Opinion: Five costly errors that Jose Mourinho is making at Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur decided to bring in a serial winner when they sacked Mauricio Pochettino last November, with Jose Mourinho chosen as the man for the job.

However, I believe that the Special One is making a number of key errors in North London, mistakes that are leaving the Lilywhites lagging behind their rivals.

  1. Substitutions – Mourinho had five substitutions available to him last night. With eleven players taking part in a competitive match for the first time in three months and others returning from injury for the first time in half a year, that was a valuable tool. However, Mourinho chose to use just two. Kane looked done after 45 minutes, Son was fatigued, and the defence needed some fresh legs to see out the win, yet he did nothing.
  2. Park the bus – We all knew this was coming with the signing of Mourinho. I have no problem with it as a tactic in the right scenarios. However, Mourinho consistently attempts to park the bus with players who cannot do that job. Kane was effectively a tired central midfielder by the 65th minute, so why was Ndombele not sent on. Why not use an extra centre back? Either do it properly or not at all.
  3. Wing-back – This whole one wing-back and one defensive full-back is awful. It is simply flawed from the get-go. Why can’t we have two full-backs who do both like Liverpool? Having Aurier as the only attacking full-back makes everything so predictable and lop-sided. More than this, if he has a poor game going forward, Spurs lose their width entirely.
  4. Harry Kane – Pochettino was also guilty of this. Mourinho is falling into the Harry Kane trap. There seems to be a belief that he has to start and finish every single game on his name alone. Even when he is playing poorly or looks ready to drop, he finishes the 90 minutes. If he does not look capable of making the difference, make a change.
  5. Use what we have – Spurs have huge problems in defence. However, they have great possession players in Lo Celso, Ndombele, and Dele. They also have fantastic pace with Son, Bergwijn, and Lucas, as well as a top finisher in Kane. Attack is the best form of defence and Spurs are negating that by sitting deep game in game out. Where is the high press?

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