Tottenham tactics: Jose Mourinho will have to channel his inner Pochettino after Heung-min Son blow
Jose Mourinho could not resist laying it on thick after losing Heung-min Son for the foreseeable future because of a fractured arm.
“The first thing [it did] was to break our hearts, the second thing was to break our team,” Mourinho said.
The Tottenham manager has questioned the club’s “optimistic” prognosis of Son being out for “a number of weeks” and said he is not counting on the South Korean to play again this season, having already predicted that Harry Kane will not return to the pitch until May.
On the eve of tonight’s Champions League last-16 first leg against RB Leipzig, Mourinho assumed the resigned air of a man who has accepted that fate is his enemy, making clear that the loss of a second talisman threatens to undo all of the progress since his appointment in November.
“The situation couldn’t be worse,” he said.
Certainly, the timing is cruel on Mourinho, who claimed after Son’s double at Aston Villa on Sunday taking him to six goals in five matches — that his side had finally found “a way to score” without Kane.
But to excel as Tottenham manager has long been about making the best of difficult situations and, if Mourinho did not know it before, he must be realising that he has taken a job where a fresh crisis is never too far away.
The Portuguese likes it best as the underdog when he can foster a siege mentality but his resignation at Son’s injury suggests he is still coming to terms with a job where lofty ambitions go hand-in-hand with the need to make do and mend.
Mourinho’s predecessor Mauricio Pochettino was a master of turning water into wine, always seeing possibilities where others saw problems, and last season’s run to the Champions League Final with a patched-up squad was the finest example of his miracle work
If Mourinho is to achieve similar feats, he has no choice but to fully embrace the same mindset.
Contrary to Mourinho’s reputation as unbending, the 57-year-old has already shown a willingness to be flexible at Spurs. He initially found it impossible to see beyond the Kane-shaped hole in his attack, saying of Son: “He is not a striker. It’s as simple as that.” But the 27-year-old almost seemed to convince his manager as part of a new-look attack and Mourinho’s challenge is now to adapt again and be similarly won over by his remaining forwards.
In refusing to believe that Son will play a significant part again this season — despite suggestions that he could return, at best, in six weeks — Mourinho has already taken the first step towards coping without him.
“We have two options,” he conceded. “One is to give up. Another is to fight with what we have.”
We have two options. One is to give up. Another is to fight with what we have.”
Jose Mourinho
While Lucas is expected to continue through the middle against Leipzig, Mourinho is conscious of overworking the Brazilian, who may need a rest as soon as Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off at Chelsea.
Having deemed 18-year-old striker Troy Parrott “not ready”, the Spurs boss could be forced to experiment with Steven Bergwijn or Dele Alli as false No 9s. Winger Bergwijn has played up front for PSV Eindhoven this season, leaving Alli as an unlikely but intriguing possibility.
Mourinho has given no indication he sees potential for the midfielder to push higher but he can scarcely afford not to have given it thought. The 23-year-old comes alive in the box and, in stature and temperament at least, he is closer to what Mourinho has favoured in a centre-forward than Lucas.
Alli’s finishing was erratic at Villa Park but in the 2-1 win over Norwich last month, he showed a striker’s instinct to open the scoring at the near post before setting up Son’s winner with a darting run and shot.
Mourinho has cover in midfield, with Gedson Fernandes, Tanguy Ndombele and Eric Dier all pushing for a place alongside Giovani Lo Celso and Harry Winks. Lo Celso, Ryan Sessegnon or Erik Lamela, who may not be fit enough to start tonight after a thigh problem, could also replace Son on the left wing.
“We have to recover from broken hearts and we have to fight with the team we have,” Mourinho said.
“I’m not going to give up and probably opponents are thinking: ‘Wow, now is the time to kill them.’ I understand why they think that way but will give everything and I don’t think it’s going to be easy for Leipzig to play against us.”
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