Sat 03 April 2021, 11:48
Tottenham HotspurJose Mourinho previews our return to Premier League action against Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday (2.05pm).
1 - Team news
Jose reports Heung-Min Son back in the frame, but ruled out Ben Davies and Matt Doherty…
Jose: “Sonny didn’t play at Villa and we coped without him, we won without him, the team is more important than any player, but Sonny is a fantastic player and great for us to have back. Ben Davies got an injury in Croatia and then aggravated it because he played against Villa. He hasn’t recovered yet, not even close to it. Matt got a muscular injury with Ireland and not close to being back either.”
2 - 'Fantastic work'
Jose has been impressed with the squad’s work at Hotspur Way during the international break...
Jose: “I thank the Academy, because the players they brought to us gave us that spirit, that enthusiasm that the kids bring when they come to the first team, but then our guys who stayed behind, like Dele, Winks, Vinicius, Lucas, they were very professional, so it was a good period for them. Gio Lo Celso as well, it was a fundamental week for him to try to recover the levels he didn’t have after the big injury. It was a good week for them. From the national team, players arrive step by step, day by day and today (Friday) was the first time everyone was back.”
3 - Momentum
It was a vital victory at Villa Park last time out (21 March) - Jose was asked in his pre-match press conference what he was hoping to see carried from Villa to St James’ Park...
Jose: “The attitude. The team went there to win it. We were coming from two defeats and I would say two bad defeats and it was important that the players showed that mentality. When you come in a bad run of results it's quite easy to let it go in the same direction and the players were exactly the opposite. There was solidarity in the team and we could see that on the pitch. We were more solid, and the team was more intense and aggressive going forward. It was defensively very compact too so it was a good performance, a good reaction from two bad defeats but at the same time, if I'm not wrong, the last five Premier League matches we won four. So out of 15 we made 12 points so we can also see it as a continuation of a good period for us in the Premier League where we recovered a few points and the gap to other teams who fight like us for the same objectives.”
They will come to our game with everything and we cannot go with less than everything, we have to go with everything as well
4 - Toon
Newcastle were disappointing at Brighton (lost 3-0, 20 March) last time out - what does Jose expect from Steve Bruce’s men on Sunday?
“I expect a team trying to win the match, or at least trying to get a point because in this moment for every team a point sometimes can be very important. I think they are a difficult team to play against, so I expect a difficult match for us. For sure, they are going to try to beat us. They will come to our game with everything and we cannot go with less than everything, we have to go with everything as well.”
5 - Pierre
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was the proud winner of Denmark’s Player of the Year last week, an award well deserved...
Jose: “He has been very good for us, an incredible number of minutes he’s playing, Denmark has a very good generation of players who go to their national team and they have six, seven, eight players in the best European countries, and for him to win, I believe for the first time, means, and we are very happy for him because with us he’s been great.”
