The English Premier League resumes this weekend after the League Cup ties in midweek with a very fiery affair in prospect in London. Tottenham Hotspur will be without star man Gareth Bale for the first time in a London Derby as Andre Villas-Boas welcomes Jose Mourinho and Chelsea to White Hart Lane.
The English Premier League resumes this weekend after the League Cup ties in midweek with a very fiery affair in prospect in London. Tottenham Hotspur will be without star man Gareth Bale for the first time in a London Derby as Andre Villas-Boas welcomes Jose Mourinho and Chelsea to White Hart Lane.
This will be a clash of old pals trying to get one over each other. Villas-Boas was under the leadership of Jose Mourinho during the Special One’s first Chelsea reign and also at Inter Milan but left to further develop himself into being a manager. It paid off as just two years after he left Inter, AVB won the Portuguese Premeira Liga, the Portuguese Cup as well as the Europa League with Porto in the 2010/2011 season.
AVB may have then seem to take a swipe at Mourinho as this was what he stated in a press conference just after he won the Europa League. He said: ‘Pep Guardiola was always an inspiration to me when I left Inter because of his methodology and the way he plays such fantastic football. His philosophy is Barcelona’s philosophy. He defends the spectacle of the game. Jose introduced me to professional football, so I’d also like to dedicate this to him and to someone who has already left us but was decisive in my career: Sir Bobby Robson.’
At that point in time Guardiola was then Mourinho’s main rival as they battle for supremacy in Spain so this statement surely did not go down well with the now ‘Happy One.’ However, both managers have been through a rough time after their success so far and will be looking to make things right in their current job.
Chelsea goes into the tie against Tottenham with a point to prove as they have not been in good form and will want to make a huge statement by taking all three points. Tottenham on the other hand have been growing from strength to strength as they try to bond as a team after the addition of seven new players. A victory for Tottenham will see them announce themselves as genuine title contenders and will surely give the team a confidence boost going forward.
Mourinho has seen his team struggle to score goals due to the bad form of his strikers but also the lack of creativity so far. Due to this the fans are calling for Chelsea’s Player of the Year last season Juan Mata to be included in the first eleven. Mata is seen by Mourinho as second best to Oscar and the Special One has made it clear that the 25 year old Spaniard must fight to get his place in the team.
AVB on the other hand has seen Paulinho and Moussa Dembele form a good partnership in midfield and Christian Eriksen seems to have added the final piece to the puzzle with his vision, creativity and ability to find space in the final third. Spurs struggled in the first two games to score from open play but Eriksen has added a new dimension which has seen them create many chances at will.
AVB seems to be edging close to selecting his best eleven while Mourinho still has the problem with strikers as well as who plays the number 10 role. On current form Spurs should come away with the victory but it won’t be easy against a Chelsea team that can tear you apart should they turn up with a performance that matches the quality of their squad.
Writer: Yashiema Love
Photo: Jose Mourinho (AP)
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