Raised during the Gerry Francis era, these lads are now too old for any more 'character building'. Spurs blog with emphasis on the stars of tomorrow, today #COYS
Spurs host Chelsea on Thursday night in what is set to be a fiery London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with both sides looking to get their Premier League seasons back on track.
Tanguy Ndombele has been confirmed fit to play and Serge Aurier will be back in the squad after being left out of the squad in the loss against Brighton on Sunday. Spurs will be without Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Sergio Reguilon and Giovani Lo Celso who Jose Mourinho confirmed today was likely to be out for “a month or something”.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Spurs with Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Sergio Reguilon all looking to be ready for the game against Manchester City next weekend. Mourinho shared some details from his conversation with Dele where they were able to find “common ground”, something that will come as welcome news to all Spurs fans.
With the creativity of Dele and Kane potentially back into the setup in the next week or so, it’s fair to say that things are certainly looking up for Spurs after some disappointing results recently.
Mourinho also confirmed in his press conference that Ndombele would be able to play as an out and out midfielder alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg due to his fitness improving. Subsequently, that has now opened up the possibility of Spurs having Dele or Lo Celso slotting in at number 10 in front of Hojbjerg and Ndombele.
Chelsea are set to welcome N’Golo Kante back into their squad after his recovery from a hamstring injury, whilst Kurt Zouma and Kai Havertz are doubtful for Thomas Tuchel’s side ahead of the derby.
Spurs will need to be wary of the width utilised by Tuchel who has played wing-backs in both of his games as Chelsea boss so far, with Callum Hudson Odoi and Marcos Alonso looking most likely to start. Mourinho will have to nullify this threat if he wants to control the game after being vulnerable down both sides against Brighton on Sunday.
While Spurs only have two wins in their last nine Premier League matches, Chelsea aren’t much better with three wins in their last ten. However, since the appointment of Tuchel they have picked up four points from a possible six and haven’t conceded a goal.
Spurs haven’t beaten Chelsea in the league since November 2018, where Heung-Min Son scored a superb solo goal after picking the ball just past the halfway line.
Both games between the two clubs have ended in draws, one in the League Cup where Spurs won on penalties – with Mourinho getting one over on his former Chelsea stalwart, Frank Lampard – while the game in the league finished 0-0. At the time, this was a top of table clash and the game saw Joe Rodon make his full Spurs debut.
A win would keep Tottenham above Chelsea in the table with both sides currently sitting on 33 points – they could go into tomorrow’s match nine points off the top four if results don’t go their way. A loss for Spurs could potentially see them slip down to 9th in the table.
Andre Marriner will referee the derby, whilst Stuart Attwell will be overseeing VAR duties from Stockley Park.
I was delighted to join this week’s Last Word On Spurs with Ricky Sacks, Lee McQueen and Richard Cracknell as we reflected on Spurs’ 3-1 win over Sheffield United.
We spoke about Harry Kane’s ever-reliable supply of goals, another magical display from Tanguy Ndombele and our signing of the season, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
We also covered Spurs Women, the January transfer window and had a look ahead to the upcoming FA Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers.
20th November 2019. José Mourinho is presented to the world as the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
It would have been a barely believable statement had it been made less than six months previously. Mauricio Pochettino had just taken the club to their first ever Champions League final and it was hoped that he would lead the club into a glorious new era in their wonderful new home.
It wasn’t to be. The 2-0 loss to Liverpool sapped the energy and confidence of a team and a manager who had taken Spurs to new heights, with the attempts to refresh the squad coming too late to prevent the slide. Pochettino left the club after a five game winless streak with the team in 14th position.
In many ways Mourinho seemed to be the complete contradiction to Pochettino. Friction with senior players were par for the course during his most recent spells at Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United, and there were major doubts about his commitment to bringing through young players – his treatment of Luke Shaw, in particular, was uncomfortable viewership. His defensive style of football was a far cry from what Spurs fans had grown accustomed to, and while Pochettino built himself into the DNA of the club, Mourinho rarely stayed anywhere for more than three seasons. Then there was his history with Chelsea. Enough said there.
