Jose Mourinho | Spurs manager

[Bulldog United]

Oh dear. I wouldn't wish Mourinho on my worst enemy, with the exception of Liverpool. The Spurs fans must be in shock.

Both Spurs fans I know are on iMessage this morning very excited about this appointment. They think they have a trophy winner now who will take them to the next level. A lot surely hinges on him persuading a few of the wantaways to sign new contracts and stay. I think there's potential for Spurs here for as long as he can avoid the inevitable massive fallout with Levy.

 

[DWelbz19]

Kane will be the interesting one because Jose will want more out of him and I just don’t see in Kane the type of frontman that Jose requires.As for Deli Ali he and Jose could well be chaos

Harry Kane and Dele Alli will be two of his most important players. Kane especially.

 

[Robbie Boy]

This is great.

 

[MrBest]

Firstly, credit to Levy. He sees a problem, gave it time but moved quickly to rectify it. Jose could be a great appointment, Spurs have so many Jose players. Kane Ndombell Son Tobby and Sissoko. These guys are prepared to run tirelessly in a game. I think Spurs may have saved themselves top 4. I really did think they would go for the Leipzig manager, seems more like a natural replacement to Poch but they went for someone who may be able to win a league cup or two. As for the title, Spurs don't spend enough for Jose to do that especially as they have a aging defence which needs 150m plus of Jose investment.

 

[Adisa]

Imagine not giving Mourinho players for three consecutive transfer windows. He's going to combust.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I fully expect Spurs to do well under Jose at the beginning, there aren't many people around who can motivate new players so well and his short term effect can work wonders for a while. He may even win a trophy with them, which would be a huge boost to his massive ego and a welcome change for a chronically underachieving team.

But him and Levi are bound to clash over money/transfers and the issues with Spurs' squad Poch had to deal with aren't going to go away. He won't be able to throw money at problems like he did in the past and arguably he's past his prime as a manager, too, which was obvious in his previous job at MU.

So in short, he'll probably turn things around, and fast, but it won't last very long.

There are plenty of players in that squad on their last legs due to Levy underinvesting in squad depth coupled with them being in Europe more regularly than they were used to. Jose and his reluctance for squad rotation will be the end of some of their careers.

He'll be looking at the likes of Vertonghen, Eriksen and Alderweireld and saying its ok if you don't renew your contracts, you won't have the legs to play elsewhere at the end of it.

 

[Lay]

I don’t like this but I don’t really know why. I can’t see Jose failing again for whatever reason.

 

[LARulz]

He'll be a success. Better squad than us, back in London and I imagine Levy promised everything to him

 

[Skills]

Imagine not giving Mourinho players for three consecutive transfer windows. He's going to combust.

Imagine him having a meltdown there over them 'only' letting him spend 70m

 

[Siorac]

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Good point by Holt. Underdogs suits him.

Well. Sort of.

Porto and to an extent Inter were underdogs on the European scene, sure. But very importantly, both were and are powerhouses in their own league. Inter were absolutely dominant in Italy when Mourinho took over and while Porto hadn't won the league title in three years before his appointment, they certainly weren't an underdog in the league.

In that sense, Spurs are an entirely different challenge than what he's used to.

 

[Flexdegea]

Spurs under Poch are one of the best pressing teams in the league, and they bring in jose who's teams are notorious for not pressing the ball.


So many qualities poch would bring to the team jose doesn't, plus half the team are leaving end of year I just don't see how this will work out.


Id be worried if I was spurs. He has no track record in recent history of rebuilding a team to win leagues, especially without a blank chequebook.



FA Cup this season basically the best I can see him doing, as he be more short term impact than long........2/3 years max he be gone and spurs be in a worse spot than thay are right now.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

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Good point by Holt. Underdogs suits him.

Porto was 15 years ago and Inter a decade prior to this. It worked at Inter because Moratti was in lock step with him all the way.

 

[JPRouve]

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Good point by Holt. Underdogs suits him.

Inter were by some distance the best team in Italy when he joined them and they were wealthy and paying big wages. For a football journalist to make a parallel between Inter and Spurs or Porto is shocking.

