---
title: "Tottenham Hotspur: Jose Mourinho may not get the best out of Japhet Tanganga, suggests Julien Laurens"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tottenham-hotspur-jose-mourinho-may-not-get-the-best-out-of-japhet-tanganga-suggests-julien-laurens/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Stephan Georgiou"
section: "Features"
published: "2020-01-16T13:00:47Z"
modified: "2020-01-16T13:00:47Z"
---

# Tottenham Hotspur: Jose Mourinho may not get the best out of Japhet Tanganga, suggests Julien Laurens

**Football journalist Julien Laurens has hinted that he has concerns over whether Jose Mourinho is the right manager to turn Tottenham youngster Japhet Tanganga into a top-class player.**

The 20-year-old made his Premier League debut at the weekend against Liverpool and was a starter once again in Spurs’ FA Cup replay against Middlesbrough, in which he was named as the [man of the match](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51091957).

Offering his thoughts on the talent to [ESPN FC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qar85UKtKEA) after Tuesday’s game, Laurens felt that the defender has promising potential, but revealed that he was unsure if his manager will bring the best out of him.

He said: “I interviewed him after the Liverpool game and he spoke well, feet on the ground, looked like he was a clever kid. Tonight was a different story against Middlesbrough, but certainly on Saturday he looked like a decent player with quite good potential and if Mourinho can make him grow, which I’m not sure about, he looks like a very talented player.”

\[freshpress-poll id=”267538″\]

It seems clear that Tanganga has something about him which suggests he could be a Premier League player of the future for Spurs, given Mauricio Pochettino had rewarded the defender with his first-team debut in [September](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49723453) while Mourinho entrusted him with a role against league leaders [Liverpool](https://www.skysports.com/football/tottenham-vs-liverpool/teams/408199), of all teams.

Laurens did not elaborate on why Tanganga may not be able to grow as much as Spurs would hope under Mourinho, although it appeared as if it was a question of his manager’s development techniques rather than a concern over Tanganga’s growth as a footballer.

The initial signs certainly seem promising, especially with Tanganga potentially emerging as Spurs’ best option at right-back – with Mourinho giving the youngster another chance to impress on Tuesday instead of rotating the squad by playing Kyle Walker-Peters, who has been [linked](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7866895/Tottenham-want-fee-Kyle-Walker-Peters-Crystal-Palace-eyed-loan.html) with a move away.

One would imagine that if Tanganga was to be given an extended run in the Spurs team, it would fall firmly within Mourinho’s remit to develop him into a top-class defender. Tottenham’s next few games should give us a better idea of whether that will come to fruition or if he will turn to the tried-and-tested Serge Aurier, though it seems Mourinho would have to prove Laurens wrong for Tanganga to become a success.

***Spurs fans, do you expect Tanganga to start again at the weekend? Let us know what you think below!***