Jose Mourinho claimed his attacking options against West Ham are ‘very good’ during his pre-match press conference this afternoon.
Tottenham’s hopes of securing Champions League football took a dent on Friday after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United and Mourinho will be desperate for three points in Tuesday’s London derby.
Dele Alli is available for selection once more after serving his one-match suspension while Mourinho also confirmed that Lucas Moura is fit to play following his absence on Friday night.
Discussing his selection dilemma in attack, Mourinho said: “I always liked the players here when I arrived and then in January we got Bergwijn. Bergwijn, Lamela, Lucas, Sonny, Dele and Harry – six attacking players, all different, all very good.
“It’s the first time I have all of them available which is the kind of problem that we coaches just love.”
Other than defenders Japhet Tanganga and Juan Foyth, Mourinho has a full squad to choose from so will be included in his second starting line-up since the restart?
Defence
Mourinho sprung a surprise on Friday night by leaving Toby Alderweireld on the bench with Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez preferred in the middle of the back four.
Sanchez’s inclusion was a necessity against a United attack featuring Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford considering the covering pace he possesses, but the inclusion of Dier was an intriguing one.
The England international has struggled for form over the past couple of seasons and was culpable for United’s equaliser after bundling Paul Pogba to the ground inside the box before avoiding a second penalty concession in injury time following a VAR intervention.
Perhaps Alderweireld’s minutes are being managed more carefully considering he turned 31 in March and it seems likely that Mourinho’s biggest conundrum in defence will be who to select out of the Belgian and Dier to partner Sanchez. Hugo Lloris, Serge Aurier and Ben Davies are locked in as regular starters.
Spurs have also confirmed that backup goalkeeper Michel Vorm and long-serving Jan Vertonghen have extended their contracts with the club until the end of the season, so both are likely to be named on the bench.
Midfield
Although both players are popular with supporters, the combination of Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks in a double-pivot is not one that is universally admired.
They appear to be Mourinho’s first-choice pairing, though, particularly as they played the entire 90 minutes against United while record signing Tanguy Ndombele sat on the bench twiddling his thumbs.
Ndombele may see some action on Tuesday but it was telling that he didn’t feature at all last match despite Mourinho having the option to use five substitutes.
Further forward, three players are in competition for the No.10 role with Alli, Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela all viable options to start there.
Lamela has benefited from a mini pre-season and performed well against United, but is likely third in line when all three are fit, so it could be a straight shoot-out between Alli and Lo Celso.
Attack
Much of the discussion post-match centred around Harry Kane and more specifically whether he will maintain his previous goalscoring rate in a Mourinho managed side following his subdued display on Friday.
Mourinho delivered an impassioned defence of his management, in particular to Paul Merson, pointing out the records of Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Diego Milito and Zlatan Ibrahimovic under his management.
“I think Harry Kane has no problem at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he’s fit and fresh and has routines of playing,” Mourinho said.
Either side of Kane, both Steven Bergwijn and Heung-min Son looked sharp on the flanks with the former scoring a fine solo goal (admittedly helped by David De Gea’s weak wrists) and the latter drawing a fine save with a header.
Mourinho acknowledged that Bergwijn wasn’t fit enough to play the full 90 minutes on Friday but after his goalscoring contribution he should retain his place ahead of Mourinho favourite Lucas.
How Tottenham could line up against West Ham
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3esuTrO
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