 

[Smores]

Whether he's a success there or not in the end we had to sack him so i don't think it'll reflect badly on us.

I do think with that squad he may do very well for Spurs. It's mainyl a shame for me as I liked his punditry.

 

[saivet]

People like to mention Inter as the underdog story but I checked the record and Inter we Serie A champions when Jose took over.

 

[terraloo]

Harry Kane and Dele Alli will be two of his most important players. Kane especially.

Jose demands two things from his front man. Scoring of course is massively important but he needs the lone player to be a mobile bully. Both a Drogba and Costa were on a different planet to Kane when it came to that part of play as was Ibrahamovic at Utd.
Deli Ali has all the component parts but do you really see him accepting the style style that Jose demands? Or indeed him dealing with the public criticism that will inevitably flow fromJM once he feels let down.
This will be all about egos and whilst only low level Poch did out players and far from it being a positive it led them to where they are now.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

I think this is one of the most baffling appointments of all time. Tightfisted board who refuse to back their manager appoint nutter who self destructs when not backed with transfers? Brilliant decision.

There's a reason no major club wants him anymore he's past his best. Not shite but not great anymore. I honestly think he's taken this simply for the redundancy money when he gets fired.

Which my prediction will be next Christmas.

 

[Jacko21]

Mourinho back to being the pantomime villain at Old Trafford then.

 

[Bocca9978]

It’s not really. They’ve been playing shite, cynical football under Pochettino for a while. They have plenty of ‘mad dog’ cloggers — Dier, Alli, Kane etc. who will buy into Mourinho’s mentality. Plus the media are bizarrely soft on Spurs, so maybe they’ll continue that leeway for Jose?

I think it’ll come apart at some point though. Maybe 8-9 months time when he’s not given the transfer targets he wants.

Sounds like a mismatch if he only last 8-9 months then.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Will be funny if Willian ends up at Spurs. Better late than never eh?

 

[Ish]

Crucial part of this that Holt's forgetting is that Mourinho was at Inter almost a decade ago. And United were more of an "underdog" than Spurs are now when he took over - it didn't make a difference in the end.

I don't disagree with that, but I think being an underdog might be a bit more psychological than just your league position.

There's a certain expectation at United that never allows any manager or player to believe that they're the underdog, or act that way (I mean of course when we play some top teams in Europe we will admit that they're the favorites etc.). Which is why someone like Moyes was ridiculed on here - because he had that underdog mentality.

I think at Spurs - the stature of their club, their history etc. allows Jose and them/their mentality to be much more of an underdog, in that sense. And I would expect them/the players to buy into Jose's philosophy much more as well, because he's won a shit load, wherever he's been, and they need to start winning if they are to build on what Poch has built.

 

[MrVolley]

He's going to really love next month's visit to Old Trafford.
Got a feeling Spuds are going to be like a new team.

 

[Skills]

Inter were by some distance the best team in Italy when he joined them and they were wealthy and paying big wages. For a football journalist to make a parallel between Inter and Spurs or Porto is shocking.

Morrati and Inter also spunked a feckload of cash to get them over the hump in Europe. Something Spurs can't afford to do, because they're not as wealthy as 4 other clubs in their own domestic league.

 

[balaks]

Who are these Jose type players? Other than the odd one or two the majority aren’t winners nor are they suited to his defensive approach.

The squad he inherited at Chelsea only needed tweaks and whilst he won two trophies at Utd his squad was far more rounded and even then the millions he spent wasn’t enough for him.

Kane will be the interesting one because Jose will want more out of him and I just don’t see in Kane the type of frontman that Jose requires.As for Deli Ali he and Jose could well be chaos

Joses tactics and approach to man management are from a different period in footballing time.How he will get on with the plethora of players that want out will be interesting to say the least and will there be the funds to rebuild in the style Jose will demand. And yes I fully expect that he and Levy will have already talked about finances but once he gets his feet under the table Jose will demand more and more

The squad is full of them.

 

[Siorac]

People like to mention Inter as the underdog story but I checked the record and Inter we Serie A champions when Jose took over.

