Tottenham Hotspur beat Southampton in a thrilling FA Cup fourth round replay, coming from behind to beat Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side 3-2. In the following round, Spurs will meet fellow Premier League side Norwich City, but the north London club must avoid being overwhelmed by the magic of the cup and miss out on their Premier League targets. Jose Mourinho’s comments post-game were filled with self-praise, saying: “I think I did very well because I had to manage a team with so many difficulties,” and he must not lose sight of the task at hand.
Every team in the Premier League is suffering from at least one injury issue or suspension at the moment, five of whom have more absentees than Spurs’ five. Even after he had made four changes from the team that beat Manchester City at the weekend, Tottenham still had a very strong line-up for the midweek cup fixture, so their Portuguese manager should not overplay the result.
What is essential for both Mourinho and Spurs is that they do their utmost to overturn the four-point Premier League deficit to Chelsea, who are one place above them in the race to qualify for the Champions League, currently sitting fourth. The two sides face one another on February 22, and the encounter should present the perfect opportunity for Mourinho to leapfrog his former club, who have been suffering mixed form.
Winning the FA Cup could be the most likely way of Mourinho ending Tottenham’s 12-year wait for a trophy during his first season, as well as achieving something former boss Mauricio Pochettino never managed in charge of Spurs. But Mourinho must not let his ego get the better of himself and prioritise success in the Premier League.
After a dreadful start to the season which saw the Portuguese boss take charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the club in 14th place after 12 games on 14 points, he has lifted them to fifth in just one more match, accumulating 23 points. He will not want that effort to have been in vain should Tottenham fail to qualify for the competition they have been part of for the past four seasons.
