Angry Mourinho looking for
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho expects a reaction from his side to Thursday’s Europa League loss at Royal Antwerp when they face Brighton today.
Spurs slumped to a 1-0 defeat in Belgium after Mourinho made nine changes and even bringing on the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min could not alter the outcome.
Mourinho was not shy in his criticism after the match and believes his group will respond as a team in the Premier League match against the Seagulls.
“Nothing changed for me, everything is the same since day one,” he said. “For me, always and always the team is the most important thing.
“The team need the big talents, but the big talents need the team to perform also for them and I think, at this moment, our team is a team.
“Even in the worst moment against West Ham or after defeat against Everton, our team was a team, reacted as a team, lived the days after as a team, prepare the next challenge as a team.
“I am really happy because one year more or less since we arrived, there was,
in our opinion, a great evolution in the team at every level.”
Spurs will welcome back Eric Dier and Tanguy Ndombele after they missed the trip to Belgium, meaning Japhet Tanganga is the only injury absentee.
Tanganga is finding himself in a difficult run of injuries after he was struck down with a thigh problem just weeks after recovering from a stress fracture in his back.
Mourinho is backing the youngster to come back stronger.
“Tanganga is the only player we really say has an injury or is in treatment from quite an important injury,” he said. “Very unlucky kid. He had a problem from before lockdown then hard work to get back. He played (against) Chelsea in the cup and then this injury.
“But he’s coming. Great professional, great sense of responsibility and he’s working well to come back.”
Graham Potter says Brighton’s rising star Tariq Lamptey has the mentality to go far in the game.
The 20-year-old, who joined the Seagulls from Chelsea in January, has made an impressive start to life on the south coast and has reportedly caught the eye of some of the top clubs in Europe.
Lamptey has only made 15 Premier League outings, but Potter is excited by his potential. He said: “I’ve always said he’s a great down-to-earth lad, so credit to him and his family.
“A lot of the interpersonal qualities he’s got in terms of just wanting to help the team and wants to learn, wants to improve, are good.
“He’s just a really coachable young guy. He’s obviously got a long way to go in his career, but we’re excited for him and at the same time we have to understand that he’s not played a lot of games, he’s only young, his demand physically in terms of how he plays is huge.
“So we have to be careful with him as well. But we’re delighted with him.”