Jose Mourinho

[allatsea]

I think his new assistant will play a part in this, I can't see him wanting to play dull football, this is a transition period with a view on damage limitation, it's not the end product, far from it. Hopefully together they are masterminding a team and tactics to take on the top teams in the PL. Joao is young and I assume hungry and won't want the stigma of playing boring football, he will hopefully influence Mou in a good way.

Great post. We are seeing our coaches try different things with different players and seeing what and who works. They just have to get us to the end of the season. I don’t believe Levy had any expectations of a top 4 finish this season just some vague hope Mourinho and his coaches would be able to work some miracle.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I think if Mourinho can sort out two problems it wlll be great. They are both in Midfield which is the core area we need sorted in my opinion.
One is getting NDombele to be able to play a more well rounded game. Im not sure what the problem is. Injuries? Fear? Laziness? Ego about his dribbling thinking he doesn't have to defend? Im not sure but sorting this out is huge

along with the DM position. getting Dier to be the main man in front of the back line,fitter and more effective or getting a Top notch DM. Those two and we will be more than ok

Dier is done out ere. We absolutely should not be considering him for any role other than CB.

 

[monkeynick]

I'd put it the other way round. There will be no end of clubs willing to pay Mourinho millions to manage them so he won't be worried about upsetting Dear Leader.

I think the fact that he is at Spurs is an indication that the list of clubs willing to employ him has shortened considerably over the last 5 or 6 years.
i agree that a lot of lower tier clubs would employ him (not at 15m a year) but there was a time when he’d have been top of virtually everybody’s list but not any longer, in short his star is fading.

 

[al_pacino]

I think the fact that he is at Spurs is an indication that the list of clubs willing to employ him has shortened considerably over the last 5 or 6 years.
i agree that a lot of lower tier clubs would employ him (not at 15m a year) but there was a time when he’d have been top of virtually everybody’s list but not any longer, in short his star is fading.

Well maybe but he was linked to Real and if you take out the club's he's already managed, and rule out Barca due to the obvious reasons, and there are about two clubs left.

 

[monkeynick]

Well maybe but he was linked to Real and if you take out the club's he's already managed, and rule out Barca due to the obvious reasons, and there are about two clubs left.

I’m not sure I get what you mean, do you mean only 2 would take him? Or there are only 2 worthy of him?

It’s genuine question not a sarcastic reply - although I can’t rule that out once I understand ;-)

 

[rez9000]

It's a good point, my hope is that he's looking to implement a style/system similar to the way Bayern are playing this season - the early formations hint at that but we have to wait and see. We know he's talked about fast counter-attacks, and both the signings and the shape prior to injuries suggests that's definitely a big part. What's not so clear is the defense and midfield shape - I'd like to think that we will move towards retaining possession better, further up the pitch (like the change he implemented at Inter) but I have no doubt it will take time for him to do that if that is indeed what he's planning. I think about the Olympiacos game as an example of his willingness to go on the attack - taking off a defensive midfielder for an extra attacking midfielder to play with a front 5 plus the attacking fullback. We haven't seen much of that since, but our personnel options for the forward positions are slim.

The problem at the moment is we have both new signings unused to the league/their team-mates and very low confidence given the shit-show this season has largely been. That's been in evidence quite a lot, with the conceding of late goals against West Ham and Bournemouth prime examples of our current mental fragility despite having established a 3 goal lead that should have been far more comfortable. It will take time to transition things the way he wants and I can't now see us establishing much in the way of flow before next season. If we're still in the hunt for a CL spot then I expect pragmatism will come first over trying to embed the desired style and shape. He essentially has a free hit this season and a fresh start the next so there's not really a good reason to risk results - to try and get which he is trying to mitigate our issues, which are many. The right signings in the right positions will obviously be key, but I don't think there's a risk of signing Mourinho players who are then surplus should it not work out - he'll want good players and those are always useful. Bringing in a DoF before the summer window opens would really help I think and it's disappointing the buzz around Campos has receded.

If we drop out of CL contention then we might see some more experimentation, but until then I can't really blame him for doing what he thinks is best for the team in terms of trying to eke out points. Our confidence is fragile and badly needs a boost - winning is more likely to give us that than losing with a good performance in my onion.

If we get into next season and there are no signs of improvement that would be the time to start asking serious questions about whether he is up to the job. I genuinely feel that he will prove the doubters wrong - he will desperately want to do exactly that and I believe that works in our favour.

Excellently put.

(I like it even more because you spelt ‘eke’ correctly!)

