Jose's five-point preview - Bayern Munich

Jose Mourinho faced the media at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening, ahead of tonight's Champions League Group B Matchday Six clash against Bayern Munich.

Here are five points from his press conference...

1 - The squad

Serge Aurier, Dele, Harry Kane and Jan Vertonghen have stayed in England and Jose explained a little of his thinking ahead of tonight's game at his pre-match press conference...

Jose: “The Premier League is a special competition, not just the number of matches but also the intensity, the quality, the pressure, the competitiveness in every match. We are going to have an incredible number of fixtures until the New Year and I think it’s understandable we are going to make a few changes, rest a few players and give an opportunity to others.”

2 - The DNA of the Club

Jose was asked if we were seeing a glimpse of the future with the likes of Ryan Sessegnon and Troy Parrott in the squad...

Jose: "I think if I remember Tottenham since I came back to England for my second spell, this is basically the profile, you have a fantastic group of players and then you have always some younger players coming. It’s part of the DNA of the Club, part of the culture and also part of the passion and relationship between the fans and the team. The Spurs supporters like to see the young boys coming from the Academy. This is part of us. The mid-age in our squad is really low. There are some players in the best years of their careers, in their mid-20s and early-30s. Then we have some of the names you said, players we care about and look at the last match at the weekend - I had opportunities to make changes with the result, without any kind of pressure. I had players on the bench like Eriksen, Lo Celso but then opportunities went to the Under-20s (Oliver Skipp, Ryan and Troy all came on against Burnley) which I think is very important for them."

3 - Making a connection

Jose was asked about his early connection with the players - he's been at the club for just over three weeks and we've had five games already, the sixth in Munich this evening...

Jose: "The players are guys I enjoy working with very much. I feel they are very coachable. I feel them in need of my experience, in need of my support and I enjoy it very, very much, because I always say a player who is not coachable or doesn’t like to be coached, you lose the concept of the team. You lose it. I arrive mid-season without pre-season, without four, five, six weeks to work and to know the players and develop the team, so we have to do everything while we are running. We don’t stop and we have to do a bit of everything at the same time. So it's very important for me that the players are coachable and open and the club has a structure to help me in every area. I'm very happy."

4 - That result...

Naturally, the 7-2 home loss against Bayern Munich in MD2 in October got a mention in the press conference. Was Jose concerned the players might be 'scarred' by that defeat?

Jose: "Good question. No, I forbid any image of it. I watched it a couple of times - me, my staff and analysts tried to go through every single aspect of that but not one single image for the boys. No. Not at all. We're going to focus more on us than on Bayern. We're going to try to develop our model of play, with different bodies, different phases, different players. But there is a certain way that we try to play football and try to develop our principles of play. We are totally focussed on us and less on Bayern. That's the way we're going to approach this game."

5 - Lewandowski

One of the most lethal strikers in Europe, Robert Lewandowski has 27 goals in 22 matches in all competitions this season, including 10 already in the Champions League. Jose was asked by a German reporter if Bayern Munich were easier to work out because they depend so much on his goals...

Jose: "It doesn't matter about the dimension of the club or the team, you always depend on your best players. The better the team is, the less you depend, but you always depend. You think our team is the same without Harry Kane? It's not the same. That's the reality. He's such a good player, he scores so many goals, he's always there when the team needs him. Of course, they depend a little on him. I think their coach thinks differently to me. I leave Harry Kane at home and I expect Lewandowski to play. Maybe he gets injured and doesn't play at the weekend, so it's better he thinks twice and doesn't play him!"