Jose doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He’s here to win titles... not friends
JOSE MOURINHO will be unrepentant when he comes to Anfield for that huge table-topping game on Wednesday.
I agree totally with that, too. He has every right to have his Spurs play in any way he believes can get a result and an edge in the Premier League.
You can moan all you like, but his methods have been effective this season – and he’s not changing now.
I remember Brendan Rodgers being so angry with the way Mourinho’s Chelsea played in that game back in 2014, which effectively cost Liverpool the title, branding him so negative that they
“parked two buses”.
I’ve got news.
It ain’t changing.
That day, when
Demba Ba took advantage of Steven
Gerrard’s slip and
Chelsea eventually won 2- 0, Mourinho came up with a plan of keeping the ball off the pitch for the first 20 minutes – and people branded him anti-football.
When you think about it, though, it sums up
Mourinho. He doesn’t care what it takes, he just cares about winning.
Back then, Liverpool were unbelievably brilliant at creating momentum from the start of matches to blow opponents way.
So what better way to stop that momentum than to put the ball off the pitch? He did it for six minutes of the first 20.
Think about it. SIX minutes out of play.
It’s insane – and brilliant – even if it’s not football. It kills the opponents’ rhythm, frustrates them, angers them, makes them frantic. That worked because that afternoon Liverpool lost their heads a bit.
Look at the way Spurs have played this season and it’s not hard to predict what they’ll do at Anfield.
They beat City without any possession, they beat Arsenal the same way.
“They can keep the RUTHLESS Then-Blues boss Jose’s joy at Anfield ball, we’ll keep the points,” says Mourinho. And I can almost guarantee Liverpool will have at least 70 per cent possession. I can guarantee they will be frustrated and asked to break down strict, organised lines of deep defence.
City knew they’d be up against that and prepared all week for it. So did Arsenal. Both lost. You can see it coming, but it’s hard to do anything about it – especially with the quality Tottenham have at their disposal to implement those plans.
And here’s the thing. I’m going to say something now that put down in black-and-white may sound ridiculous… even to me – and I’m saying it.
To counter it, you have to go back to basics – keep everything as simple as absolutely possible.
I’ve been there myself. At Liverpool, our biggest problem was beating those teams we were expected to blow away, who come to frustrate.
And the reason was, we went for the Hollywood option. Players are human and believe in their talent.
We’d be frustrated, and you’d have defenders popping up 35 yards from goal trying to shoot and forwards suddenly trying to be the hero.
I was guilty of it myself. I’d be at a stupid angle and shoot, or try something out of the ordinary.
But that’s exactly what Spurs will want. For Liverpool to try things they don’t normally do. It’s what Arsenal did last week.
That is suicide against Mourinho. So keep it as simple as possible. Play the simple ball, no risk. Pass simply and swiftly, get them outnumbered in areas and the gaps come.
You have to trust in the plans. It sounds simple doesn’t it, to keep it simple? It’s the hardest thing in the world to do under pressure of a team frustrating you at every turn, and especially when Mourinho is a master of it.
I’ll say this, though. If there is one team that can do it, it’s Liverpool.
For me, even without Virgil van Dijk, they have gone up a level this season, in their belief they will win.
So it will be fascinating – and potentially pivotal – in the title race.
Mourinho’s plan was to keep the ball out of play
it in the first 20... was off the pitch for SIX minutes!