JOSE HAPPY TO HAVE SECOND SHOT
Before lockdown Spurs were a mess. Now they are fit but are they firing?
TOTTENHAM were on their knees in March. Exhausted and ravaged by injuries, their form was atrocious and getting worse by the game. Every effort Jose Mourinho made to address a problem seemed to backfire.
They crashed out of the FA Cup on penalties with Eric Dier in the crowd at loggerheads with a Spurs fan. They were thrashed in Leipzig and dumped out of the Champions League. The suspension of the season, for all the problems and complications it has thrown up, must have come as a blessed relief at White Hart Lane.
‘It is a second chance,’ agreed Mourinho, with a smile and the healthy glow of a garden tan to support the broader theory that his team are in a stronger position to make a run for a Champions League place after the return from injury of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Moussa Sissoko.
‘But we don’t start these nine matches with the same number of points as our opponents. If this was Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Sheffield United, Wolves and Manchester United in a tournament starting with zero then I would say, “Amazing, great chance to go for it”. That’s a different situation.
‘We have minus points. Apart from Arsenal, everyone has more points than us. So it’s a difficult one. But yes, there are nine matches, 27 points, we’ve got back Harry and Sonny, who were the players with the best stats in terms of scoring and assists. With this kind of attacking power, the reality is we are now in a better position than where we were before.’
Like the cold-eyed trader who sees profit in a volatile market, Mourinho (right) was quick to see his chance and pounce to gain an edge. Rather than locking down at the family home in Belgravia, the Spurs boss moved into an apartment close to the training ground near Enfield with three of his coaching staff: Nuno Santos, Ricardo Formosinho and Carlos Lalin.
From here they orchestrated a schedule to keep minds on the task. Apart from Son, who was on military service in South Korea, and Steven Bergwijn, who was allowed to return to his native Holland, players were told not to move from their London homes.
‘We were always in contact,’ said Mourinho, although he rejected accusations he had organised a coaching session on nearby Hadley Common during the strictest phase of the lockdown.
He was pictured with Tanguy Ndombele, who he explained needed help to work his GPS tracking device, and other players who he did not name, but he insisted they were from a Championship club and it was a chance meeting.
‘Different clubs have different approaches,’ said Mourinho. ‘I don’t know who did better than others. Only results and performances will give us a better idea.’
Back at the training ground with key players fit again, he was finally able to devote time to the tactical sessions which the relentless nature of the season made impossible upon his appointment in November. Some play- ers, however, such as Giovani Lo Celso, were not able to get the daily treatment they needed for injuries because of the lockdown regulations. ‘Gio I consider to be one of the victims of the rules and the protocols,’ said Mourinho. ‘He was injured before the coronavirus. He was in a very bad condition in the last three or four matches.
‘Because of the rules his injury is not an injury in need of surgery but he needed daily treatment and close contact with the physios and fitness coaches, but that was not possible. For about two months he was injured and couldn’t recover.’
Lo Celso, who did not appear in Tottenham’s warm-up friendlies, is in full training and available after groin trouble but is not certain to start against Manchester United tonight.
Dele Alli is serving a one-match ban for a social media post. Japhet
Tanganga is out with a stress fracture in his back. Jan Vertonghen, out of contract at the end of June, is yet to sign a short-term extension to cover the season. Insurance details are thought to have delayed the deal, but an agreement is in place and should be signed before the deadline.
So not everything has clicked into place, but Tottenham have Kane, Son and Sissoko set to start and are far happier to be duelling with United in mid-June than they would have been in mid-March.
‘ We are in a better position because it’s easier to choose my team than before the lockdown,’ said Mourinho. ‘When we were in
Leipzig, it was completely impossible. The next phase is a football match. That is the only thing I put a big question mark in front of because it is new to all of us.
‘How the boys are going to react, how they are going to control their feelings, their emotion or lack of it, playing in an empty stadium — it is unknown for all of us.
‘So I’m going to wait but I believe the club did great work to give the players the conditions to work during the lockdown and the players were fantastic in their commitment. I think we’re ready. We are without the emotion that is so amazing in football — the supporters — but we go for it.’