Home » Neville hails Mourinho’s evolution at Spurs compared to at Manchester United

Neville hails Mourinho’s evolution at Spurs compared to at Manchester United

By Bruce Grove -

Gary Neville has hailed the evolution of Jose Mourinho as the Portuguese manager looks set to lead Tottenham to a trophy.

The Special One first came to English football in 2004 as the manager of Chelsea and he helped the Blues to win several trophies and to dominate English football.

One key thing about his Chelsea team at the time was their tight defence, the Blues usually stayed back and hit teams on the counter-attack, winning most of their games in that smash and grab fashion.

Neville says that Mourinho still has the players covering well for him at the back and there is a similarity between his Tottenham team and the Manchester United team he managed.

However, he has been able to make his system more palatable at Tottenham with the help of Harry Kane and Son Heun-min forming a solid attack, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg a shield for the team’s defence in midfield.

He writes on Sky Sports: “[At Spurs] Mourinho still wants the defensive stability. He still wants the clean sheet, and I don’t think he wholly trusts his back four at Tottenham but you look at this Spurs team now, with Moussa Sissoko and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg screening, and you’ve still got a back six [as he had for United against Liverpool] but there are big differences.

“Firstly, the position of Harry Kane is a lot deeper to Zlatan Ibrahimovic into a place that’s difficult to pick up. Secondly, and the most important thing, is that Son and Bergwijn are near to him.

“Now Jose has the right players still in advanced positions to counter-attack quickly.

“It’s a subtle change but it’s the same system as before in a different way. It is far more palatable and it’s easier on the eye as you’ve still got the attacking players in attacking positions.

“Jose has adapted, and he’s got the balance of being good defensively with the threat on the counter-attack.

“I feel he has to play this way to have a chance of winning the title because I don’t think his back four is strong enough without two players beefing it up.

“They will be a massive threat to most teams and Jose has a plan on how to win the league this season.”

Tags Gary Neville Jose Mourinho NewsNow
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

4 Comments
newest
oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
BigStew
BigStew
3 years ago

Think the defensive side of THFC is currently as solid as it’s been since we ‘left’ WHL, bearing in mind it’s a new formation, with Reguilón, Doherty & Dier (for most part) not being part of it last season & Aurier nowhere near as reliable as he has been so far this season.

Leslie Crawford
Leslie Crawford
3 years ago
Reply to  SpursGoliath

I want to see Vinicius playing with Kane & Son in the PL,against the lesser sides bringing him on in the second half of games to begin with like at WBA. It’s no good waiting till either of the other two get injured and then expecting him to carry the can without having had enough game time at PL level.

SpursGoliath
SpursGoliath
3 years ago

If we had a player as dangerous as Kane and Son to play as the third forward, and possibly an upgrade on Sissoko, then we’d be in real business – 1) because it would take another bit of pressure off Son and Kane both being in top form every match for us to score and 2) we’d be truly clinical on the counter.

Bale might yet be that ‘special’ player and there is a small possibility a better midfield option than Sissy presents themselves in January.

Dexter
Dexter
3 years ago

God, agreeing with Gary Neville is something I never contemplated before. Its sickening. But it’s happened.
The last part of the jigsaw is that nervy central defence, and strong backup options at full-back.

Follow Us
Latest Newsletter Posts