“He’s a legend” – Spurs player speaks highly of Jose Mourinho’s time in North London

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman has praised Jose Mourinho for the way he treated him during his time in charge of the North London club.

Whiteman is currently at Swedish Allsvenskan side Degerfors IF on a season-long loan to provide him with the opportunity of first-team football having found himself behind Hugo Lloris and Pierluigi Gollini in the goalkeeping pecking order at the Premier League side.

Mourinho took over from Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019 with Whiteman describing the Portuguese as a ‘good person’.

Having been Tottenham’s third-choice keeper on a number of occasions, Whiteman found himself in the first-team dressing room and claimed that his half time breaks were very motivating.

Spurs fans had an insight into Mourinho’s tactical discussions during Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary series.

Mourinho handed the 22-year-old his senior debut for Spurs, having come on as a second-half substitute in the Europa League win against Ludogorets in November of last year.

“He’s a legend. He has won many trophies; he is a good coach and has proven it. He is kind and also a good person,” Whiteman told Fotbollskanalen.

“He had good training, and there was good talk during the half-time break with him; he was very motivating.

“He is a very smart person; you quickly understand that he has been a part of this sport for a long time. It is an honour to have worked with him, and it is fun that he is now doing well in Roma.”

SpursWeb Opinion

Whiteman’s opinion of Mourinho is naturally very high after he gave him his opportunity to make his debut for the first-team.

The goalkeeper’s chances of breaking through to become a regular at Spurs look to be a tough ask with Gollini the likely successor to Hugo Lloris.

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