Jose: ‘It’s our time to give’

Jose Mourinho is eager to return to Premier League action – and wants to put a smile on our fans’ faces.

We haven’t tasted domestic football since Dele rescued a point in a 1-1 draw at Burnley on 7 March, with the Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig three days later our last fixture before the suspension of the professional game due to coronavirus.

With a phased return to training having taken place over the last couple of weeks, top-flight clubs are building up a head of steam, all geared towards the anticipated return of the Premier League in mid-June.

For Jose, the prospect of playing and winning again is an exciting one.

“I think now we can all feel that the first match is arriving,” he told Spurs TV after a group training session at Hotspur Way this week. “You look to other countries, Germany, they have already played matches, Portugal starts this weekend, Spain next weekend… football is coming everywhere. We used to be the football that never stops, even in periods like Christmas – we are the league for the world and it feels a bit strange that we’re not playing but we are waiting patiently for the green light to go.”

Although upbeat, buoyed even more by the return of several previously-injured players in recent weeks, the Head Coach warned that injuries could still be incurred during what is effectively a pre-season period: “I think, football… we shouldn’t be selfish, we shouldn’t demand too much. It’s our time to give,” he said. “For example, when players play Euros and World Cups, they barely have a holiday, they don’t have pre-season, they come direct from holiday and sometimes they train less than a week to play the first Premier League match.

“At this moment, people are worried about trying to have what they never have. For example, speaking about pre-season injuries, there are pre-season injuries. Everyone has pre-season injuries in normal seasons, so we cannot expect now not to have an injury here, an injury there. We cannot ask for more than the authorities are giving us, which is the maximum security, and I think now it’s time just to play and to give people what people want.”

Before reporting back to the Training Centre, the players trained individually from home while linking up with their team-mates and coaches via online video sessions. How did Jose find that situation?

“I was telling Geoff Shreeves the other day, we were coming here singing The Rolling Stones’ music, ‘I’m a ghost living in a ghost town’, because we are using to coming here and it’s full of life, lots of people – suddenly you come in, just us. It was really hard. It was strange, but at the same time we were always wishing that this period, sooner or later, would arrive. There was a moment we were all scared about when we start. The season is over? Next season will start September, October, November… who knows? But then less doubts, less doubts, less doubts and now it feels like it’s coming. We want to play.”