SAN FRANCISCO, November 28, (THEWILL) – The Portuguese head coach of English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur Jose Mourinho has suggested that fellow London-based Chelsea coach Frank Lampard was under pressure after the Blues’ big spending in the recent transfer window.
Mourinho’s Spurs are at the summit of the log in the Premier League ahead of Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge for what intends to be a thrilling London derby against the side that is third.
Chelsea brought in the likes of German midfielder Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen, English left back Ben Chilwell from Leicester, Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, German striker Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, and Senegalese keeper Edouard Mendy from Rennes.
Put together, those recruits reportedly cost Chelsea about £222million in a major investment drive for Lampard’s second season at the helm.
Mourinho had two spells as Chelsea boss and coached Lampard during his time at Stanford Bridge. He believes he understands the culture at the club and claims such spending also comes with pressure.
“When you are favourites, you know why you are favourites.
“And you have to accept that and you have to deal with that kind of pressure and responsibility. I was at clubs which were, let’s say, champions in the market because of their powerful investments. I had to deal with that pressure.
“So now it’s not for me to deal with that pressure. It’s for others to deal with that pressure. That’s not for us.”
There has been some recruitments to strengthen the Spurs team as well, although some of that investment came before Mourinho arrived to replace Mauricio Pochettino in November last year.
The likes of French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon, Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso from Betis, Dutch forward Steven Bergwijn from Eindhoven, Spanish left back Sergio Reguilon from Madrid, Danish midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton and Irish midfielder Matt Doherty from Wolves have arrived at Tottenham since mid-2019.
To counter being singled out for pressure, Lampard said there was no doubt every manager was under some sort of pressure.
“We all have relative pressures as managers, not just myself and Jose. He was here as manager so he understands it very well.”
“If you look at the spending over the last couple of seasons, what Tottenham made the summer I came to Chelsea and what they’ve done in this break compared to us, you’ll see that it’s been very similar output but the only thing that will get you success is hard work.
“The pressures at Tottenham will be big because Jose has built a fantastic squad and has incredible players so we’re both in the same position – we want success, people have expectations on us and we work towards that.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
