BLING CROSBY
Mourinho: I will take my special ones to play against Marine..I love the FA Cup and will show them respect
JOSE MOURINHO has vowed to respect the romance of the FA Cup by sending Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and Heung-Min Son to face eighth-tier Marine in the third round.
There were gasps when the Crosby- based Northern Premier League club were paired with the eight-time winners, followed by fears the romance would be taken out of the David v Goliath encounter if Mourinho decided to send only his younger players.
The Special One (above), though, is having none of it. “I’m excited,” he said. “I learned to love the FA Cup as a kid. When I came to England I learned a lot about it too and experienced great things in that competition. It’s a beautiful thing for everyone and I look forward to it.
“I’d love to play in that small stadium, that’s for sure. It means a lot for the home fans. The best way to respect them is to take the players they want to play against. We’re going to respect them. We’re going to respect the competition.”
His approach to the
Europa
League has been similar and, despite injuries, will field a strong team against LASK of Austria today, with one point needed to qualify .
That will include Bale, who Mourinho feels still has to get over mental scars even if, physically, he is fine. “The only problem with Gareth is the dynamic and confidence of playing consecutive matches without any negative feeling, remembrance of the recent past when the condition was not the best and the fears were there,” Mourinho said.
“But he’s playing regularly. He doesn’t need a technical or tactical evolution, just a physical evolution to get into the intensity of matches and get his confidence back to play consecutive matches, like three matches in a week.”
Dele Alli, on the other hand, cannot wait for more games – although may have to move in January to get them. “I don’t make decisions about selling players or players going on loan,” said Mourinho.
“The ones not playing enough time in their minds have only one thing to do – show me they are better than the ones having more minutes.”