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Jose Mourinho Says He 'Made No Impact' in Win on Tottenham Debut
November 23, 2019
Jose Mourinho wasn't interested in taking the credit, despite making a winning start on his debut as Tottenham Hotspur manager on Saturday.
Mourinho, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino on Wednesday, saw the Lilywhites beat West Ham United 3-2 at the London Stadium in the Premier League. Yet the 56-year-old insisted he hadn't changed much within the team.
Spurs' new boss spoke to BBC Match of the Day (h/t BBC Sport): "It's not about me; it's about the players and club. I will hate if somebody says 'Jose made an impact.' I made no impact. Nothing. I just helped them a little bit to win this match."
Regardless of what he did, Mourinho saw Spurs race into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Heung-Min Son, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane, before Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna hit back for the Hammers.
The result represented an obvious way to quantify the Mourinho effect:
Dele Alli created the opener for Son and later echoed his manager's view not much had changed since Pochettino left the club, per the same source: "We did not really change too much [under Mourinho], just a few little tweaks, maybe a few changes in the way we press."
Alli enlivened the game with an inch-perfect through pass to set Son free:
It was classic Alli, but contributions like this had become few and far between for the gifted midfielder before Mourinho's arrival:
A revitalised Alli continued to impose his artful brilliance on the new-look, Mourinho-led Spurs. The 23-year-old was at the heart of Tottenham's second, releasing Son with an outrageous piece of skill so the South Korea international could tee up Moura:
Mourinho described how he had spoken to Alli about how to revive his form: "It was the old Dele Alli, the Dele of a couple of years ago, that impressed not just England but the world. He did what I wanted him to do after two days of work. I tried to make it clear to him the spaces where we wanted him to play, offensively and defensively."
Those words, along with Alli's response to them, speak to the true impact Mourinho has made during his short time in the job. Aside from Alli, other struggling stars in the Tottenham ranks appear to be quickly back on song.
Among them is holding midfielder Eric Dier, who made just his second start in the last five league matches and his first at the base of midfield in six. The Englishman caught the eye as the destructive counterpoint to Alli's guile and the foundation of Mourinho's balanced lineup:
Similarly, Moura scored just his second league goal of the campaign. The Brazilian's pace and direct running are the ideal weapons for the counter-attacking game Mourinho prefers.
Recently, UOL Esporte (h/t MailOnline's Ollie Lewis) reported Moura was happy about Mourinho's arrival because it represented the chance for him to become a regular member of the starting XI again.
Mourinho already has Moura firing again, Dier back in his natural enforcer's role and Alli showcasing his awesome talent. He may not be seeking plaudits now, but there is no doubting the Portuguese has made an instant impact at Tottenham.