The Daily Mail’s Kieran Gill has questioned Jose Mourinho’s continued selection of Lucas Moura and insisted that the winger has to improve his end product.
Moura missed Tottenham’s first game following the Premier League restart against Manchester United after picking up a knock in training but has started all three of Spurs’ subsequent games.
The Brazilian has proven to be a favourite of Mourinho, starting regularly since the Portuguese coach arrived in North London at the end of November.
However, the 27-year-old has only registered seven goals and three assists in 42 appearances in all competitions this season (transfermarkt.com), which suggests that he does not offer enough in the final third.
Gill believes the former PSG man is continuing to live off the hat-trick he bagged in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Ajax last season.
In his column for The Mail, Gill wrote: “Moura cannot dine out on memories of that night in Amsterdam forever, no matter how delicious it was. He has to create new ones. He has to score in the Premier League, too.
“The last time that happened was in December 2019, the opener in a narrow win over Wolves. In that time he has assisted a team-mate once, against Manchester City in February.
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“Because of those numbers, Moura’s inclusion in Monday night’s starting line-up led some Tottenham supporters to speculate on what dirt the 27-year-old must have on his manager.”
The journalist insisted that the winger lost the ball way too often during Spurs’ 1-0 win over Everton on Monday.
He added: “Whatever the reason for Mourinho’s blind faith, social media gave it the thumbs down, and the winger did little to make those exasperated tweeters eat their words.
“Lucas Digne was the Everton left back standing in the Brazilian’s way, but other than one off-target attempt from distance before the opening drinks break, it was an underwhelming first half.”
“Moura is an attacker who likes to counter and go direct at opposition defenders. With Tottenham controlling possession on Monday night, he rarely got the opportunity to stretch his legs in that manner.
“When he did have the ball, he made a habit of losing it.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Moura can be extremely frustrating on the ball but I understand why Jose keeps playing him. His change of pace and ability to turn on the afterburners is a massive asset when we are counter-attacking.
However, against teams who sit back with men behind the ball, Moura does not have the vision needed to break defences down and work out openings. I believe he would be far better coming on from the bench than starting.
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