Dele Alli insists Tottenham must not ‘get violins out’.. then Jose Mourinho plays a familiar tune

DELE ALLI is adamant this is no time for Tottenham to ‘get their violins out’.

After five matches without a win, including an FA Cup exit, with five first-teamers injured, two facing FA charges and a 1-0 deficit going into the away leg with RB Leipzig in the Champions League tonight, Dele told his team not to sulk.

Dele Alli has urged Spurs to show their steel against RB LeipzigCredit: Reuters

Then Jose Mourinho came into the room and started tuning up his Stradivarius.

Tottenham’s manager has plenty of reasons to believe the world is against him — not that Mourinho has ever needed much excuse to get into a siege mentality.

But when asked to back up Dele’s words about no violins, the mean fiddler of Tottenham Hotspur  Stadium played us a sad tune — and accentuated his side’s weaknesses at both ends of the pitch.

Mourinho replied: “It’s based on work ethic, professional ethics, pride and, of course, talent — because  talent is important.

“We don’t have what I love to call ‘the box sharks’, the players who smell blood in the box and put the ball in the net.

“So even when we’re dominant it is difficult to score lots of goals.

“Defensively we feel the pressure and every time we make a mistake it looks like we’re punished.

“The boys are not silly. They understand. We don’t hide our  fragilities and problems.

“We have to be together to have a fantastic individual performance to make our collective responsibilities very solid. I believe in the boys and I think we can make it.”

With £27million new-boy Steven Bergwijn now out for the season — joining Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Moussa Sissoko and Ben Davies on the injury list — Mourinho said he had never previously suffered such ill fortune.

The Portuguese also moaned that Davies’ absence left him without a specialist left-back, although he loaned out England left-back Danny Rose to Newcastle.

The Spurs boss was then asked whether Lucas Moura could produce another Champions League miracle like the hat-trick he scored against Ajax to rescue a two-goal deficit in last season’s semi-final triumph under Mauricio Pochettino.

Yet Mourinho suggested Moura’s heroics would not have been possible if he had not been able to feed off Fernando Llorente, the big Spanish striker who Spurs failed to replace either last summer or in January.

Jose Mourinho still feels Spurs are going to suffer without a striker leading the lineCredit: PA:Press Association

Asked whether Moura could do it again, Mourinho asked: “Without  Llorente? So if we want the long balls in the box, we can’t do it that way. We have to try another way.

“If we are waiting for the last 15-20 minutes to put the ball in the box and try for second balls, that’s not the way to do it. We don’t hide. Our attacking players are the ones we know. We don’t have others. I do believe Lucas can have an impact.”

If that sounded like Mourinho was damning Poch’s finest hour with faint praise, then, yes, that’s our Jose.

Spurs’ season could be over this week if they cannot overturn the deficit against Leipzig and are beaten by a resurgent Manchester United on Sunday, a result which would leave Champions League qualification looking virtually impossible.

Tonight is the sort of night when a special manager pulls out a special result, with the odds stacked against him and the gods failing to smile.

Is Mourinho special any more?

There has been precious little  evidence so far in his 4½ months at Spurs — although those injuries,  especially to Kane, mean the jury will remain out until next season.

Publically, he rarely exudes positivity — he asked how Leipzig would feel without five of their best players.

He admitted “momentum is negative” and while his team were good lads, you do not always get what you deserve.

Mourinho claimed he will win silverware with Spurs — but you do not get the impression he thinks it will be this season, with the European Cup the only pot still available.

So it was down to Dele to provide some fighting talk.

The England midfielder admitted he was wrong to throw down his boots in anger after being substituted during the first-leg defeat.

And he was denied the chance to answer a question about his FA charge for a social media post  making fun of the coronavirus.

But he said: “It’s not a time to get the violins out. We have to step up and deal with these situations. We have to show our character.

“We’re not going to hide. No  one can look at where we are and be happy.

“To be where we are now is not something that’s good for us and not something we’re used to.

“When things start to become  negative and results aren’t going your way, it can be difficult.

“But there’s no point going out there if we don’t believe we’re going to turn this around.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk