José Mourinho brushes off Arsenal by insisting he only 'looks up' league table
José Mourinho insists he has not taken much notice of Arsenal before Sunday’s north London derby because he looks up and not down the Premier League table.
Tottenham sit seventh with 45 points – three places and seven points ahead of their rivals going into the encounter at the Emirates Stadium. Even with the absence of crowds, the fixture is a daunting one for both sides, with the visitors facing the task of becoming only the second team to win at Arsenal this year, with the other being Manchester City.
Mourinho is in typically bullish mood going into the derby, however, claiming he sees it as merely another game for his team to navigate as they look to make up ground in the pursuit of a top-four place. And he is perhaps right to be speaking so confidently given Tottenham’s form – they have won six of their past seven games in all competitions, scoring 20 times in the process.
“I look up, I don’t look down. If Arsenal was seven points ahead of us I would look to them but because we have seven points more than them, I don’t look down,” said Mourinho. “At the same time, we look always to the next match and if instead of Arsenal it was Villa or Newcastle – exactly the same feeling.
“We feel we’re better than the position we have in the table and we want to improve our position so we need points for that. It doesn’t matter the opponent, doesn’t matter if it is a derby. It’s a Premier League match, three points are there to fight for and that’s what we’re going to do.”
As well as somewhat brushing off the threat of Arsenal, Mourinho did also praise the club, describing them as one “with a big history”. “Like us they’re trying to build a better future,” the Portuguese added. “I have total respect for them.”
Mourinho has a number of selection dilemmas going into Sunday’s game, among them who to play at right-back: Serge Aurier or Matt Doherty. Asked about this after Thursday’s Europa League victory over Dinamo Zagreb, Mourinho gave a rather rambling answer but one that suggests he is finally happy with the make-up and output of his squad.
“They [Aurier and Doherty] are both playing well and that’s what I need, that’s what the team needs,” he said. “Ben Davies and Sergio Reguilón [too]. I’m just talking about the full-backs but the reason why we changed seven players from the last match was because I trust all the guys. The last time I did this we lost against Antwerp and everybody was killing me. And rightly so, because I made these decisions but in that match I felt let down by attitude and it was a moment where not everybody was working well.
“The question was about Serge and Matt but I went in other directions with my answer. But the reality is everybody is playing well.”