Use of attacking depth critical as Mourinho aims to compete across all fronts

Against West Brom on Sunday afternoon, the performances of Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela were selected for praise by Jose Mourinho in his post-match press conference.

Lamela’s positive intent and pressing ensured Tottenham were able to sustain attacking possessions against a team they desperately needed to beat after three consecutive Premier League losses.

Brazilian Moura provided an assist for the second goal in a 2-0 win after driving the ball forward on the counter before setting up Heung-Min Son to score.

“I’m very happy. I love the way Lamela and Lucas came to the game against Chelsea. I love that compromise. I loved their talk before they came to the pitch. A big compromise to the team.

Both of them proper men, proper team men and I was so happy with them that I decided to start the game with them and they were both very good, really, really good.

So I’m very pleased with what they did but I again go back to the first question and what pleased me more was the compromise of the team.”

With an FA Cup tie inbound during the week against Everton before a trip to Manchester to face league leaders City, it’s imperative for Mourinho to get a tune out of all his attacking instruments.

The win over the Baggies signalled the return of Harry Kane as Tottenham’s star striker continued his foray into the record books by becoming Spurs’ joint-second highest scorer level with Bobby Smith on 208.

Though Kane’s return is a welcome relief, Mourinho must ensure England’s captain is managed throughout the season to ensure decreasing the probability of further injuries. After returning from problems to both ankles, Kane still played the whole 90 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Against Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees, the 27-year-old must be rotated for Carlos Vinicius. The Brazilian forward arrived at the club to relieve Kane of the constant workload he’d often carried under Mauricio Pochettino’s reign and Wednesday’s fixture is the opportunity to demonstrate this.

“Last season I had lots of problems with no striking force and not even wingers or attacking players in some periods of the season.

“Now we have this amazing squad” – Mourinho speaking to BT Sport after Spurs’ Europa League win over LASK in October

Despite his claims towards the squad, Tottenham are joint-15th for players used in the Premier League this season. Although Mourinho must ensure he rotates, his attacking players have failed to deliver when afforded opportunities in the league.

Steven Bergwijn, although rightly praised for his defensive work rate, has failed to find the net over 16 appearances in the Premier League and 24 in all competitions. This statistic becomes more pertinent when one of Kane or Son are unavailable, with Spurs’ threat in the final third almost non-existent in the matches against Brighton and Chelsea without their star striker.

With 43 goals contributions between the pair in the Premier League, there is no hiding from the reliance on the duo. Spurs require a threat from elsewhere, with Tanguy Ndombele (three) and Serge Aurier (two) the only players to have scored more than one league goal this season.

The goals in all competitions, against much lower opposition it should be noted, are encouraging. Brazilian pairing Moura and Vinicus have six apiece, whilst Gareth Bale’s contributions have all come away from league action.

A reliability goalscoring presence in Spurs’ recent history, Dele Alli has found game time limited this season. Ahead of Spurs’ fixture against Everton, Mourinho was quizzed over the 24-year-old’s potential future role for the team after speculation of a January move to Paris Saint-Germain failed to materialise.

“He trained today and he can try to help the team because this is what we want. It’s what we need. We need players to help the team.

“But of course I want him to be fully on board and to agree and depends on his feelings. But if he can be on the bench tomorrow and to come for 10 or 15 minutes to help the team that would be good for us.”

The reintegration of Dele, a player crucial to Mourinho’s initial tactics as Spurs manager, could provide the added goalscoring threat away from Kane and Son.

With Spurs still competing on four fronts, the rotation of attacking personnel could prove key to any success achieved come May.

The contributions of Lucas, Lamela, Bergwijn and Bale are likely to prove crucial against Everton as Mourinho hopes to keep ambitions of his first FA Cup since his solitary win in 2006/07.

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