Hopefully, between myself, JT and [assistant coach] Richard O’Kelly we can overcome Jose.
“JT knows whoever we play against will be focused and they will be looking to see what our strengths are and looking to nullify them. JT has been his captain twice at Chelsea and they’ve won a lot of trophies together. They’ve got a deep respect for each other.
“He’s spoken about the admiration he has for Jose as a coach and a person when they were at Chelsea. But the dynamics are
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vVdifferent now. He’s on my bench and he’s sat behind me giving me bits of information that I’ll need.
“We’ll try to plot the downfall of one of his ex-coaches.”
Terry has an earpiece feed to an analyst in the stands during Villa matches and relays information to boss Smith as well as giving his own opinion.
Smith said: “It gives me an opportunity to run things through my head and process the information before we make decisions.”
Mourinho has pleaded with football’s lawmakers not to ban Dele Alli for his controversial coronavirus video.
Alli has apologised after posting a clip on Snapchat appearing to mock an Asian man and referencing the deadly outbreak.
“It is unnecessary because the player understands the naivety of the situation – the player is a good guy, and even in the dressing room he has a big Asian friend that he loves,” said Mourinho, presumably referring to Alli’s South Korean teammate Son Heung-Min.
“He learned the lesson immediately with the embarrassment. I don’t feel we need more than that.”
Reina; Konsa, Mings, Hause; Guilbert, Nakamba, Luiz, Targett; El Ghazi, Samatta, Grealish.
Lloris; Aurier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies; Winks, Dier; Lo Celso, Alli, Moura; Son.