Wolves v Spurs: Inside track on Jose Mourinho's side

We spoke with Dustin Menno, managing editor of Cartilage Free Captain, to get a better look at them.

See what he had to say here...

It’s been a bit of a turbulent season for Spurs it seems, how are things setting down following Pochettino's departure and Mourinho's appointment?

To be honest, it’s still a bit of a whirlwind.

If you had told me at the beginning of the season that within five months of making the Champions League final that Tottenham would fire Mauricio Pochettino and appoint Jose Mourinho, I would’ve thought you were mad. But it happened. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it.

Nothing soothes the nerves of a jittery fanbase quite like winning football matches, and that’s one thing that Mourinho has done here in the early stages of his Tottenham tenure. Pochettino certainly had difficulty doing that in the first part of the season.

In a strange way, the appointment of Mourinho signals a kind of intent from Tottenham — that they’re serious about winning things, and are ready to cement their status as one of the top clubs in England.

There are few managerial names in world football that are bigger than Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho may be slightly damaged goods after how things ended at Manchester United, but he’s put on the charm offensive to start his life in North London and he has done and said all the right things so far. There’s still plenty of time for everything to end in tears, though.

I would say many Spurs fans are optimistic, but wary.

What sort of style of play has the new boss implemented since coming in? Or is it too soon to tell?

It’s too soon to tell. Due to Spurs’ congested fixture schedule since his appointment, Mourinho has mostly kept the status quo in terms of tactics, as he hasn’t had much time to try and impose his style of play.

For Spurs, that has meant keeping a 4-2-3-1 formation and putting players in positions where they are best suited.

He’s moved Dele Alli, for example, into his natural role as a second striker behind Harry Kane, and Dele as absolutely thrived in the matches Spurs have played since Mourinho’s arrival. Jose has also brought Eric Dier in from the cold and back to a starting role as a defensive midfielder.

Mourinho has backed off the Pochettino pressing system and no longer requires Spurs to play out from the back.

There’s a newfound emphasis on counter-attacking football, running straight at defences through the pace of Son Heung-Min and Lucas Moura. He’s kept things simple, relying on the players whom he already knows.

The flip side of that has meant less action for Spurs' new signings, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, and Ryan Sessegnon, at least in the short term.

All that, plus the “new manager energy,” has meant that Spurs are hardly recognizable from the plodding teams earlier in the season.

Is this the way Mourinho wants to play? Who knows! But it’s working pretty well now.

Who have been the good performers for Spurs following Mourinho's hiring? Who should Wolves be wary of?

Dele Alli has been a revelation since Mourinho’s arrival. In a lot of ways he’s a quintessential Mourinho archetypal player: direct, creative, technically sound, and with a naughty streak. The first thing Mourinho said to Dele was to ask him if it was “his brother” who had been playing for Spurs the past few matches.

In five games under Mourinho, Dele has four goals and three assists and is playing with a freedom that we haven’t seen since 2016-17.

Son Heung-Min was one of Spurs’ primary attacking threats under Pochettino, but he’s been given even more license to attack under Mourinho, and he’s taken advantage. You only have to look at his sensational goal this past weekend against Burnely to see why Mourinho likes him so much.

Toby Alderweireld has also thrived under Mourinho, and we’ve seen not only consistently solid defensive performances from him, but also an uptick in his long passes out of the back.

Spurs now have the ability to bypass the midfield entirely, as Alderweireld has a knack for finding streaking attackers with long balls from deep.

Are there any injury worries causing issues for Spurs at the moment?

There are a few — Hugo Lloris is still recovering from damaged elbow ligaments in a fall against Brighton in October. Ben Davies has ankle ligament damage and will be out for a while.

Erik Lamela has been dealing with a hip injury for the past few weeks. Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele are both carrying knocks.

What are the expectations now in North London? After such a good season last time around, is it fair to say fans might be accepting of a lesser campaign following Spurs’ start?

The season started off so disastrously that it would be wise for Spurs fans to redo their expectations for the season.

Coming into this year, the expectation was a top four finish and hopefully a title challenge. Now it looks like catching Chelsea for fourth is going to be exceedingly difficult.

With everything that’s happened so far, I would be content — not happy, but content — finishing 5th or 6th, qualifying for European competition, and playing attractive football under Mourinho.

An FA Cup trophy would be nice, but that’s hardly something you can plan for, is it?

A top four finish isn’t out of the question, but it would take some doing and should no longer be the expectation this season.

What’s your predicted XI for the game with Wolves?

Spurs will heavily rotate for the dead-rubber Champions League match against Bayern on Wednesday, so expect a strong and rested Spurs starting XI.

(4-2-3-1) Gazzaniga; Aurier - Alderweireld - Sanchez - Vertonghen; Dier - Ndombele; Son - Dele - Moura; Kane.

What have you made of Wolves from afar this season? Do you think they have what it takes to be successful on European and domestic fronts?

Well, it’s hard to scoff at 11 games unbeaten on the trot, including a win against Manchester City, isn’t it?

After a difficult start, Wolves have been playing some excellent football, and their goals have been coming from a wide variety of players over the past several matches.

Diogo Jota has been the latest to catch a hot streak, but Wolves have plenty of weapons going forward. I’ve especially enjoyed watching Adama Traore run at defences this season. Spurs will need to do well to keep them out.

Making the transition to playing in multiple competitions isn’t easy, but Wolves have handled it well so far in the Europa League.

They’re dangerous, and with a good draw I certainly think they have a chance to make a deep run into the competition.

Your match prediction?

Spurs are scoring by the bucketful right now, but Wolves can torture sleeping defences.

I’m going to go with a 3-3 draw — fun for the neutral, terrifying for both sets of supporters.

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