Serge Aurier scored one and assisted another as Jose Mourinho’s Spurs sealed a dramatic Champions League victory over Olympiacos.
Serge Aurier produced arguably the best performance of his Tottenham Hotspur career against Olympiacos and club legend Glenn Hoddle has praised his sudden transformation under Jose Mourinho, speaking to BT Sport (26 November, 10pm).
A right-back signed from Paris Saint-Germain for £23 million, Aurier became something of a symbol of Spurs’ malaise in the final few months of the Mauricio Pochettino era.
The Ivory Coast international has made a succession of high-profile errors since moving to North London, the most recent a hapless challenge on Sadio Mane which gifted Liverpool a winner from the penalty spot during a heart-breaking Premier League defeat to Liverpool.
So many critics had suggested that Aurier would be out on his ear once Mourinho, a coach who is famed for his defensive pragmatism above all else, returned to the English game.
But, like Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, Aurier has looked man reborn under the former Chelsea boss. He was the driving force behind Tottenham’s 4-2 comeback win against Olympiacos in the Champions League, setting up Alli’s game-changing strike on the stroke of half-time before putting the hosts ahead for the first time in the tie with a wicked, swerving volley which Harry Kane would have been proud of.
“Aurier looks a different player,” Hoddle observed.
“Aurier is allowed to really get himself high up the pitch. The [goal] is a wonderful finish. He doesn’t try to hit it too hard, he just guides it, drills it.”
The former Ligue 1 champion has always been far more convincing going forwards than going back and Mourinho appears to have tried to get the best out of Aurier by pushing him high up the pitch while instructing Danny Rose or Ben Davies to drop in and create a back three when Spurs have possession.
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