The Jose Show is back in town!
It’s been an interesting couple of days, hasn’t it? Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking was a surprise; José Mourinho’s appointment was a shock. He doesn’t look right holding a Spurs shirt, and it certainly doesn’t feel right that he is now working with the notoriously frugal Daniel Levy. It’s hardly a match made in heaven.
However, his record of winning (lots and lots and lots) of silverware is hard to ignore, and the Premier League doesn’t feel the same without José; the Soap Opera is back in business.
His first order of business is a trip to West Ham, where he’s seeking to secure Spurs’ first domestic away victory of the season.
It was clear that Pochettino lost the dressing room over the last few months, and the players simply gave up on him; as a result, I’m expecting the reaction of all reactions on Saturday. I don’t care about Mourinho’s past history; I don’t care about that’s happened previously – he is box-office, a superstar of a manager, and if you don’t think every player will put in the performance of their lives to secure their boss’ favour, you’d be gravely mistaken.
It also helps that West Ham are truly, truly dreadful. Their downturn—which has seen them earn just one point from their last five league matches—has coincided with Lukasz Fabianski’s injury, with the hapless Roberto Jimenez deputising – and not very well.
The Spanish ‘keeper hasn’t been the only issue with the Hammers, but when a side goes from having one of the league’s best stoppers to an error-prone flapper, nerves and uncertainty are spreads through the entire team, and fans in the ground, like wildfire.
I’m expecting a rapid improvement in Spurs’ fortunes in the short-term, and considering they’ve won their last three away games against West Ham, I’m pretty happy backing them to repeat the trick this time around.
Welcome back, José.
At a price-boosted 5/1, I’m backing Harry Kane to score a brace.
The England captain hasn’t been at his very best for Spurs this season—though I believe this is primarily due to poor service from others, especially the full-backs—but he certainly likes playing against West Ham.
Kane has scored three braces against the Hammers in his last seven matches against them, and considering they’ve got an inept goalkeeper behind a defence who have contributed to the side having the fourth-worst defence in the league, I can see Spurs’ stand-in captain having some real joy.
Mourinho has always enjoyed his out-and-out Number 9s—just look at how good the likes of Diego Costa and Didier Drogba were under him—so I’m confident Kane will prosper; starting Saturday.
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