 

[Typical Spurs]

Some good points here. I'm an advocate for winning trophies. I'd like that as a fan. I thought that's what I wanted more than anything else.

Yet having really thought about it, some games over the last few years will always be in my memory. The Ajax 2nd leg gave me emotions I'd never experienced in my life supporting Spurs. Beating city away in the season Leicester won it made everyone suddenly realise we were right up there and meant business.

I think more than anything I miss the feeling of thinking or knowing we can turn anyone over in the prem or champions league. More than anything I want that back because at the moment I'm not confident we'll beat even the poor teams.

I will get right behind José. He has done it with the top teams and spent money. But he's also done it with Porto and Inter. I watched the Inter champions league run last night from when they won it, and the main thing that stood out to me was the total commitment of the players. Even in the final Vs Bayern it was literally bodies on the line blocks. You could tell that every single one of those players would run through a wall for José.

Not getting behind a man of his standing in the game is in my opinion, ridiculous. If in a couple of years it's failed then so be it. Spurs will still be here. We just need to get right behind him and the side right now.

 

[Trotter]

The europa league is proper shit though. Saying that, if we are in it next year I want us to win it

Yeah Porto, Inter Milan, Man U, Arsenal, Sevilla, Ajax, Roma, Leverkusen, Benfica, Shakhtar and many many others who perennially play in the Champions League.
A competition that if we were in we would not be favourites in, and haven't progressed past the quarter finals in our last 10 or so attempts at it.
Proper shit

 

[al_pacino]

I’m not sure I get what you mean, do you mean only 2 would take him? Or there are only 2 worthy of him?

It’s genuine question not a sarcastic reply - although I can’t rule that out once I understand ;-)

Rushed phone reply makes less sense than I'd have liked.

I mean that if we're measuring how high his stock is by the club's that would have him I think that the fact that he has been at some of the biggest already makes that difficult. Of the tier of teams above Spurs, ignoring previous clubs and others his previous clubs rule out, you get PSG, Bayern, Juve, anyone else?

I think at least one of those would be interested in him if he was available and when he leaves Spurs he'll be able to be very choosey about what he does next.

 

[TOLBINY]

I fully expect his next job will be as manager of Portugal - I am sure he is on record as having declared an interest in the post one day.

 

[Donki]

In all fairness, i think you will struggle to find anywhere where I have suggested I want him out or that he was the wrong choice, or we should have kept Poch or that Ive written him off . I have literally defended him in the very thread as results have been steady despite injuries and performances.

But i would say, i can see no reason why we people should get so defensive about some criticism of him on a discussion forum, that is literally the purpose of a forum. Matchday at the game, nothing annoys me more than constant whiners/booers in the stadium but forums, are exactly the place to let off steam and hang your opinions out.

If you want my honest current opinion, I was open to the idea of Jose right from the off, I thought we needed a *name* at that particular time rather than another promising young manager given our spiralling downturn. I was pleasantly surprised by his charisma and positivity and openness to being a bit Spurs and thought we were fairly entertaining and could see the germ of a plan. In the last few weeks I have been dismayed a little by his negative approach to handling bad sequence of events, it seems to me that he has sort refuge in excuses and old 'jose' patterns rather than being proactive. I simply dont believe with kane out we needed to resort to such passive and negative tactics (lets be honest we had gone there before Son) and we frankly got what we deserved against chelsea*2/Liepzig/utd and have been fairly lucky more than pragmatically astute in most of our other wins.

Discussions about style over substance and what constitutes 'enjoyment' are hypothetical. I am more than happy to give him time. In the meantime, I think we are much better than the awful football we are seeing, I think should absolutely be targeting top 4 and the FA cup, and I think we can do so without these needlessly passive tactics or endless excuses. I think we are better than that, even minus Kane and Son.

I totally agree but you have to remember we had Poch for what 5 years? It will take time for the players to get used to a totally new routine and coaching staff. Not to mention we have 3-4 new players who should be looking to get into the first team.

 

[allatsea]

Rushed phone reply makes less sense than I'd have liked.

I mean that if we're measuring how high his stock is by the club's that would have him I think that the fact that he has been at some of the biggest already makes that difficult. Of the tier of teams above Spurs, ignoring previous clubs and others his previous clubs rule out, you get PSG, Bayern, Juve, anyone else?

I think at least one of those would be interested in him if he was available and when he leaves Spurs he'll be able to be very choosey about what he does next.

Agree with you and it means he won’t be worried bout upsetting Dear Leader if Dear Leader doesn’t follow through on the promises I assume he made to Mourinho to persuade him to join Spurs.