But Mourinho was also a serial winner. For all of the joy Pochettino brought to our football club, he couldn’t get the team over the line and secure that elusive trophy. It had been eleven years since Spurs’ last and even that was only a League Cup. The wait for a League title had stretched to nearly sixty years and the whole club still seemed to be reeling from the Champions League final loss.
Mourinho had been brought in to win, to find the final piece in a puzzle that already included world-class players, stand out training facilities, a growing global reach accompanied by lucrative commercial sponsorships, and arguably the best new stadium in world football.
The short-term brief, however, was to drag Spurs into the European places, a must for a club who had accumulated significant debts in building the aforementioned stadium. The football wasn’t always pretty, and the defence remained porous at times – eight clean sheets was the lowest total since 2010/11 – but it was a small achievement in itself to move a team low on form, confidence and energy from 14th to 6th.
The 2-0 victory over Manchester City, courtesy of a memorable debut goal by Steven Bergwijn, was a highlight, but it was the form after the season’s restart which really underlined the recovery. In nine games Spurs lost just once, with five wins – one of which being in a North London Derby – and four clean sheets sealing European football for another season.
The summer transfer window proved to be the real watershed moment, however. Uncharacteristically, Spurs moved quickly and decisively, securing two new full backs, cover for Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris, a promising young centre back, the marquee signing of Gareth Bale and, arguably most significantly, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, a player who has already established himself at the heart of the side.
As well as filling the gaps on the pitch, Mourinho looked to address the much sought after but statistically unquantifiable qualities of ‘leadership’. Højbjerg is the obvious embodiment of that, but in Joe Hart, Bale and Sergio Reguilón too, Mourinho brought in players with experience of winning major trophies. Added to the mix are international captains Kane, Lloris, Heung-Min Son and Serge Aurier, plus the competitive drive and experience of Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld. There can be few complaints now that this Spurs team is lacking in the right mentality.
Mourinho has also shown that he has evolved tactically too. There was a belief in some quarters that the methods which had made Mourinho one of the most decorated managers of all time had grown stale, that managers like Jürgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino had moved the game on. Against Manchester City, however, Mourinho underlined why he remains one of the leading managers in the game.
The defensive solidity that epitomises all of Mourinho’s teams still remains central to his ethos and the ease with which Spurs soaked up City’s attacks was striking. Dier is repaying the faith shown in him and was immense on Saturday night, making block after block after block. Højbjerg continues to marshal the side brilliantly leaving Kevin De Bruyne isolated and frustrated. And, while Kane rightly gained plaudits for his defensive display, hard work and tactical nous runs right through the team.
As well as epitomising Spurs’ relentless pursuit of defensive perfection, it was also Kane who showcased the evolution of Mourinho’s tactics in attack. Kane’s game has reached another level since being deployed in a deeper position by Mourinho. He should now be described as a complete forward and can rightly lay claim to being one of the top 10 players in world football.
Against City Kane looked to reinforce that status, pulling Rúben Dias and Aymeric Laporte – a £120 million central defensive partnership – all over the pitch, rupturing Guardiola’s high pressing game and leaving acres of space around them. Both goals resulted from Mourinho’s game plan and Manchester City’s defence – and indeed Guardiola – were left unable to respond.
Of course, Kane was already an exceptional player when Mourinho arrived, with his dedication and professionalism ensuring that he would’ve continued to excel as he entered his peak years. But Mourinho’s finessing of Kane’s positioning has seen marked improvements in both his individual performances, and the team’s as a whole.
It is not just Kane who has taken his game to another level. Lloris is having his best season for some time, regaining his trademark calming influence on the team as a result. As previously mentioned, Dier is repaying Mourinho’s faith and is getting better with every game at centre back. Son has been the clear beneficiary to Kane’s deeper positioning and together they have formed the most devastating strike partnership currently playing in the Premier League. And Tanguy Ndombele is now regularly showing his talent – you’d frame his pass to Son for the opener and put it on your wall at home if you could. Mourinho’s tough love looks like it’s paid off and you suspect there is even more to come, a mouthwatering prospect.
