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MOURINHO SCARED OF WOLVES

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Jose Mourinho has said he complains every day about the lack of time he has had to work with his Tottenham players since taking over as manager last month.

His hectic start continues at Wolves in the Premier League today and, when he considers what his counterpart Nuno Espirito Santo has built at Molineux, there is admiration and even a hint of envy.

At his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Portuguese said that what he most wanted was time to work with his squad.

“It’s perfectly clear,” the 56-year-old said. “I want to work. I’m going to need time to work, which until now I don’t have. I complain every day with my staff, the frustration of ‘I want to do a certain kind of training’. I just can’t do it.

“We’re going to play against a team on Sunday that has the same coach for three years; they develop ideas in a stable way. They play almost with a blindfold.”

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Mourinho had Nuno as his back-up goalkeeper at Porto when they won the Europa League in 2003 and Champions League in 2004.

“He’s doing really amazing work,” he said of his former player.

“He has one of the best teams from a tactical point of view – they play exactly the way he wants. His players are perfect for the puzzle.”

The Spurs boss also hinted he has picked his line-up for Wolves before Wednesday’s Champions League visit to Bayern Munich, a dead rubber that ended in a 3-1 defeat.

He was happy with Juan Foyth’s performance, for example, but said: “Is he going to start on Sunday? No.”

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Regarding Giovani Lo Celso, Mourinho added: “It is obvious the way Dele (Alli) is playing so well and Son (Heung-min) too. They are one step ahead. So you want to ask if he starts on Sunday – no, he doesn’t.”

Spurs will be without injured left-back Ben Davies while forward Erik Lamela will be out for around two months with a thigh injury.

Despite four wins in his six matches in all competitions, Mourinho will not have it easy today.

Nuno’s side are in superb form, with only one defeat in their last 18 matches in all competitions. They have also not lost in the Premier League since September – an 11-match streak.

On going up against his former manager, the Wolves boss said: “It’s going to be a very tough game.

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“He’s one of the greatest managers in football. It will be a pleasure to receive him and to compete.”

AFP/Reuters

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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