5 Tottenham Hotspur players who have improved under Jose Mourinho

Bhargav
Harry Kane is one of several Tottenham Hotspur players who have improved under Jose Mourinho.
Harry Kane is one of several Tottenham Hotspur players who have improved under Jose Mourinho.

#3 Serge Aurier

Serge Aurier
Serge Aurier

After arriving at Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2017 from Paris Saint-Germain, Serge Aurier took time to adapt to his new surroundings.

However, under Jose Mourinho, the Ivorian right-back has flourished this season.

Aurier impressively made as many as ten tackles against defending champions Liverpool - the most by any player in the Premier League this season. However, his efforts were not enough, as Tottenham Hotspur came up second best in the game.

Despite his penchant for conceding penalties - one of them came in the loss against Liverpool - Jose Mourniho defended the player, saying:

“I know my players’ qualities. Serge was phenomenal against Liverpool – probably our best player – and today, he made this mistake. It’s not fair to say if it cost us the three points."

#2 Harry Kane

Harry Kane
Harry Kane

Harry Kane was already a prolific scorer even before Jose Mourinho arrived at Tottenham Hotspur.

However, under the tutelage of the Portuguese tactician, the English striker has added a new dimension to his game - the ability to conjure assists for teammates.

The Tottenham Hotspur and England forward has scored 11 goals and assisted as many in 17 Premier League games this season while striking up a devastating partnership with Son-Heung Min (more on him later).

Kane's off-the-ball work after dropping deep has earned him rich plaudits, with former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher observing in this regard:

"There's a little bit of the Zidane in (Kane) when he gets the ball in that position. How he sort of shields it and protects it. He has been spectacular... (he) has got both centre-backs where he wants them."

Kane himself has admitted the positive influence of Jose Mourinho in his evolution, saying:

"I think he saw in my game that I like to drop deep so he made it clear (the rest of the squad) that if I do drop deep then they need to be the ones running in behind. I think that’s been the real difference. It’s allowed me to create space and get the ball but have an option going forward as well. He’s been great, and I look forward to obviously the months ahead and getting on really well.”

#1 Son-Heung Min

Son-Heung Min
Son-Heung Min

Son-Heung Min is arguably the Tottenham Hotspur player who has improved the most under Jose Mourinho.

The 28-year-old has never been a prolific scorer, only twice tallying 12 goals in a Premier League season prior to the ongoing 2020-21 campaign. However, the Tottenham Hotspur man has already equalled that tally in only 17 games this season and looks good for more after a blistering start to the season.

Forming a devastating partnership with Harry Kane up front, the South Korean and the Englishman have scored goals and provided assists galore for the other this campaign.

Son-Heung Min has evolved into a force to be a reckoned with and is undoubtedly an automatic starter in the Tottenham Hotspur lineup when fit.

Recently, Jose Mourinho lauded the player's attributes, saying:

"That's the humility of a player. That's Sonny. That's the human nature. He's like that. Some other guys they are not like that. For him it's the team."

The Tottenham Hotspur man has already scored 16 goals in all competitions this season, which is only two behind that of Kane.

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Edited by S Chowdhury
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