Tottenham 4-2 Olympiacos: Four talking points from Jose Mourinho's first Spurs home game

Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP27 November 2019

Tottenham rarely do things the easy way in the Champions League, regardless of who is in the dugout.

A 4-2 win over Olympiacos booked their place in the last-16 for the third year in a row and with a match to spare – but it took another impressive Champions League comeback after a dreadful start left them 2-0 down inside 20 minutes.

The manner of their recovery is a feather in the cap of new manager Jose Mourinho, who made a radical substitution on the half-hour, but this performance, at times, laid bare the scale of the task facing the Portuguese.

Portuguese deserves credit for turnaround

In pictures | Tottenham vs Olympiacos | 26-11-2019

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Pray the final edit of Amazon's fly-on-the-wall Tottenham documentary includes footage of Mourinho's half-time team-talk, because you have to imagine it was tasty, after a first 45 minutes which was every bit as bad as anything served-up under his predecessor this season.

To the Portuguese's credit, Spurs looked a completely different team after the restart – full of the urgency they had previously lacked – even if their task was aided by Yassine Meriah's gift for Dele Alli on the stroke of half-time, which halved the deficit and change the game's momentum.

The coach also got his big tactical decision right, replacing Eric Dier with a rejuvenated Christian Eriksen after just 28 minutes, with Spurs trailing 2-0.

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

While a little humiliating for Dier, it worked perfectly and was so different from what Mauricio Pochettino would have done in the same situation.

First-half an early reality check for Mourinho

In spite of the brilliant comeback, the first 45 minutes laid bare the scale of the task facing Mourinho, particularly to improve Tottenham defensively.

Much of the focus in Mourinho's first game was on Spurs' attack – Heung-min Son, Alli, Harry Kane and Lucas Moura – but West Ham's two late goals were a red flag, foreshadowing things to come here.

Olympiacos scored twice inside the opening 20 minutes and they were both gifts. Youssef Al Arabi's sixth-minute opener came from another mistake by Danny Rose and thanks to a woeful attempt at a tackle by Harry Winks, before the England midfielder lost his man at a corner and Ruben Semedo tapped-in.

REUTERS

Spurs have been sloppy at the back for at least a year and Mourinho, who has built a reputation on tight defences, clearly has work to do to turn it around.

Aurier impressive

Even before his oh-so-sweet goal, Aurier was one of Tottenham's better players, relishing the attacking freedom of Mourinho's 3-2-5 set-up when Spurs had the ball.

PA

The Ivorian's finish was superb, arrowing a half-volley into the corner of the net after tinkled-toed work from Alli in the build-up. Aurier repeatedly threatened to come good under Pochettino but the only consistency he managed was as a consistent liability.

There is no doubt, however, that he has started as well as anyone under Mourinho and he now has a goal and two assists in two matches, after he crossed for Alli's opener here.

He was also the architect of the equaliser, showing impressive speed of thought to take a quick throw-in for Lucas Moura, who crossed for Kane.

If Mourinho persists with a back-three in possession, it should suit Aurier, particularly if it puts the focus on his attacking.

The right-back's challenge is now to maintain this form and not regress with a brainless error, as he has so often done in the past.

Kane delivers on the biggest stage again

Harry Kane's second-half double – a characteristic first-time finish and a glancing header from Eriksen's free-kick – means he has become the fastest player to score 20 Champions League goals in the history of the competition, needing only 24 games.

Getty Images

It is yet another goalscoring record for Kane, who has consistently racked them up in his career. Like all great players, Kane seems to raise his game for this competition and he clearly belongs in the Champions League.

It makes it all the more remarkable that Spurs actually reached the final last season without having Kane available for the quarter-final second leg or the semi-final, and is a reminder that they will always have a chance in the knockouts with him in the side.

It also underlines the importance of Spurs' improving their league form under Mourinho to ensure they return to the Champions League for a fifth consecutive season. It is unthinkable for Kane to play anywhere else

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