Jose Mourinho

[Graysonti]

I'm reserving judgment until I see how we play in the Chelsea game. I suspect that had an impact on everything tonight, from team selection to the intensity of play. For me, and I suspect for Jose as well, that is the more important fixture - we simply are not going to win the CL this season, its absolutely not going to happen, not without Kane and Son and not with the team struggling like they have the past year. But top 4/top 5, to put us there next year with a fit Kane and a refreshed (God I hope) squad, is absolutely there for the taking and the game at the Bridge is probably the single most important match in terms of us getting there or not.

Exactly

We are NOT winning the CL this year. But we could win the FA cup and get 4/5th.

Sensible management imo

Need to see the bigger picture.

 

[Graysonti]

Struggling to be too critical of Mourinho. We have gaping holes in this team which his predecessor alluded to on more than one occasion and the chickens have come home to roost. Having the likes of Kane and Son, patch up those holes somewhat but without them, it really unmasks the weaknesses in the team and maybe explaining him taking the pragmatic approach. He won't say it openly as he knows the players he has are the ones he has to rely on for the rest of the season so needs to keep them onside to get the best out of them, but bet inside he probably knows a fair few of them are not up to it.

This season, the aim has to be to try and get into the CL and try and try and pick up the FA Cup. Even if we somehow managed to get through this tie against Leipzig, this team with the injuries it has, is heading out as soon as we come up against one of the European heavyweights.

Time to judge him will be next season provided he is backed sufficiently in the summer. Do see some positives signs in terms of players for him to build on. Lo Celso is starting to look a real player and if Ndombele can sort out his fitness from now until the start of next season, we have two midfielders with genuine quality. Add a quality DM and suddenly that could be a top notch midfield. Alongside that, think Mourinho will want 2 new fullbacks, a CB and a back up striker. He get's at least 4 of those that are quality, think we can really push on. If he doesn't. it starts unravelling fairly quickly next season imo.

sensible post alert.

and agree - we back him in summer and he is not getting results - we will get on his case. If we played like tonight one year hence, I would get worried.

 

[Havre]

It's almost like some of you never watched us play under Poch for the final 12 months. Rewind to the Ajax first leg. That was as bad as what we saw for an hour tonight.

The squad needs refreshing and on top of that hes been doing it without Kane and now without Son.

Cut him some slack until at least this time next season.

Thank you.

I can understand why some might never accept Mourinho's pragmatism. I think that is a completely fair position where you are willing to potentially, at least short term, sacrifice results for style and identity. The argument being you are better off long term wanting to control games etc. But I cannot understand how someone can just forget how we looked under Pochettino for a long long time. We didn't play 16/17 football all the time under Pochettino. Even Klopp needed quite a lot of time to get it right. Mourinho might not get it right, but I'm actually quite impressed with how he is going about things. Surprisingly so. 12 months from now let's talk about being boring, negative etc.

 

[Ben1]

I agree with this, yes we have a depleted squad but it's still a bloody good squad, we've got quality all over the park! Imagine what the Leipzig manager or the young Ajax manager could do with this sdad, even without Kane or Sonny! I don't Mou's ideas are forward thinking enough

I didn't agree with a word of this. Then i got to the 'young ajax manager' bit and I disagreed with it a bit more.

The same young ajax manager who threw away a three goal lead in 45 minutes at home, during his biggest match ever. A match in which his team continually refused to run down the clock before getting unravelled by a big lump and a streaky brazilian winger.

You'd have Jose sacked on the spot for that.

 

[dagraham]

Cowardice tactics... then when we decided to play int he last 20 guess what? we looked better... so why not start that way

It’s not that simple. You must have noticed as soon as they scored they dropped off. They are so quick in transition though that if we pressed high with the team we had out there tonight from the start they would have picked us off.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Struggling to be too critical of Mourinho. We have gaping holes in this team which his predecessor alluded to on more than one occasion and the chickens have come home to roost. Having the likes of Kane and Son, patch up those holes somewhat but without them, it really unmasks the weaknesses in the team and maybe explaining him taking the pragmatic approach. He won't say it openly as he knows the players he has are the ones he has to rely on for the rest of the season so needs to keep them onside to get the best out of them, but bet inside he probably knows a fair few of them are not up to it.

This season, the aim has to be to try and get into the CL and try and try and pick up the FA Cup. Even if we somehow managed to get through this tie against Leipzig, this team with the injuries it has, is heading out as soon as we come up against one of the European heavyweights.

Time to judge him will be next season provided he is backed sufficiently in the summer. Do see some positives signs in terms of players for him to build on. Lo Celso is starting to look a real player and if Ndombele can sort out his fitness from now until the start of next season, we have two midfielders with genuine quality. Add a quality DM and suddenly that could be a top notch midfield. Alongside that, think Mourinho will want 2 new fullbacks, a CB and a back up striker. He get's at least 4 of those that are quality, think we can really push on. If he doesn't. it starts unravelling fairly quickly next season imo.

Great post

 

[spursfan77]

Some of the takes after this game with no recognised striker in the team are fucking embarrassing.

It’s not a surprise though is it. Some fans just hate Mourinho and will stick the knife in when we don’t win whatever the consequences. You’re better off putting them on ignore until he’s gone.

 

[Thewobbler]

Mourinho knows best but maybe give troy a game with the actual first team around him to see if he can do a job.

 

[Shadydan]

sensible post alert.

and agree - we back him in summer and he is not getting results - we will get on his case. If we played like tonight one year hence, I would get worried.

Nope never gonna work some people have already made their minds up.

