Jose Mourinho praises Japhet Tanganga: Who is the 20-year old defender lauded by Mourinho for marking Ronaldo during his first training session with Tottenham.
New head coach Jose Mourinho, took charge of his first training session with Tottenham on Wednesday afternoon. The side will play their first match under the Portuguese this Saturday when they take on West Ham at the London Stadium.
Also read: Zinedine Zidane reacts to controversial Gareth Bale flag celebration
Spurs have uploaded highlights from the training session on their official YouTube channel. One particular incident from the session however, has left the fans in tizzy. Mourinho, who has a reputation of not giving youngsters a chance, was seen talking to 20-year old defender Japhet Tanganga.
Jose Mourinho praises Japhet Tanganga
In a clip from the practice, posted by fans on twitter, Mourinho can be heard saying to one of his coaching staff:
“He marked Cristiano Ronaldo, make him known.”
https://twitter.com/LastWordOnSpurs/status/1197458483710513159
The match that Mourinho is speaking of, is from Tottenham’s friendly encounter with Real Madrid in the summer during their tour of Asia. Tottenham won that match 3-2. Tanganga was given the responsibility to mark Ronaldo. Considering his age and inexperience, he did very well to keep up with one of the best to have played the game.
However, not many took notice of the performance because of the platform it had come under. This just shows why Tottenham have hired the Portuguese. He has an incredible attention to detail that many would miss. But this leads us to our next question,
Who is Japhet Tanganga?
Japhet Tanganga is a Hackney-born defender. He has been at Tottenham since he was 10 years old and has risen through the ranks to make it to their senior squad. He made his debut for the club in last year’s pre-season against Girona.
His proper debut for the club came in the Carabao Cup away loss to Colchester United on September 24th this year. However, he is yet to feature in the Premier League for the side. As a result, he has rejected Tottenham’s initial contract proposal, with his contract coming to a close at the end of the season.
With Mourinho marking him as one for the future however, Tanganga could have a change of heart. There is also the curious case of the possibility of both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen leaving the club next summer, making Tanganga’s passage to the first team much more easier.
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