NUNO schools Mourinho the mentor
JuST eight days after Frank Lampard showed the temerity to outsmart Jose Mourinho for a third time in his short managerial career, nuno Espirito Santo rolled into London.
nuno is another Mourinho protege who has returned to cause problems for his mentor as Wolves twice fought back from behind to claim three points with goals by Matt Doherty, Diogo Jota and raul Jimenez.
They are unbeaten in nine Premier League fixtures in the capital since promotion. They beat Tottenham when Spurs lodged at Wembley last season and they did it again here. in doing so they clambered above their hosts in the scramble for the top four and condemned Mourinho to sift for excuses, claiming the result was ‘unfair’ and bemoaning his team’s lack of a cynical edge in midfield.
Spurs have lost three in a row. The morale boost from beating Manchester City has quickly vanished and of greater concern must be the absence of any fluency on the ball and a persistent fragility at the back.
Wolves are a team who know exactly what they are trying to do and how they are going to do it. They play unashamedly on the turnover with a deadly blend of pace and precision.
Jimenez leads the line and now has 22 goals in all competitions this season at a ratio better than one in two. Adama Traore offers speed and power and Jota is a creative spark and a flash of unpredictability. They have the midfield vision of Joao Moutinho and ruben neves, energy and attacking threat from their wing-backs and a system everyone understands nearly three years into nuno’s tenure. They are slick — lethal on the break and seemingly unperturbed by a campaign which started in July and has already reached 46 competitive fixtures.
Tottenham, in contrast, seem unsure what they are trying to do as they splutter on without key strikers harry Kane and Son heung-min and, yesterday, also without captain hugo Lloris and Erik Lamela.
Mourinho’s latest attempt to jolt his team into the groove involved a radical change at the back. Out went Toby Alderweireld and in came Eric Dier and still they proved terribly vulnerable despite the comfort of an early goal from Steven Bergwijn. rui Patricio saved the first effort from Dele Alli before Bergwijn forced the rebound into the net, his second goal in five games since a £27million move from PSV Eindhoven.
his team had their noses in front but Mourinho cut an agitated figure as Wolves exposed familiar weaknesses. Jota flashed a warning shot over from the edge of the area before launching the attack for the first equaliser, skipping ahead of Davinson Sanchez on halfway to release ruben Vinagre with a flick. Wing-back Vinagre forged down the left and delivered a low cross, missed by Dier and cut out by Japhet Tanganga but his touch was heavy and only served up the chance for Doherty to slam the ball low past Paulo Gazzaniga.
Momentum twisted back towards Spurs moments before the interval. Willy Boly blocked from Ben Davies and Alli connected with an overhead effort only to see it land in the hands of Patricio. Tottenham maintained the pressure and reclaimed the lead in the next attack, a move left to right through Alli and capped by a fabulous finish by Serge Aurier, who cut inside on to his left foot took aim. no one seemed more surprised than the ivorian international as it swerved beyond Patricio and inside the post. it was Aurier’s first goal in the Premier League for nearly two years.
Tottenham might have stretched the lead early in the second half when Alli slipped away from his marker to get on the end of a cross by Davies. his header flashed narrowly wide and Mourinho threw up his arms in anguish.
Wolves were soon level and, once more, the Spurs defence was opened up with ease. Traore rode a challenge by Tanganga in the centre of the pitch, advanced and found Jimenez who rolled a pass into the path of Doherty charging forward on the right. Doherty drove the ball low and hard towards the far post and whether it was intended as a shot, it caused problems. Gazzaniga stuck out a boot and his touch took the pace from the ball and presented Jota with the simple task of finding the empty net. The winning goal came in the 73rd minute, created by Jota, dancing his way out of midfield and finding Jimenez and the Mexican jinked past Tanganga before beating Gazzaniga with a powerful strike with his left foot.
Wolves had few problems as they defended the lead. The only concern was Traore, who was forced off after another problem with his shoulder. This time the joint popped out and back in after a tangle with Tanganga. ‘i’m worried’ said nuno. ‘he struggles with it. it’s a lot of pain.’
But Mourinho wore the deepest frown at the final whistle and will be aware of the need to stop the rot on Wednesday, in the FA Cup against norwich.