Jose Mourinho is teaching this Spurs side how not to lose… Poch would have been lucky to get a point, let alone three
JOSE MOURINHO said he would not make the same mistakes when he became Tottenham boss.
And he was true to his word in the last-gasp 2-1 win at Wolves.
Mourinho knew exactly what to expect from a Wolves side managed by fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo – he was even one of his former players at Porto.
As Manchester United boss, Mourinho lost twice at Molineux in the space of two weeks last season – with an FA Cup defeat followed by one in the Premier League.
And Mourinho was clearly in no mood to get fooled again as he knew how to gain the upper hand – namely, striking the first blow which Spurs did with Lucas Moura’s superb eight minute goal.
After that though, Tottenham could have crumbled as Nuno again tried to expose the weaknesses of a Mourinho side.
STRUGGLED AGAINST PACE
But while the Spurs boss may be teaching his side how to be winners – but more importantly, he is telling them how not to be losers.
Had Mauricio Pochettino still been in charge of Tottenham, you wonder if they would have escaped from Molineux with one point, never mind all three.
What we saw here was a Spurs side do whatever it took to hold on for a point against a dominant Wolves side who will wonder how they did not convert their possession into more than one goal.
And all of their resistance paid off in style with Jan Vertonghen’s late winner.
But what Mourinho will have found out is that is players struggle to cope with pace such as that on show from Adama Traore.
Aside from the Wolves winger’s powerful leveller, Spurs were left to bring Traore down whenever possible, even if it meant taking a yellow card.
Moura was one of the bright spots for Mourinho – if Eric Dier had scored instead of hitting the post, it would have papered over some of the cracks left over the Pochettino reign.
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But Moura is among the players benefiting from Mourinho’s arrival.
Moura has scored three goals in his five Premier League matches under Jose Mourinho; he only had one goal in 10 Premier League appearances for Spurs with Pochettino in charge this season.
But Mourinho’s men will have to be more convincing than this if they are to bring home the silverware again.