The performance against City was a culmination of the progress that has been made defensively. Sure, Mourinho would like to improve on the number of clean sheets Spurs have kept, but the nine goals conceded is the fewest in the Premier League. But for the aberration against West Ham, that figure would’ve been even lower. They are scoring plenty of goals too, the ruthless six goal dismantling of Manchester United being an obvious example. 2.33 goals per game is Spurs’ best ratio since the Premier League era began and dispels the notion that Mourinho is content to squeeze out stodgy 1-0 wins.
Granted, there is a long way to go. Spurs may be top of the league, but they are less than a quarter of the way through a long season unlike any other. While a number of players have found their feet in new Mourinho era, others like Harry Winks, Davinson Sanchez and Steven Bergwijn are yet to recapture the form needed to break into the first team on a regular basis. Meanwhile, despite flickering back to life at the start of Mourinho’s reign, Dele Alli seems to have entered a permanent state of decline. It’s becoming increasingly hard to see a way back for a player who, at the age of 24 and with nearly 40 England caps to his name, should be entering the best years of his career.
But the early signs are good and seems to be a different Mourinho to the one we’ve seen for much of the past decade. He feels revitalised and happier. He’s still evolving tactically, and continues to show that he can not only compete with the ‘new’ generation of managers, but he can dominate them too. He’s quickly built a squad with depth in every position, the team is defensively sound and still scoring plenty of goals. The vast majority of players have recovered their form of old, while some like Son and Kane are now the leading players in the Premier League and among the world’s best.
Perhaps Mourinho may not bring as much unbridled joy as Pochettino did and his strong connection with Chelsea will always sit uncomfortably – the two may well be correlating factors – but, with football fans being as fickle as they are, joy will be unbridled and his time at Chelsea will serve as a footnote should he lead Spurs to a long overdue trophy.
Who knows, that could include a Premier League title. The thought doesn’t seem so fanciful with Mourinho in charge.
Tottenham Hotspur have intensified their negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain’s Thomas Meunier, according to the French newspaper, L’Équipe.
Meunier, 28, is available on a free this summer, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
Spurs will be hoping that the Belgian international can solve their right back problem that has been an issue since Kieran Trippier’s form tailed off after the 2018 World Cup.
Trippier has since been sold, Kyle Walker-Peters loaned out and Serge Aurier has made a catalogue of high profile errors. Juan Foyth regularly plays at right back for Argentina but has made just four appearances for Spurs this season and Japhet Tanganga, while impressing at full back, is a natural centre half.
It was good to be back on Last Word On Spurs as I joined host Ricky Sacks and Jamie from the Daily Hotspur to review to the 2-2 draw against bottom of the table Norwich City.
Harry Kane struck a late penalty to earn Tottenham a point at Carrow Road and deny Norwich a first Premier League victory in seven matches. Mario Vrancic opened the scoring with his first Premier League goal for the Canaries before they were denied a second when Teemu Pukki’s goal was ruled out for a marginal offside by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Spurs improved after the interval and Christian Eriksen drew them level with a stunning free-kick but Norwich retook the lead when Serge Aurier put through his own net. The visitors had their chances and Dele Alli’s neat finish was ruled out for offside, before Kane drew Christoph Zimmermann into a lunging challenge inside the area. The England striker sent Tim Krul the wrong way from the spot to secure a point for the north London side.
The panel also look ahead to Southampton to come on New Year’s Day in the Premier League.
I was delighted to join host Ricky Sacks, Tottenham Hotspur legend Micky Hazard and the voice of ITV2, broadcaster and huge Spurs fan, Lucy Jones as we reflected on that thumping win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.
We discussed Sonny’s brace, Kane’s exquisite passing, Lamela’s fine start to the season and Aurier’s instant impact on his first game of the season.
The panel also looked ahead to the upcoming Champions League Group Stage tie against Olympiacos on Wednesday.
I joined host Charlie Hawkins, Lee McQueen and Jamie from the Daily Hotspur for this week’s edition of the #SpursFansShow on Love Sport Radio with Last Word On Spurs.
We discussed the draw against Man City, the continuous rise of Lucas Moura, Jan Vertonghen’s ongoing absence from the team, and bid farewell to Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, who left the club today for Beşiktaş.
The panel also touched upon the futures of Victor Wanyama,Christian Eriksen and Serge Aurier who have also been linked with moves away from the club. We also previewed the Newcastle United game on Sunday.
Lilywhite Rose 