The first home match for Jose Mourinho in front of the Tottenham Hotspur faithful is against Olympiacos tonight. A win would mean guaranteed progress into the last sixteen of the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho First Home Match Against Olympiacos: Line-ups and Prediction
History is Winning
Spurs’ start to this Champions League campaign was as shaky as the previous years. The 7-2 loss against Bayern Munich was particularly devastating. However, tonight’s match can ensure the club progress onto the knockout stages once again. In recent years, this is the mark of the progress achieved under Pochettino, now inherited by Mourinho.
Jose Mourinho commented on Spurs’ Champions League final defeat last year. ‘To arrive in the final is an incredible achievement…but it’s not history. History is winning.’ (From Sami Mokbel, The Daily Mail) Clearly, his ideology is to win at all costs. Pochettino before him cannot be argued to not have shared the same sentiment. However, the difference is the expectations and targets each manager has or had. Pochettino achieved his goals all too early by getting the club into the Champions League in the first place. Mourinho, on the other hand, is the replacement manager intended to push the club over the final hurdle to glory.
Line-Up
Tottenham Hotspur
Paulo Gazzaniga, Serge Aurier, Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Dele, Lucas Moura, Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane (C)
Spurs make one change from their 3-2 victory over West Ham, with Danny Rose replacing the injured Ben Davies. Tanguy Ndombele returns to the bench. Mourinho has chosen to stick with his winning formula, and especially that front three of Kane, Moura and Son. Dele again gets his role to be creative in midfield.
Prediction
Tottenham slipped up late on in the match against West Ham. They still need to work on how they manage matches. Mourinho still needs to work with the players over a much longer period to transform them into winners. Tonight’s match is another opportunity for that. Whilst the Spurs boss has chosen to pick the same side, the players must play for their places. Tonight, Tottenham can get the win they need to move on in Europe, and change their trajectory in the season as a whole.
2-0 Spurs.
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