Jose Mourinho has claimed that having Harry Kane as a teammate is the only issue that is preventing Carlos Vinicius from getting more game time for Tottenham in the Premier League.
Most of Vincius’ minutes this season have come in the Europa League and domestic cup competitions, with the striker mostly restricted to a few cameos off the bench in the Premier League (Transfermarkt).
When opportunities have come his way, Vinicius has certainly given a very good account of himself, impressing with his work rate, ability to hold up the ball and goal scoring.
The Brazilian has already scored nine times so far in all competitions, including another brace in the Europa League in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Wolfsberger on Wednesday.
Mourinho admitted that he has been delighted with the on-loan Benfica man’s attitude and insisted that he will get chances in the Premier League over the coming months.
When asked what more Vinicius needs to do to get into the team, the Spurs boss told Football.London: “He has one problem, and the problem is Harry Kane.
“It’s as simple as that. You need to be a special guy, you need to be a special heart, a special mentality, a special feeling in relation to what you mean for the team, what the team expects from you.
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“To be a striker in the same team as Harry Kane then you need to be a special guy, always motivated, always happy to have one minute, five minutes or start the game. He is giving us what we want.
“In the Premier League he is going to play because we have so many matches that Kane cannot play every match.
“First season in a country is never easy, especially a South American player that doesn’t speak the language, that is the first time he leaves a certain comfort zone.
“Portugal is a comfort zone for a South American player, it is the weather, the people, the style of football, the language, Portugal is a perfect comfort zone or adaption zone to these players. To come to England for Carlos was not easy at all but he is giving us what we wanted.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Vinicius is facing the same problem that the likes of Soldado, Janssen and Llorente faced before him which is that Harry Kane is going to play every single game when he is fit.
Any conventional number nine, who likes to play as a target man, is going to face a similar issue at Spurs unless Jose decides to play two strikers, which is unlikely unless we are chasing a game, particularly given how advanced Son plays.
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