Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 13 - What does Jose Mourinho offer?
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A two-week break and gameweek 13 sees Jose Mourinho replacing Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham. It brings about problems for FPL managers because it’s Spurs and Jose Mourinho, a potentially flammable combination, but more often than not he transforms teams, so what does Mourinho offer FPL managers?
The return of Dele Alli and maybe Christian Eriksen
For everything that Jose Mourinho has achieved over the course of his rather glittering and entertaining career, the myth that he hates creative players has always surrounded him. But take a better look at his career and it changes your perspective on the man. Instead of playing just pragmatic and park the bus football, Mourinho has somehow guided some of the best number 10s to their best.
Mesut Ozil, Wesley Sneijder and Frank Lampard all flourished under Mourinho and it’s exactly the path that many expect from Dele Alli (£8.4m) more than Christian Eriksen (£8.7m). The Dane is a brilliant footballer but the last year or so has seen him regress and struggle to put his best foot forward. His transfer rumours may have played a part and will play a part which is where Alli walks into FPL consideration.
The midfielder’s best FPL season was the 2016/17 season where he contributed to 29 goals, 17 clean sheets, an XG of 14.71 and an average of 2.76 shots per game. That has changed since then and Mourinho, who loves an 8-and-a-half more than a 10 would love Dele Alli, as proven by transfer rumours during Mourinho’s spell with United, and it could make him a great differential.
Harry Kane back to his best?
Harry Kane (ÂŁ10.8m) is nothing if not an FPL legend and a bonafide goalscorer as evidenced by his 15% ownership despite the fact that Tottenham have zero wins in their last five games. There are managers out there in the world that believe that Kane will eventually find his spark and strike fear into the hearts of mini-leagues all around the world. And with Mourinho taking over, that becomes probable rather than just a probability.
Because there are few managers in the world who love an out-and-out number 9 as much as Jose Mourinho does. It’s why he brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic instead of using Marcus Rashford, it’s why Didier Drogba and Diego Costa thrived under him and why Diego Milito had that season at Inter Milan scoring one of two twenty goal hauls he had for the Nerazzurri.
All four men have one thing in common and it’s that they all scored a lot of goals and didn’t create too many for others. Kane, on the other hand, has slowly started dropping deeper to create more chances which will change under Mourinho, who will ask or rather demand him to do nothing but plunder goals. It does make Kane a brilliant option given his price-range and the fact that he is a sure-fire starter.
Defensive solidity and bargains
Jose Mourinho’s speciality is pragmatism and playing what many have called the dirty version of football. FPL veterans know all about Mourinho’s Chelsea sides which were overflowing with defenders who did nothing but keep incredible amounts of clean sheets. Even his Manchester United sides did exceptionally well, conceded just 28 goals in 2017/18 and 29 the season before, before their eventual collapse. It’s been Tottenham’s biggest problem this season with the North Londoners keeping just one clean sheet after twelve games.
And with Hugo Lloris out injured, Paulo Gazzaniga(£4.5m) has been the go-to man with the Argentine putting up a good show for the world. However, as an FPL asset, Gazzaniga has an ownership of just 3.2%, but that goes for almost all of Tottenham’s defenders. At 5.5% Toby Alderweireld (£5.4m) tops the charts with Serge Aurier (£4.8m) close behind at 2%. If the trend with Mourinho’s teams does continue then Spurs should realistically start putting up much better numbers defensively.
That automatically makes, once his backline is in place, anyone or maybe even two Tottenham defenders an automatic pick. It could also see Gazzaniga replace Matt Ryan or even Nick Pope in FPL teams around the world.
Lucas Moura and Son Heung-Min steps up their game
So much has been said about Son Heung-Min that saying anything more is an overkill and yet here we go again. The South Korean has been Tottenham’s best player on the field and their second-best FPL player with 51 points to his name. His should-be wing-partner, on the other hand, has struggled to get minutes under Mauricio Pochettino with just four starts to his name. It’s why Lucas Moura has an average of 33.6 minutes a game this season, in the Premier League, and why his goal XG has reduced to 1.27.
That’s despite Moura’s performances last season with the Brazilian finishing with 15 goals in all competitions. It’s also why he and not Son Heung-Min should be your pick because if he manages to impress Jose Mourinho then the world is at his feet. And at £7m, Moura is an absolute bargain for any FPL team in the world looking for the ultimate bargain choice. It brings us to Son, who at £9.6m is worth quite a sum and with 51 points to his name, Son hasn't really hit the heights that many have asked of him.
However, yet the fact that in a fading Tottenham side under Mauricio Pochettino, the South Korean has gotten 51 points, got returns in his last three games and since his return from his suspension has averaged a goal or an assist per game in all but two games. Add all that to his energy and sheer willingness to run himself to the ground and it makes him a surefire fit for Mourinho. That does remain to be seen but if anyone is locked to the team, it's Son Heung-Min.
