Tottenham kept a clean sheet in their latest Premier League outing against Aston Villa on Sunday as they bagged all three points at Villa Park with a 2-0 win.

 

However, Mourinho’s backline at Spurs have looked susceptible to committing mistakes this season and former Manchester United man Neville has explained why the defenders under the Portuguese have looked far from their best at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

 

 

Neville feels Tottenham’s defensive department lack a true leader of the ilk that Mourinho had at his previous clubs, who could hold the backline together, inspiring confidence and calmness.

 

The former right-back explained that Spurs’ defenders have a rash approach to taking care of business at the back and are prone to giving away fouls by making mistakes as they are yet to be a solid unit.

 

 

Asked whether he feels the Spurs backline is still there to be got at, Neville said on the Gary Neville Podcast: “Yes, I think they are rash.

 

“The defenders to me always feel like they have to win the ball, and that sounds really crazy thing, but as a defender sometimes it is knowing when you cannot win it.

 

 

“You saw a rash penalty being given away by [Matty] Cash with just sliding in, but you see [Davinson] Sanchez and you see [Japhet] Tanganga, sometimes they go to ground, and [Eric] Dier obviously has made mistakes this season, so you’ve just got defenders in there that, the thing about defenders is reliability consistency and trust.

 

“And you watch Tottenham and you think they look like individually it would be difficult to play against them one-on-one, but they are not really a unit yet.

 

“And you think of Jose Mourinho’s best teams, particularly the Chelsea ones that he has had, and they have had really good back fours and there is a solidity to them and that sort of reliability and someone that it all hangs off.

 

“Great back fours have someone that just holds it all together and he has not got that man.

 

“He just has not got that one at the back that just everyone sort of gains that confidence from.”

 

Mourinho will be hoping his team will sort out their troubles soon and attain some consistency as they look to finish the season strongly and sneak into the top four.