League Cup still has prestige for trophy-hunting Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho

After Spurs' semi-final win over Brentford, Portuguese coach makes it clear he wants to win English football’s third-best prize

TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris 6 – He made a comfortable save from a tame header from Ivan Toney, but was guilty of failing to deal with a header across the face of his goal, which saw the ball end up in the net but ultimately disallowed for offside.
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Serge Aurier 6 – A bit wasteful in possession at times but looked dangerous when attacking. He made a crucial block at Ivan Toney’s expense after Sanchez failed to clear.
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Davinson Sanchez 6 – Was usually in the right place at the right time, winning his headers and doing enough to keep Toney quiet. He made a good block at the start of the second half to deny Canos, but was bailed out by Aurier when, moments later, he first failed to clear and then almost gave away a penalty. AP

Eric Dier 7 – The more comfortable of Tottenham’s central defenders. Solid in the challenge and comfortable on the ball.
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Sergio Reguilon 7 – Delivered an inch-perfect cross for Sanchez to open the scoring, but had a tough first half dealing with Bryan Mbuemo. Grew into the game and, as ever, his crossing was superb.
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Moussa Sissoko 8 – Before the game he talked about the importance of scoring the first goal, and he ended up providing it. He made a run between the two centre-backs and guided a free header into the net. Kept up a fierce intensity all game.
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Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg 7 – Such a formidable presence in the middle, he provided an effective barrier in front of the back four. Was on the wrong end of a studs-first challenge from Dasilva near the end and was substituted.
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Lucas Moura 5 – A largely ineffective performance from the Brazilian, who made way for Harry Winks. He worked hard, but couldn’t make an impact in the final third.
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Tanguy Ndombele 8 – The Frenchman got a full 90 minutes and oozed class alongside Hoijberg. Kept the ball well and was battling right to the last minute. Provided the pass for Son to score the second.
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Heung-Min Son 7 – Made a crucial block from Dasilva by throwing his body on the line before the break. He then made the game safe with a clinical finish.
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Harry Kane 6 - Looked tired and didn’t get his first sight on goal until the second half. His closest effort was well worked; a neat first touch from a free kick was followed by a goalbound shot with his second, but was well saved by Raya. AP

SUBS: Harry Winks (Moura, 74) – N/A Came on, worked hard, and provided Spurs with a bit more balance. Reuters

Ben Davies (Reguilon, 74) N/A – Was brought on to protect Tottenham’s lead and did just that, though he was beaten in the air at the back post on one occasion. Carlos Vinicious (Son, 89) N/A - Made some good runs but saw little of the ball. Japhet Tanganga (Hoijberg, 86) N/A – A solid cameo in front of the back four as he returned from injury. Reuters

BRENTFORD RATINGS: David Raya 7 – Could do little about the opening goal but kept Brentford in the game when, moments after Sissoko’s effort, he saved Son’s effort from inside the area. Made a couple of key stops.
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Henrik Dalsgaard 5 – Found it hard keeping pace with Spurs when they attacked, and was lucky not to get booked for a lunge on Son.
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Ethan Pinnock 7 – An accomplished performance, particularly when dealing with Kane. Showed good strength and composure on the ball, and kept pace with Spurs on the break.
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Mads Bech Sorensen 6 – Did well with the ball at his feet but was guilty of ball watching when Sissoko snuck into the box to head the opener.
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Rico Henry 8 – Looked superb on the ball when attacking and also accomplished when defending. Showed good pace and all-round awareness. Looked every inch a Premier League player.
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Joshua Dasilva 7 – Played well but sometimes slowed Brentford’s attacking play by taking an extra touch. Was red carded for his challenge on Hoijberg late on.
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Vitaly Janelt 6 – Like Sorensen, he was completely unaware of Sissoko’s run for the first goal. Was sometimes overrun in the middle, but showed his quality when he had the ball.
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Mathias Jensen 6 – Worked hard for the Bees and passed the ball well but couldn’t really influence the play where it mattered.
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Bryan Mbeumo 7 – Got the wrong side of Reguilon on several occasions and was a threat all evening. Loved to run with the ball at his feet.
 AP

Ivan Toney 6 – A game of few opportunities for the Bees’ top striker. He had a header in the first half but was put under pressure by Sanchez. He then had a goal disallowed in the second half when, after heading home, he was adjudged to have been offside.
 AFP

Sergi Canos 5 – A disappointing night for Canos who showed plenty of endeavour but was ineffectual. PA

SUBS: Tariqe Fosu (Canos 74) N/A - Looked sharp when he came on and should probably have been introduced earlier. Lively, and showed some nice touches. EPA

Marcus Forss (Mbuemo, 81) N/A - Got 10 minutes but didn’t really get much of a chance to show what his ability.

