Tottenham begin their 2019-2020 FA Cup campaign with a third-round away tie against Middlesbrough on Sunday afternoon.
While the Lilywhites boast of a glorious history in the competition having won it eight times, they have fared quite poorly of late with their last win coming all the way back in 1990-91.
With Tottenham already well out of contention for the Premier League title and with a long way still to go in the Champions League, the FA Cup arguably represents the club’s best chance of winning silverware this season.
Mourinho, who has won some of the biggest competitions in the world including the FA Cup, claimed ahead of the tie that the FA Cup was very important for him and the club given Tottenham’s rich history in the competition.
He admitted that he might be forced to field some young players due to the current injury crisis he was facing but insisted that it was not an indication of him disrespecting the competition.
The Spurs boss told Four Four Two, “Everybody’s going to be involved. If you go to our squad and no Rose, no Davies, no Lloris, no Kane. I don’t know if Eric Dier will be ready but he is still to come back.
“When you say no, no, no, no, no you have to say (Oliver) Skipp, (Japhet) Tanganga, (Troy) Parrott, the young boys in.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“That’s for sure, but sometimes when you say young guys, people that are not playing a lot and you connect FA Cup (is) not important, FA Cup the right space to give opportunities to players, that’s not the case.
“FA Cup (is) very important, by the history of the club, by the connection, by the memories, by what it means for everyone at the club, every fan, the FA Cup is very important.
“So these young players coming in for the match at Middlesbrough doesn’t mean the FA Cup is not important for us.”
Spurs Web Opinion
As expected Mourinho is taking the FA Cup seriously as he is a man who likes to win silverware everywhere he goes. He will be keen to break the club’s recent trophy jinx. His comments are certainly night and day in comparison to Pochettino’s comments a year ago about trophies only fueling your ego.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
