FA Cup Success Can “Save” Spurs’ Season Says Former Player
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Jamie Casey
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Former Tottenham defender Pascal Chimbonda, who was part of the last Spurs team to win a trophy in 2008, has urged Jose Mourinho to target the FA Cup as well as a top four finish.
Tottenham were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in their third-round tie with Middlesbrough on Sunday, with the two sides set to meet again at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on January 14.
Spurs, who will face Southampton in the fourth round if they beat Boro in the replay, are a best price of 12/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair for FA Cup glory this season.
Last season’s Champions League finalists are without a trophy in almost 12 years, while their last FA Cup triumph stretches back to 1991, but the eight-time winners of the competition should be right in the mix this year, says Chimbonda.
“As a manager you should want to win every competition you enter, Jose Mourinho epitomises that,” he told Bookmakers.co.uk. “At the moment, he can’t guarantee a top-four finish, so he has to take the FA Cup seriously.
Jose Can 'Save The Season'
“I don’t think they’ll go as far in the Champions League as they did last year, so the FA Cup is a very real opportunity for success. If he wins a cup, Mourinho can say he’s saved the season.
“The club’s last trophy was the League Cup in 2008 – I was part of that team – the fans are desperate for success so it would be a great way to really kick the Mourinho era into life.”
Having previously been opposed to replacing Mauricio Pochettino with Jose Mourinho, saying the current playing squad “do not fit his style”, the Frenchman is now fully on board with the Mourinho movement.
Refuting suggestions the appointment of Mourinho has been a mistake after just one win in their last five games, Chimbonda believes the Portuguese needs time to stamp his authority on the squad.
“It’s not a mistake,” he said. “Before the Norwich game he had five wins in seven games. He just needs to get that winning mentality back, but Mourinho has had that mentality everywhere he’s been so it won’t be any different at Spurs.
“He just needs a little time to instil it in this squad, which might not come until next season.”
Jamie Casey is a former newspaper journalist, who also has extensive experience in the sports betting industry having previously worked for Sky Bet and Unibet. He has written and edited for prestigious publications such as Sporting Life, The Metro, Sky Sports and RTÉ.
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