Emiliano Marcondes (Janelt,74) N/A - Had a good effort from a tight angle and forced Lloris into a save. Reuters

The beauty of any piece of silverware is in the eye of the beholder. The League Cup may be English football’s third-best prize in terms of prestige, but as of Tuesday night it had a dazzling gleam even for a manager with league titles in four different countries and has won Europe’s leading club competition twice.

For all those decorations, and the moments in his career when Jose Mourinho has spoken in withering terms of certain prizes – “the Europa League would be a disappointment for me,” he said when Rafa Benitez won it at Chelsea in 2013.

The Europa League suddenly looked more handsome four years later when Mourinho’s Manchester United lifted it – he recognises that context applies the shiniest polish to a trophy.

Twenty-one years ago, when a young, ambitious Mourinho was promoted, for an evening, from assistant coach to Louis Van Gaal at Barcelona to main man in the technical area to take charge of the low-key Catalan Cup final, it certainly did.

No matter that Barca merely needed to beat lower-division Mataro to win a strictly regional trophy. It was Mourinho’s first Cup that he could call his own. That made it a very special one.

As a manager he has won 17 knockout competitions, including those two Champions League titles, with Porto and Inter Milan, Uefa Cup/Europa League gold medals with Porto and Manchester United and the main domestic Cup in each of the four countries he has worked in – Portugal, England, Italy and Spain.

Add the clean sweep of Super Cups, or Community Shield, one-offs – and Mourinho likes those to be counted – and the league titles, and Mourinho is averaging close to a trophy for each year he has been working as a manager.

The club Mourinho has guided to the final of the League Cup, where they will meet Manchester City old foe from Manchester, are not so blessed.

The drought of trophies at Tottenham Hotspur, whose last success in a final was the 2008 EFL Cup, is a notorious burden. It was to that long wait a jubilant Mourinho addressed himself after Brentford had been beaten 2-0 in a semi-final that advertised the sound organisation and drive he has instilled at Spurs.

The lesser of the English Cups matters to every club, Mourinho emphasised. Winning it endorses pedigree. “If you see the winners [list] you realise the big clubs want it,” he said. “Who was the last winner apart from the normal top six? Swansea.” That was back in 2013. “I remember Man City winning a lot of times, Chelsea winning a lot of times, I remember United winning a few times. I remember Liverpool in finals, and Arsenal.”

The list of winners over the last seven years heavily features City. The list over the last 16 seasons features another serial champion repeatedly, too: Mourinho.

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Three times he lifted the League Cup, as it is also known, at Chelsea, twice in an era when league titles were still scarce there.

In his second Stamford Bridge spell he won it again. Four seasons ago, the League Cup was the first of his knockout successes at Manchester United. In all, no manager has won the competition more than Jose Mourinho, and if he wins it a fifth time, he will overtake a pair of immortals in Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough.

If he was brought to Tottenham, mid-season in late 2019, principally to ensure top-four status in the Premier League, his reliable habit of collecting silverware addressed a nagging concern. The record of rapid impact is stunning: At every club Mourinho has joined, a trophy has been achieved in his first full season in charge.

To what did he owe that special knack? “There is no secret. I came to England [to Chelsea] in 2004 and I had to learn the meaning of the cups here. If there is any secret it's to take it seriously. I sense in the team exactly that desire.

“I'm not saying ‘winning mentality’, I'm not saying we are ‘this’ or ‘that’. I just say the guys, since the first game against Chelsea, then Stoke, and now [against Brentford] took it seriously.”

Take it as guaranteed: Wherever Spurs – who have finished runners-up in the Champions League, the Premier League and in a League Cup final all within the last six years – find themselves in the Premier League table, in the Europa League or FA Cup, when April’s EFL Cup final comes around, they will approach it very seriously indeed.