What Mourinho Wants

It takes time to develop a system so that it is effective. The players have to learn it and understand what the manager is trying to achieve.

José Mourinho has not had time to work with the players between games to get what he wants across and to practice it, thus we are learning as we go.

This season is and will continue to be a battle with the main aim of getting into the top four and another season of UEFA Champions League football.

Like it or not it is essential to the growth of the club and thus regular trophies.

Mourinho is looking to develop a fast counter-attacking side who can move the ball quickly which is music to my ears.

You could see signs of it in the game against Southampton where we made several swift counter-attacks only to mess up the chances we were creating. We missed Kane and you can expect to see Krzysztof Piątek getting plenty of chances.

As I wrote in the previous article he wants to join Spurs, it works for us and it works for him.

The Polish international will give us the opportunity to rest Kane more next season which will help avoid injuries, fatigue was a factor in Kane injuring himself against Southampton.

Steven Bergwijn fits in with that style as he has pace in abundance.

As you all know, one of my bugbears is the slow passing that allows the opposition time to reset or simply jog across the pitch while our centre-backs gently stroll the ball to each other. Jan Vertonghen is the primary culprit but it happens with Sanchez and Aurier picking out opposition players regularly.

If you are going to switch play then it has to be done swiftly. That was the beauty of Ryan Mason when he came into the side. He would receive the ball and whip it out to the other side. Far too many times before and since him, our players have to stand and wait for a pass to arrive and infrequent cases, the opposition player, sees it and intercepts it before it arrives.

This leaves our guy out of game ahead of the ball and places us in danger, all because a pass isn't hit with enough pace.

I saw a quote from Chris Waddle that spoke volumes about the mentality of players. It showed the type of winning mentality I talk about and shows the difference between a player trying to win and a winning mentality.

You do what it takes. Harry Kane, for instance, got his own chef to improve his body, his nutrition and all the knock-on effects that has.

Every little detail counts. Why can't Erik Lamela spend 20 minutes a day practicing with his right foot? Just think how much that would add to his game, defenders could no longer push him to the right when we are breaking fast.

It isn't rocket science but it just shows some players are not prepared to look to continually improve and be the best they can possibly be. That is what separates the world-class players from the rest and anyone who plays international football is not world-class.

Messi, Ronaldo, these are world-class players, the elite. Then there are exceptionally good international players and then just international standard players.

Christian Eriksen, for instance, can be world-class at times, but at other times he is merely international class. Take his free-kicks, why did he stop scoring from them?

Answer, he wasn't practicing enough, he wasn't trying to be the best he can be.

That is a mental weakness, that is the real reason Real Madrid didn't sign him, mentally he doesn't have it. That prevents him from being considered world class.

To consistently win trophies we need players who have the right mentality so let's hope those we are buying have more of a Harry Kane mentality than an Emmanuel Adebayor.

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