Lucas Moura has struggled and failed to nail down a starting spot in the League for Tottenham so far this season. However, he’s been told on how to become part of Mourinho’s dream attack team.
On Tuesday evening, Moura failed to take a golden opportunity in his quest to become Tottenham’s regular. In and out of the starting XI this season due to the plenty of attacking options available to Mourinho, the Brazilian Moura, got the nod against Brentford and was replaced 20 minutes from time.
Besides forcing David Raya into a save in the first half with a header that looked destined to add to Sissoko’s early opener, the 28-year-old didn’t have an impact on proceedings when he was on the ball.
Unfortunately, it was an opportunity wasted with Bergwijn taking his chance in the side three days earlier against Leeds United.
Factor in that Erik Lamela and Gareth Bale are also fighting for a starting spot on the right-wing, there is very little room for error at Spurs when handed playtime. One of the first names on the teamsheet week in, week out following Mourinho’s appointment is Moura who unfortunately has had a bit-part role to play this term due to his inconsistent performances.
Thriving in the Europa League with three goals and one assist from six matches is rather a different story when it gets to the Premier League. The ex-PSG man has one goal to his name in the league with nine of 13 appearances coming off the bench.
A team player who does his bit in both halves of the pitch, Mourinho is a big fan of the winger and this can be seen from his 25 outings in all competitions to date in 2020/21.
However, Lucas needs to be offering so much more if he’s going to become a regular again and nail down that right-wing position on a permanent basis.
First of all he needs to be a regular contributor in an attacking sense, although there’s no expectation from anyone that he’s matching Harry Kane and Son Heung-min’s totals for goals and assists.
Hitting 15 goals and two assists in his best season at the club in 2018/19, his goals plummeted in the league last year as he only hit seven but his assists did rise by three.
These numbers need improvement if he is to start consistently but he is already on course to better last year’s total as he has five goals and two assists.
As nice as it would be to improve on his end product, it’s also imperative that he has a big impact on games when he is given a chance in the side.
Lucas undoubtedly has the quality to contribute on a consistent basis as he did two seasons ago, but far too often he is not doing enough and losing the ball too easily against his marker.
Confidence could certainly be a factor given his restricted minutes and the key to that changing will be increased playing time that will only come from doing the business when he is given the chance.
Bergwijn has been Mourinho’s go-to man on the right in recent months, notably starting against the likes of Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool.
While his numbers aren’t pleasing on the eye after teeing up just the one goal in the Premier League, he is making life difficult for his opponents in the final third and also doing the job Mourinho has asked of him in both halves.
His movement off the ball is good and he also regularly frees up both Son and Kane by dragging players away with his runs in behind the backline.
The duo also looks more likely to score when the Dutchman is on the pitch due to the dirty work he puts in to get the best out of his teammates.
One criticism of the player at present is that he needs to work on his end product due to his record of no goals and four assists from 19 games