Sat 27 February 2021, 13:07
Tottenham HotspurJose Mourinho looks ahead to Sunday's Premier League clash against Burnley (2pm) in his latest preview, including positive team news and a first reaction to our UEFA Europa League draw against Dinamo Zagreb.
1 - Team news
Our first port of call, and good news from Jose, who told us that every player is currently training...
Jose: “Gio Lo Celso is not ready to play, but he’s training with the team. That means he’s not very far away, one more week, two more weeks maximum and he’s back, and that’s the reality. At the moment where we have Europa League, where we have Premier League, a final to play, consecutive matches, it’s so good that we have everybody back. Serge Aurier is ready. He trained today (Friday) without any limitation, so, if not Sunday, Thursday, but I believe he’s ready to play.”
2 - Dinamo Zagreb
The UEFA Europa League draw took place just before Jose’s pre-match press conference – this was his reaction to facing the Croatian champions in the last 16...
“They were top of the group, they didn’t lose one single match, four victories, two draws, not only against Wolfsberger, but Feyenoord and CSKA Moscow. They beat Krasnodar (in the round of 32) with two victories too, so they are doing very well.”
3 - Dele
All the talk was of Dele after his display and overhead kick against Wolfsberger AC on Wednesday, and Jose was asked again about him on Friday...
Jose: “I'm happy with him. Difficult period. Sometimes small injuries in accumulation are more difficult than a big injury where, after a few weeks or months, you are back. Small injuries are mentally not good, players getting disappointed, lack of motivation, frustration. He went through all that, he came back. We had good conversations, training well, playing minutes or part of matches, not yet a 90-minute match but he went through periods and now basically 75 or 80 minutes. His condition is also improving. His feelings after matches always better. For example, in the first match (against Wolfsberger AC) in Budapest, he played 60 minutes or something like that and he super tired after the game. This time he played more and, two days later, and basically second day of recovery and he's good. We need him, we need them all and for a long, long time, we didn't have every player on the (training) pitch and today (Friday) we had. Of course, Gio (Lo Celso) is not ready to play football yet but he's training with the team and that is great news for us because we have so many matches. Now it is Sunday and then Zagrab and then Palace and then Zagreb and Arsenal and never stop, so we need everybody and in the particular case of Dele, I'm very happy.”
4 - Burnley
Sean Dyche’s men arrive in N17 four matches unbeaten in the Premier League, and Jose says there will be no surprises from the men from Turf Moor...
Jose: “It’s always the same. I think the fact that last season we scored so many goals against them (5-0 at home) is a little out of context, because Burnley is a competitive, solid team, everyone knows the way they play, but everyone struggles to play against them because they are so difficult. They defend well, they don’t need much to create danger and score, they are competitive, fresh, no Europe, good preparation. It’s hard, but we have to be positive and we will try everything to win.”
5 - Turning a corner?
Think West Brom, Everton, both legs against Wolfsberger AC and West Ham last week, and performances have been decent, did Jose feel results are close?
Jose: “I know that, and this is one of the things that is quite frustrating. Of course, when you play well and you lose, you finish the game with that frustration, but you have positive feeling that we are not far from winning matches. But, what we want is to win matches, so hopefully we can go back to that, we can score more goals from the chances we have and be more solid defensively. I see the players as well with a good spirit, everybody in good condition... I’m positive.”
