Jose Mourinho has been impressed by Dele Alli in his first two matches as Tottenham head coach but wants to see the midfielder find "a certain base" of consistency.

Alli had struggled under Mauricio Pochettino this season, yet he has starred in wins against West Ham and Olympiacos since Mourinho replaced the sacked Argentine.

Mourinho says he has not made any drastic changes to bring the best out of the 23-year-old and wants the England international to maintain the standards he has set.

"I think you have to speak with [Alli] because it was him not me [who changed the performances]," Mourinho said at a news conference. "I don't play, I don't fight, I don't run. He is doing everything by himself. We just try to give him the right conditions to feel well to do that. I have to say, two fantastic performances."

"He will not be the man of the match every game. He will have some matches where he will not play as well as he did in these two. He has to keep a certain base, a certain platform of performance where he is never going below that, so let's keep that base as the objective.

"He is a fantastic player, young, with all the conditions to develop, so I think he has a bright future and we just want to help him to reach his levels and maintain these levels."

 

November 26, 2019

Spurs were dealt a blow this week as it was confirmed left-back Ben Davies suffered ankle ligament damage against West Ham.

But Mourinho insists Davies' absence will not force him to backtrack on earlier comments suggesting he would not rush into the transfer market in January.

"No, we have a good squad," he said. "We have options - Danny Rose is the natural left-back, Jan Vertonghen can do it, he did it already for the club and for the national team.

"In extra emergency, I think even [Serge] Aurier could give us a hand playing there, and we have options at right back. So with one or two injuries, the squad is fine. [Davies] will be back and we will survive without him. I trust the other people that can play in the same position, like Danny did in the last match."

"On top of that, I couldn't be at the game but I watched on video our youth team playing in the Champions League, and we also have [Dennis] Cirkin. Okay, he's 17, but he's a kid with a lot of quality, and I look forward to bringing him to train with us and to help his development."