Sat 19 December 2020, 20:49
Tottenham HotspurJose Mourinho joined Spurs TV on Friday after training to give us his regular five-point preview ahead of Sunday’s clash with Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (2.15pm).
1 – Team news
Did Jose have any fresh injury concerns coming out of the midweek defeat at Liverpool?
Jose: “No new injuries. Gareth Bale trained today and yesterday as normal with the team, Erik Lamela finally put a foot outside in one of our training sessions but it’s still a bit far for him.”
We shared some emotions, we shared some feelings and we started moving on and today the training session was good, the mood is good.
2 – Reaction
What had the mood been like in the camp in the days following that late heartbreak at Anfield?
Jose: “I don’t want to lie – the next day we were all still feeling the effects of a very undeserved defeat but then we spoke, we shared some emotions, we shared some feelings and we started moving on and today the training session was good, the mood is good and Sunday we are ready to compete.”
3 – Foxes on the road
Leicester have won five of their six away games in the Premier League so far this season. What did Jose make of their form on the road?
Jose: “They are very good. They are good, they are dangerous, they are tremendous in their counter-attack. It’s a very good team, a very good coach, very good players and the final product of that is a very good team that is going to give us a very difficult match.”
4 – Jamie Vardy
Jose was asked in his pre-match press conference about the threats of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy.
Jose: “He’s so dangerous that the team where he plays – and that doesn’t matter if it is with Claudio Ranieri or with Brendan (Rodgers), or with other coaches that Leicester have had – the team never forgets the qualities that that specific player has. I have to say that is incredible and I just feel sorry for him in the sense that he arrived in the Premier League too late. He should have arrived a few years before and his career would be even longer and with more goals and with more history in the national team too. He’s a fantastic player. If I was a defender, I wouldn’t be happy to play against him because of course he’s very dangerous.”
5 – Puskas award
What was Jose’s reaction to Thursday’s announcement that Heung-Min Son has won FIFA’s Puskas award for his wonder-goal against Burnley last December?
Jose: “I was expecting it and I was expecting it since the day he scored the goal. It was not like I was expecting yesterday or when I saw his name in the last three – I was expecting since he scored that goal. In 20 years of a career and goals like that, I only saw two – him and Ronaldo when he was in Barcelona in 1996, he scored a goal that is probably a copy and paste of that one. Apart from that, probably a little bit of Diego against England but it’s one of these goals that especially if you are there, if you are in the stadium, you understand immediately the dimension of it, so for me there is no surprise.”
