Tottenham: Jose denies having 'unfair advantage' for derby
Jose Mourinho is in a similar situation at Tottenham that he faced at Manchester United, according to former Red Devils defender Danny Higginbotham. Mourinho is currently in charge of his first full season at Spurs. The Portuguese has led the club to the Carabao Cup final as well as the last-16 of the Europa League.
Tottenham news: Jose Mourinho is facing a similar problem that he had at Man Utd, says Higginbotham (Image: GETTY)
Higginbotham, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at its launch of the 5-A-Side Bet on Southampton v Brighton, said: "Jose Mourinho gets criticised quite a lot for being too pragmatic at times.
"But his approach reminds me quite a lot of his second season in charge of Manchester United.
"His preferred partnership is Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez - but I think on quite a few occasions this season he's probably looked at it and thought he's not really got the dominant a formidable partnership at the back that he'd like.
"I don't think Mourinho has got a centre-back partnership that he 100 per cent implicitly trusts.
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Tottenham news: Jose Mourinho is on course to win Spurs their first trophy since 2008 (Image: EXPRESS)
"That then affects your team going forward, because your creative players can't express themselves as much as they'd like.
"There's attack-minded players who are probably playing 30 yards further back than they'd like - but that's just Mourinho and that's how he likes to play."
Meanwhile, Higginbotham believes Spurs talisman Harry Kane will continue to receive transfer interest despite the emergence of Erling Haaland at Borussia Dortmund.
"I think that regardless of what happens with Erling Haaland in the summer, there's still going to be interest in Harry Kane," Higginbotham added.