José Mourinho developed old tactic to win Premier League title at Tottenham, says Gary Neville | Football News

Tottenham host Arsenal in North London derby on Sunday, live Sky sports, and after scoring four points in his last two Premier League games, Gary Neville believes José Mourinho has found success by innovating an old tactic …

I’ve watched Spurs the last two games, against Manchester City and against Chelsea, and I think they have had a great week. When José Mourinho was at Manchester United, something was wrong. Maybe that was the fit and also the way José was.

We always talked about the “Mourinho masterclasses” when he won matches and was wiser, smarter and cuter than rival coaches. There has been an element of disrespect in recent years where his style of play has been criticized to the point that he is outdated and the game has now passed him.

We saw managers like Mauricio Pochettino, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp come into the league and be absolutely fantastic.

I remember a game where I was manager of Manchester United against Liverpool and I walked out thinking I couldn’t see United playing that way.

Mourinho actually went with a six behind and was desperate to see. I left thinking ‘United need more than that’.

I know Liverpool were the better team and United were down, but they had to contribute more than that. It didn’t sound very innovative or modern. The problem with this is that United couldn’t launch their counterattacks as the two wide-open players were so deep. José played a non-dominant style of football.

How the system is now more acceptable

He still wants defensive stability. He still wants a clean sheet, and I don’t think he’s completely relying on his four defenders at Tottenham, but you’re looking at this Spurs side now, with Moussa Sissoko and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and you still have six defenders. [as he had for United against Liverpool] but there are big differences.

First of all, Harry Kane’s position runs much deeper for Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a place that’s hard to find. Second, and most importantly, Son [Heung-Min] Yes [Steven] Bergwijn is close to him.

Instead of the two players closest to Zlatan [Ander] Herrera and [Paul] Pogba, the two central midfielders, José now has the right players always in an advanced position to counter-attack quickly.

It’s a subtle change but it’s the same system as before in a different way. It’s much more palatable and more pleasing to the eye, because you still have the attacking players in the attacking position. José has adapted and has the balance of being good defensively with the threat on the counter.

I feel like he has to play that way to have any chance of winning the title because I don’t think his four defenses are strong enough without two players backing him up. They’ll be a huge threat to most teams and Jose has a plan on how to win the league this season.

The challenges can run into teams falling against them, where they need to be a little more creative, but that’s when players like Kane and Gareth Bale will come in.

I don’t think I can win it by being proactive against Liverpool, Manchester City and other teams, but if Tottenham takes it the players buy it, it’s something innovative. He’s still defensive, but he’s a real threat and he’s also scoring goals.