Tottenham’s Villas-Boas is like the son of Mourinho, says Assou-Ekotto

André Villas-Boas took charge of Tottenham this summer Photo: The Sport Review

Benoit Assou-Ekotto believes Tottenham Hotspur manager André Villas-Boas is “like the son” of José Mourinho.

The 34-year-old took charge of the north London outfit in June after Harry Redknapp was sacked by Spurs following their failure to qualify for this season’s Champions League.

Villas-Boas, who was dismissed by Chelsea in March, was part of Mourinho’s coaching staff at Stamford Bridge and Internazionale before taking charge of Porto and leading the Portuguese outfit to a treble in 2010-11.

“He’s cool,” Assou-Ekotto said. “He has a different way to work, so we learn different things from him.

“He’s like the son of Mourinho because he used to work with him and he works in the same style. We do a little more tactics at training.

“If we work more about tactics we can win and we will enjoy [our football].”

Tottenham have endured a difficult start to the season – losing 2-1 at Newcastle before drawing 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday – but Assou-Ekotto is confident Spurs will improve under Villas-Boas.

“We didn’t do enough to win, but it’s only a matter of small details,” he said. “If we fix these details, we will be perfect for the next game.”

Meanwhile, Villas-Boas revealed he is still looking to sign a midfielder before the summer transfer window closes next Friday.

“The market can be frenetic in the last few days so anything can happen,” Villas-Boas said.

“We are still looking to strengthen our squad with a midfielder so let’s do the deals that we have to do.”