Wed 27 January 2021, 19:57
Tottenham HotspurJose Mourinho gives us his pre-match thoughts in our usual five-point format ahead of Thursday’s big Premier League meeting with Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (8pm UK).
1 – Birthday boy
Jose celebrated his 58th birthday on Tuesday. He told us how his day went…
Jose: “It was good because it was the day after a victory. It was good because I was able to be with my people here and to be with my family. Everything was calm, but good. A good feeling.”
2 – Team news
What could Jose tell us on team news coming out of Monday’s FA Cup win at Wycombe Wanderers?
Jose: “We have some problems, I don’t want to speak about them, I don’t want to give any information – I’m not really happy to say player A, B or C is not in the squad but we have problems that in the end are normal problems. We cannot expect to be playing so many matches without problems so it’s a normal situation, we are going to miss a couple of players but that’s that. We are ready for the game.”
3 – Liverpool’s form
Liverpool are without a win in five Premier League games. How did Jose feel about playing the reigning champions at this point in time?
Jose: “Now or later... it doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s just a bit strange that we’ve finished the first 19 matches playing twice against Liverpool and not playing against Aston Villa – it’s just a bit weird – but to play Liverpool is always a motivation, especially in the last years where they were dominant in our league, winning in Europe, amazing team, so it’s a good motivation to play.”
4 – Shutouts to continue?
The Reds haven’t registered a goal in any of their last four Premier League matches, although they’ve scored six across two FA Cup ties during that time. How important was it for Jose that we try to shut them out and give ourselves a platform to win the game on Thursday?
Jose: “They scored seven against Crystal Palace and then they didn’t score goals in some matches but the chances were there. When a team is not creating chances, you just feel that not scoring goals is a natural consequence of it, but when a team creates chances, you have to believe that at any time, they can score. In fact, in the last match, they went to Manchester United, they saved some players, they didn’t risk players like (Joel) Matip, (Jordan) Henderson, (Sadio) Mane, so they went a little bit relaxed about what the game meant for them, they clearly showed that the game for them is the next one and the next one is us. Liverpool is a fantastic team, they went to Manchester, they scored two goals, they could score three or four, so for me they’re a top team.”
They scored seven against Crystal Palace and then they didn’t score goals in some matches but the chances were there.
5 – Source of goals
On the flip side, it was put to Jose that we’ve had goals coming from players all over the pitch recently with Serge Aurier, Harry Kane, Tanguy Ndombele, Gareth Bale and Harry Winks all on the scoresheet in our last two games. How pleasing was that for the boss?
Jose: “That’s good for us, that’s important for us. Of course, the story will not change, like it never changes in other clubs. For us, Son and Kane, Kane and Son, they will score more goals than other people and you go to the majority of the clubs and there is always one or two ahead of others, but it’s important to have some goals from other people and it’s good, it’s a good feeling.”