 

[TOLBINY]

I think more than anything I miss the feeling of thinking or knowing we can turn anyone over in the prem or champions league. More than anything I want that back because at the moment I'm not confident we'll beat even the poor teams.

Totally agree - there was a period of 2 or 3 years where I believed we were a match for any team on our day, and that provided we played to our potential we would win most games. Now it seems we are relying on our opponents having an off day to stand a chance.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

For all those who accuse Jose of long punt upfield hopeful football I would like to declare Sheffield Utd as the current potential champions of that genre of football and look who are in 4th place.

Premier League Club Stats - Long Balls

View Long Balls played by Premier League clubs for 2023/24 and previous seasons, on the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

 

[monkeynick]

Rushed phone reply makes less sense than I'd have liked.

I mean that if we're measuring how high his stock is by the club's that would have him I think that the fact that he has been at some of the biggest already makes that difficult. Of the tier of teams above Spurs, ignoring previous clubs and others his previous clubs rule out, you get PSG, Bayern, Juve, anyone else?

I think at least one of those would be interested in him if he was available and when he leaves Spurs he'll be able to be very choosey about what he does next.

Bearing in mind he’s managed Chelsea, Man Utd and spurs I’m not sure that there’s many ruled out due to previous employment. There maybe some that rule him out due to philosophy/playing style.

Have the 3 you mentioned not all had a recent vacancy whilst he was available?

 

[shelfboy68]

For all those who accuse Jose of long punt upfield hopeful football I would like to declare Sheffield Utd as the current potential champions of that genre of football and look who are in 4th place.

Premier League Club Stats - Long Balls

View Long Balls played by Premier League clubs for 2023/24 and previous seasons, on the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

I'm quite happy to mix our game up sometimes it's not always possible to play your way through.

 

[SuperPav10]

Some good points here. I'm an advocate for winning trophies. I'd like that as a fan. I thought that's what I wanted more than anything else.

Yet having really thought about it, some games over the last few years will always be in my memory. The Ajax 2nd leg gave me emotions I'd never experienced in my life supporting Spurs. Beating city away in the season Leicester won it made everyone suddenly realise we were right up there and meant business.

I think more than anything I miss the feeling of thinking or knowing we can turn anyone over in the prem or champions league. More than anything I want that back because at the moment I'm not confident we'll beat even the poor teams.

I will get right behind José. He has done it with the top teams and spent money. But he's also done it with Porto and Inter. I watched the Inter champions league run last night from when they won it, and the main thing that stood out to me was the total commitment of the players. Even in the final Vs Bayern it was literally bodies on the line blocks. You could tell that every single one of those players would run through a wall for José.

Not getting behind a man of his standing in the game is in my opinion, ridiculous. If in a couple of years it's failed then so be it. Spurs will still be here. We just need to get right behind him and the side right now.

We beat City a few weeks ago.

 

[al_pacino]

Bearing in mind he’s managed Chelsea, Man Utd and spurs I’m not sure that there’s many ruled out due to previous employment. There maybe some that rule him out due to philosophy/playing style.

Have the 3 you mentioned not all had a recent vacancy whilst he was available?

As your previous message started

I think the fact that he is at Spurs is an indication that the list of clubs willing to employ him has shortened considerably over the last 5 or 6 years.

Is basically saying he's had to take a step down coming here and the question is who is a step up. I Think the list would be something like Man City, PSG, Bayern, Barca and Juve. City and Barca(maybe Bayern too)might be ruled out for footballing reasons but I could see the other two looking at him.

In short the way you were saying it is by coming to Spurs Jose had reached the bottom and he's lucky to get anything, when in reality he's at a club that is well inside the top 20 in the world and there aren't many better jobs out there..

 

[SugarRay]

I think the fact that he is at Spurs is an indication that the list of clubs willing to employ him has shortened considerably over the last 5 or 6 years.
i agree that a lot of lower tier clubs would employ him (not at 15m a year) but there was a time when he’d have been top of virtually everybody’s list but not any longer, in short his star is fading.

It’s a fair point but a counter argument to that is over the last few years we have raised our profile as a club considerably.

 

[Typical Spurs]

We beat City a few weeks ago.

Not away we didn't. And not when we were in a title challenging position.

The point I was making is the memories of spurs, and for me being there in the away end when Poch and the team came over to the fans at the end of the city league game which we won, there was a definite shift of mentality both from us and towards us. We were feared. And that made me feel good.