And while they were regarded as inferior to United or Barcelona in 08/09 - and were definitely underdogs against Barca in the 2010 semi-final - look at the squad that Mourinho inherited there:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–08_Inter_Milan_season#Players

Vieira, Solari, Cambiasso, Stankovic, Figo, Zanetti, Samuel, Maicon, Chivu, Crespo, Ibrahimovic - and then they got a lot of money plus Samuel Eto'o in exchange for Ibrahimovic which allowed them to sign Lucio, Motta and Sneijder. That was a fecking fantastic squad, really really strong.

 

[Davìd Moyéz]

Hope his first signing is Matic

 

[Lay]

People like to mention Inter as the underdog story but I checked the record and Inter we Serie A champions when Jose took over.

And he/they basically signed 7 first teamers. Eto’o, Sneidjer, Milito, Motta, Quaresma (though he flopped), Lucio, Pandev etc

 

[Judas]

I wonder if he'll make a 200mil bid for Mctominay?

 

[Brophs]

I mean, sure it's petty and small and a waste of my time but....we had to put up with the sour-faced twat. Now it's someone else's turn.

There has been 3 (going on 4) seasons of throwing money at the problem, almost just because United have lots of money. And along with this there has been far too much focus on attempts at short-term, quick fixes, of which the mega-spending is a symptom.

If United had started out 3.5 years ago (i.e. post Fergie) with the clear long-term aim - as the top main priority - of rebuilding a dynasty piece by piece, then by now they'd be more than half-way there. But instead they've tried to take money-fuelled short-cuts, allowing insufficient time for player development (e.g. Zaha and Keane as previous cases in point, Shaw as an ongoing example), too eager to buy the next shiny new toy and discard last year's model, too focused on 'big names'.

To re-build a dynasty you need patience and continuity, not constant chopping and changing of players. You need players who are young enough to be there for many years. And you need players who come because they really, really want to ... and not mainly because they've been lured by mind-boggling mega-wages. But above all you need a manager who focuses on the long-term, including youth development.

I don't see Mourinho as the right man for this dynasty rebuilding job. United don't need a manager who scans the horizon looking for the next £80m/£90m player to sign.

Right now we (Spurs) spend mainly on construction projects, because we are building for the long-term rather than aiming for quick fixes: the latter is Mourinho's approach, using a cheque book. And I haven't said that the pressure to win applies only those who spend money on players, but it certainly IMO applies more to such clubs.

I don't agree that Spurs under Pochettino lack internal drive. And of course I want Spurs to win the league. But we are doing things our own way.

What a bizarre post. Who do you imagine would be punished by United playing 'shut up shop' football?

But regardless of venue, Mourinho won't care in any case about playing entertaining football.

I'd be surprised if there was even one such Spurs fan.

It's not really a question of comparison. It's simply that Pochettino fits with Spurs and Mourinho doesn't.

Your explanation re. United might well be true, but it still shows that transfers can be a complex business with many possible reasons for not succeeding other than a lack of money.

Pochettino would care because excess money spent on Player A now, means less money down the road (in January or next summer) to try and get players B and C. It's fine not to care if you are a short-term and cheque-book manager like Mourinho, who'll likely be gone next summer anyhow. But Pochettino has been at Spurs for 4 years now and counting and has just signed on for another 5 years.

I agree that Pochettino will care less than Levy about money, but to suggest that he doesn't care about it all is not likely to be true IMO.

As I've said before, Levy is on record as saying that he thinks the transfer bubble will burst and prices will drop. Now he may be right or he may be proved wrong, but at least he has a clear strategy and is sticking to it.

You can't compare Liverpool's signing of VVD in the 'reasonableness' stakes to that of Spurs' approach. First because they received a huge sum for Coutinho and second because they don't have a new stadium to fund. I'm sure if the situations were reversed then Levy might consider VVD's price to be a lot more reasonable in the circumstances.

Mourinho has net-spent £315m since arriving - in just two years. Three hundred and fifteen million pounds! That's more than 3 times the cost of Spurs best XI.

The sob-story of being under-funded doesn't even remotely wash.

I'll take Pochettino's positivity over Mourinho's throwing-his-players-under-the-bus.

