Mourinho: We will respect Marine by playing our best
JOSE MOURINHO has vowed to respect the romance of the FA Cup by sending Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and Son Heung- Min to face eighth- tier Marine in the third round.
There were gasps when the Merseysidebased Northern Premier League club were paired with the eight- time winners.
But the Special One, below, is taking it seriously, saying: “I am excited. 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 would love to play in that small stadium, that’s for sure. It means a lot for the home fans, the players and the coach.
“We are going to respect them. We are going to respect the competition.”
His approach to the Europa League has been similar and, despite injuries, he will field a strong team in the hope of securing group qualification with a point against LASK of Austria.
That will include Bale, who Mourinho feels still has to get over a few mental scars even if, for now, the physical side of his game is fully healthy.
“The only problem with Gareth is to get into the dynamic and confidence of playing consecutive matches without
LASK V TOTTENHAM
any bad feeling, negative feeling, remembrance of the recent past when the condition was not the best and the fears were there,” Mourinho said.
“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 ma matches, like th three matches i in a week. It’s more about that.”
Dele Alli, on the other hand, canno cannot wait for more games – although already there are concerns he may have to move to another club in January to get them.
Mourinho added: “The ones that are not playing enough time in their minds have only one thing to do, which is to use the time they play to show me they are better than the ones having more minutes. There is no secret to that.”