The big talking point of arguably the year is the appointment of Mourinho at Spurs. There’s absolutely no doubting the quality that Mourinho has previously brought to the Premier League, his serial winning is contagious and considering the squad he’s inheriting you’d expect him to carry it across, but does he really suit Tottenham?
Mauricio Pochettino’s five-and-a-half-year tenure in North London didn’t result in any trophies but it did build a team that’s flourished and became a staple in the top 4. In the last decade Tottenham have had four finishes outside of the top 4, three of which were before Poch’s arrival prior to the 14/15 season. The Argentine’s first year in charge saw Spurs finish in 5th but the four seasons since have all been magnificent with two 3rd place finishes, a 2nd place and a Champions League runners-up medal.
It goes without saying there has been clear progression in the Tottenham side under Pochettino and especially with Harry Kane who started his drastic change into the player he is today. The England captain had made 11 appearances for Spurs amongst a variation of loan spells and began to blossom when Pochettino took over and has since won golden boots domestically and internationally. Harry has also expressed his appreciation and love for his management via twitter with a very heartfelt tweet.
Now, onto Jose.
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the appointment of Mourinho had been in the works for a while with the announcement of his arrival coming 11 hours after the departure of Mauricio, Daniel Levy clearly had a plan in mind and executed it as soon as he was able to.
Mourinho is going to bring a completely different mentality to the Tottenham side and his talks with the squad during his first training session have been publicised where he centred it around how he will turn the team into winners.
Jose has been notorious over the years for his “boring” style of play, but you simply cannot argue with the stats, in 19 years of management he’s won 19 trophies in 4 different countries, including 8 domestic titles, 2 Champions Leagues and 2 Europa League titles. There’s a certain charisma that Jose brings to football that removes the “boring” element of his footballing game and makes any club he’s at, an exciting one to follow. In comparison, Spurs have won 17 top tier trophies in their HISTORY with only 2 in the last 20 years, both being League cups.
The appointment being good for Spurs is hard to say, Jose’s great for short term success but the way in which Spurs have gone about business in recent years is as if they’re building for a better future which is not at all Jose’s usual approach. As a football fan it’s an exciting time to be watching Spurs but it’s a worrying time to be a fan of the club. The philosophies of Mourinho do not cater to youth and it’s something that you’d like to imagine has changed after watching the likes of Chelsea thrive under an academy driven squad.
Something had to change after Spurs’ start to this season and a new manager always tends to be the way clubs go about things, but this time it could really cost Tottenham.
samyets 