Besides, there's no reason to think that Pochettino isn't genuinely very impressed by the new stadium. All the reports I've seen from people who has been inside all say the same thing, namely that it's truly fantastic.

Because it's already Mourinho's tagline

 

[AmanNits04]

This is an interesting appointment. I am not sure how Mourinho will do.
I always believed that when he came to United he would cut off his antics and maybe we won't suffer from the third season syndrome, but it's inevitable.
It happened at Chelsea, Madrid, Chelsea again and then United!
It's going to go crazy at one point of time!

 

[anant]

What sort of a question is the one in the poll! Jose has won trophies at every club, he'll win one at Spurs as well - Audi Cup!

 

[Bobcat]

Imagine not giving Mourinho players for three consecutive transfer windows. He's going to combust.

This. Except Porto, Jose has only ever manged clubs with a big budget for transfers so i cant imagine he will be happy with Levy's penny pinching. I expect a full meltdown within 2020

 

[roonster09]

Inter were by some distance the best team in Italy when he joined them and they were wealthy and paying big wages. For a football journalist to make a parallel between Inter and Spurs or Porto is shocking.

He meant in European scene. Inter were underachievers in Europe, that's Jose's legacy. Not the 2 league titles that were won by default.

 

[crossy1686]

I mean, sure it's petty and small and a waste of my time but....we had to put up with the sour-faced twat. Now it's someone else's turn.

Talk about kicking someone while they're down

 

[tenpoless]

Glaston going all out defending this decision and protecting Mourinho in 4..3..2..

@GlastonSpur back to India
@GlastonSpur back to India
@GlastonSpur back to India

Find peace in Himalayan forest

 

[JPRouve]

He meant in European scene. Inter were underachievers in Europe, that's Jose's legacy. Not the 2 league titles that were won by default.

It's still a ridiculous comparison, Inter had a team full of great players. I know that people are still pretending that it wasn't the case but they had a great team under Mancini and Mourinho. He may as well use Real Madrid as an example, they were also underachievers.

And his point had nothing to do with Europe, he is making a general point. Where Inter are supposed to not be a great club.

 

[roonster09]

And while they were regarded as inferior to United or Barcelona in 08/09 - and were definitely underdogs against Barca in the 2010 semi-final - look at the squad that Mourinho inherited there:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–08_Inter_Milan_season#Players

Vieira, Solari, Cambiasso, Stankovic, Figo, Zanetti, Samuel, Maicon, Chivu, Crespo, Ibrahimovic - and then they got a lot of money plus Samuel Eto'o in exchange for Ibrahimovic which allowed them to sign Lucio, Motta and Sneijder. That was a fecking fantastic squad, really really strong.

They were under performers in the CL and underdogs when it came to CL. That's what Holt meant, not that winning the league with underdog Inter. They were power house of Serie A back then.

 

[roonster09]

It's still a ridiculous comparison, Inter had a team full of great players. I know that people are still pretending that it wasn't the case but they had a great team under Mancini and Mourinho. He may as well use Real Madrid as an example, they were also underachievers.

And his point had nothing to do with Europe, he is making a general point. Where Inter are supposed to not be a great club.

Don't think it's a ridiculous comparison at all. Inter were under achievers in Europe and also in the league before the scandal. Madrid won shit loads of CL titles just 8-10 years before Jose took over, Inter last won CL in 60s.

If he was talking about league then obviously it's a shit point.

 

[Varun]

He'll do well to start off with given the first 11 at Spurs but it'll be great to finally be able to laugh at the inevitable shitstorm

 

[Ish]

I mean, sure it's petty and small and a waste of my time but....we had to put up with the sour-faced twat. Now it's someone else's turn.

brilliant!

 

[Siorac]

They were under performers in the CL and underdogs when it came to CL. That's what Holt meant, not that winning the league with underdog Inter. They were power house of Serie A back then.

But even so, he was brought in precisely to overcome that. He was expected to win the league by default and to do well, preferably win, the Champions League. They weren't exactly a plucky underdog coming in from nowhere, unburdened by expectation.

Really, the only semblance of a point he has is that at Inter nobody cared if they won those trophies with typical Mourinho football, there was no expectation of entertaining football.