Danny Mills claims Mourinho’s sparkle returned despite Liverpool loss

Former Leeds United defender Danny Mills has hailed Tottenham youngster Japhet Tanganga’s performance against Liverpool in his Premier League debut against the Reds on Saturday.

Spurs came away with nothing from the game but Jose Mourinho insisted after the match that his side deserved something for the effort and performance they put in (Football.London).

The Tottenham head coach’s decision to start Tanganga over Vertonghen was met with surprise but the youngster coped well with Liverpool’s threatening forward line.

After doing a fantastic job marking Sadio Mane in the first half, the defender had to switch to left back in the final half an hour of the game and came out on top in the battle against Mohamed Salah as well.

Mills claimed starting the 20-year-old was a typically brave call by Mourinho and insisted that the 56-year-old’s tactics worked for the game. He suggested that Mourinho was in his element on Saturday as he drew up a tactical plan to stifle the league leaders.

Speaking to Football Insider, Mills said, “We’ve seen Mourinho make strange decisions, well not strange, brave and bold decisions and that’s exactly what he did,”

“He was back to himself, he had a sparkle in his eye even after they lost, everyone’s talking about Mourinho.

“And it was a good performance by Spurs in the second half, as we always knew they were going to have to contain, they were playing against the Champions-elect.

“I mean he has clearly seen the young lad in training, he clearly wanted pace and he got that.

“And you have to say Tanganga played incredibly well, you can’t fault him in anyway shape or form. And with a bit better finish from Tottenham, they could have easily got a point.”

Spurs Web Opinion

If one of either Son or Lo Celso had put their chance away at the end, then Spurs would have been good value for the draw. While the result was obviously disappointing, Mourinho proved on Saturday that he still has the knack of setting up his teams to nick big games. I believe Spurs’ performance against Liverpool bodes well for the Lilywhites’ Champions League campaign.

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