da bet nacional： Tottenham faced off against Watford on Saturday with a slightly different side than we’re used to seeing from the London club.
da bet7k： Christian Eriksen’s impending departure may have affected how Mourinho wants to line-up in the middle of the park.
However, the Spurs boss took one of the club legend’s by surprise when his team was announced an hour before kick-off as Glenn Hoddle stated that it was uncharacteristic of the former United boss to play with a midfield pivot lacking physicality.
What’s been said then?
Hoddle was a little taken aback by the manager’s decision to play Giovani Lo Celso and Harry Winks as the midfield pivot.
“The ironic thing for me is Lo Celso and Winks in the midfield. That’s very un-Mourinho-like. He likes a powerful midfielder in there, but it’s very attacking with Dele Alli just ahead of them,” Hoddle said on BT Sport’s coverage of Watford vs Tottenham (18/1/20 11:30AM)
Didn’t work out
When you think of a traditional Mourinho team he usually has tough tacklers at the base of his midfield.
Claude Makelele, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel held down the fort at Chelsea, while Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti formed the base of his midfield at Inter.
However, on Saturday he tried something different, and it didn’t quite work out.
Lo Celso and Winks made just one key pass between them and their defensive contribution wasn’t all that brilliant either as they made just three tackles and one interception combined.
If it wasn’t for Troy Deeney fluffing his lines from a penalty then Spurs could easily have lost against Watford. That should be enough for Mourinho to put this experiment in the middle of the park to bed, especially when you consider that Gedson Fernandes has just been added to the squad.
Meanwhile, Spurs fans have been slamming one man after their game against Watford.