Jamie Carragher comments on Mourinho’s tactics in first Spurs game

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Tottenham Hotspur beat West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.

Pundit Jamie Carragher has told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football (7:22pm, 25/11) that he thought Jose Mourinho did something ‘a little bit different’ with his Tottenham tactics.

Mourinho took charge of his first Spurs game on Saturday afternoon, taking his new side to West Ham United for a big London derby.

Mourinho had only been in the job a few days having replaced Mauricio Pochettino on Wednesday morning, but he saw his side pick up a first away league win of the season.

Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura scored in the first half before Harry Kane added a third, and whilst West Ham grabbed two goals back late on, it couldn’t stop Spurs claiming a 3-2 win.

Tottenham now need to go again as they take on Olympiacos this evening, and Mourinho will be looking to make it two wins in two, with his tactics no doubt under the microscope again.

Mourinho may not have had too much time to change much against West Ham, but Jamie Carragher did notice something – and it came in his usage of full backs.

Serge Aurier pushed up high down the right flank, allowing Lucas Moura to tuck in and support Harry Kane, whilst Ben Davies tucked in at left back, almost as a left-sided centre back, with Son Heung-min hugging the touchline.

Carragher noted that the 4-2-3-1 almost became a 3-2-4-1, and got players into areas where they could be most effective, with Carragher calling his approach ‘a little bit different’ – but is now waiting to see whether it continues.

“I really enjoyed watching it,” said Carragher. “I thought the setup was quite interesting, something a little bit different in some ways. On paper it was a 4-2-3-1, which is a system probably that lot of teams play within the league, but in possession, it was a back three. Ben Davies had a completely different job to Serge Aurier on the other side, even though they’re both full backs.”

“There were two sitting midfield players in Winks and Dier, and two number 10’s in Dele All and Lucas Moura. Alli was in the 10, but predominantly on that left side, and he caused massive problems for West Ham. Then it was like a front three, even though one of them was a right back. It was really interesting, but it remains to be seen whether this is something going forward how Jose can set up, or something just for West Ham,” he added.