Here is your Spurs morning digest for Sunday, November 8.
Mourinho praises Kane
After he struck his 150th Premier League goal in Sunday’s 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion, Jose Mourinho heaped praise on Tottenham talisman Harry Kane.
The England captain scored a glancing header late on to secure the points against the Baggies, becoming the third-fastest player to reach 150 goals in Premier League in the process.
Yet Mourinho says that Kane offers far more to the team than just goals.
“When you go to stats in relation to the strikers, I always say that the stats should be how many goals has a striker scored, and what he did for his team in the matches where he didn't score,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“And many of the strikers that history will show an incredible number of goals that they score, plus zero. Harry Kane you have to say has this many goals, this many assists, this number of balls recovered, this number of duels won. This number of balls that he saved his team in a defensive set-piece.
“This is Harry Kane. It's goals plus this and this and this and that. For me it's not one more goal or one less goal, it's about what he is as a player."
Mourinho reveals Hojbjerg Denmark stance
Mourinho has detailed how Tottenham, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and Denmark appear to have found a solution that lets the midfielder represent his country over the international break.
Hojbjerg has been named in the latest Danish national team squad, but his availability is under question due to the new strain of Covid-19 to have broken out in the country.
Mourinho, though, says that a solution can be found that “fits everyone.”
“Pierre is in contact with his national team, he obviously wants to play for his national team,” he said. “Of course we want Pierre back and in condition to play and it looks like we have found a situation that protects us and the player and allows him to play one match.
“The situation is simple. The first match is a friendly against Sweden, he doesn't go. The second game is in the Nations League at home in Copenhagen, he is suspended because he got a yellow card against England so he is not going.
“The third game is Belgium-Denmark so he stays with us and works with us and goes to Belgium, he does what he wants and plays with greatest pride for his national team and then he comes back. The situation fits everyone.”
Doherty adapts to new role
Matt Doherty arrived at Tottenham as a barnstorming wing-back from Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, at Spurs he has played as an orthodox right-back, and his adaptation to a more defensive role has been hugely impressive, as detailed in-depth here.
Doherty has been involved in more defensive duels than last season. He has also averaged more interceptions, clearances, and aerial duels under Mourinho, and has taken up more defensive spaces of the pitch. This has allowed Sergio Reguilon’s attacking influence to grow on the opposite flank: the Spaniard already has three assists on the season as a result.
The defender’s offensive output has reduced, too. Last season, he averaged 0.09 expected assists and 0.13 expected goals in comparison to 0.04 and 0.07 respectively this season.
Despite the change in role, Doherty has impressed, which is a credit to Mourinho’s flexible coaching.