 

[popstar7]

Struggling to be too critical of Mourinho. We have gaping holes in this team which his predecessor alluded to on more than one occasion and the chickens have come home to roost. Having the likes of Kane and Son, patch up those holes somewhat but without them, it really unmasks the weaknesses in the team and maybe explaining him taking the pragmatic approach. He won't say it openly as he knows the players he has are the ones he has to rely on for the rest of the season so needs to keep them onside to get the best out of them, but bet inside he probably knows a fair few of them are not up to it.

This season, the aim has to be to try and get into the CL and try and try and pick up the FA Cup. Even if we somehow managed to get through this tie against Leipzig, this team with the injuries it has, is heading out as soon as we come up against one of the European heavyweights.

Time to judge him will be next season provided he is backed sufficiently in the summer. Do see some positives signs in terms of players for him to build on. Lo Celso is starting to look a real player and if Ndombele can sort out his fitness from now until the start of next season, we have two midfielders with genuine quality. Add a quality DM and suddenly that could be a top notch midfield. Alongside that, think Mourinho will want 2 new fullbacks, a CB and a back up striker. He get's at least 4 of those that are quality, think we can really push on. If he doesn't. it starts unravelling fairly quickly next season imo.

Lot of sense here. When was the last time we started a significant game without Kane, Eriksen or Son? Probably four or five years ago. This isn't just a transition season, it's a screeching handbrake turn season with key Pochettino players long-term injured or leaving the club. And summer and winter signings being integrated on the fly.

And the clincher yesterday was Son's injury. 4th place was absolutely within our grasp. Now we have to find way to score without a No 9 or a counter-attack specialist. Take Aguero, De Bruyne and Sterling from City or Firmino, Mane and Henderson from Liverpool and replace them with players who've barely met each other and that's what we're up against.

 

[Graysonti]

Nope never gonna work some people have already made their minds up.

yep - never understand it. Who gives a fuck who the manager is As long as we are winning.

Supporter since ‘81 and I‘m at a stage that I don’t care how we win - just want to win things however.

 

[Dillspur]

Some of the takes after this game with no recognised striker in the team are fucking embarrassing.

I totally get what you're saying, but the worrying thing for me, is that Jose insists on still hitting long balls when (like you say) we don't have a recognized striker.

I would like to think that a manager/coach of Jose's stature could figure out a better way of playing with what he has at his disposal? Because despite our injuries we still have some very good footballers.

 

[Dillspur]

Lot of sense here. When was the last time we started a significant game without Kane, Eriksen or Son? Probably four or five years ago. This isn't just a transition season, it's a screeching handbrake turn season with key Pochettino players long-term injured or leaving the club. And summer and winter signings being integrated on the fly.

And the clincher yesterday was Son's injury. 4th place was absolutely within our grasp. Now we have to find way to score without a No 9 or a counter-attack specialist. Take Aguero, De Bruyne and Sterling from City or Firmino, Mane and Henderson from Liverpool and replace them with players who've barely met each other and that's what we're up against.

Didn't we play a number of games without 2 or 3 of Ali, Kane, Son and Eriksen last year? I think the first game they all started together was when we smashed Everton in November/December?

 

[weststandyid]

I really don't know what to think. We've got decent results and massively closed gap to 4th. Clearly there are injuries to match winners and a disjointed squad. HOWEVER, it's still a pretty decent squad and if Poch, or other, was manager, we wouldn't be ceding possession against every opponent. Probably would have had worse results, too. Very confusing.

 

[SpartanSpur]

I didn't agree with a word of this. Then i got to the 'young ajax manager' bit and I disagreed with it a bit more.

The same young ajax manager who threw away a three goal lead in 45 minutes at home, during his biggest match ever. A match in which his team continually refused to run down the clock before getting unravelled by a big lump and a streaky brazilian winger.

You'd have Jose sacked on the spot for that.

I suspect the same will happen to RB Leipzig in this tournament too. Could see some signs of fragility there even in a game where they played so well. We've seen it with us under Poch. System managers will get you playing really well and working hard, but there does always seem to be a little bit less resilience when the going gets tough and the plan a hits resistance.

Yes the general play under Jose has been poor on the whole but I do get a sense of that x factor that he can bring. There are definitely some benefits to a reactive style, but I do agree with others that we do also need to develop some form of a front foot system when we are the superior side. It's great having the rope a dope in the bag but it can't be plan a either.

Definitely needs preseason before we can judge for sure. He's had terrible luck with injuries. Three absolutely vital players in Kane, Son and Lloris. Ndombele's fitness issues too. As I've said before he constantly putting out fires when really all he wants is to get his first choice team out consistently so they can gel.

 

[JKendall13]

I don’t know if Mourinho’s the right manager or if his tactics still work, but even if he’s shit the main problem for us is injuries and an imbalanced squad in need of turnover, not the manager. The performances over the last calendar year (barring the miracle run in UCL last season) under both Poch and Mou clearly indicate that.

The original sin of the current era of Spurs remains the summer 2018 transfer window. We’re still digging out of that and Mourinho at least needs a summer transfer window and more time with the squad before we judge too harshly. Since he’s taken over I think he’s only had one or two full weeks of training with the squad, not easy to turn things around in that timeframe.

 

[SpartanSpur]

To be honest there were times when we looked just as clueless even with Kane and Son in the side or just Kane , Southampton away in the league springs to mind but with the two of them, United and Wolves away in which we looked poor in both, despite winning one of them.

The thing that I thought was the problem before the injuries was the play that was behind the striker, the build up and general football. I remember not being as disappointed as I probably should have been when Kane got injured, because we weren't getting the ball up to him anyway and he was feeding off mere scraps.

IMO it's the football that's being played before the striker even comes into the equation that needs to improve. Our playing out from the back and through midfield mostly.

Kane back would obviously see us be getting over the line more often than not, but the football needed to drastically improve even with him in the side. I respect that we're still developing and evolving under Mourinho and we can't head in the direction we want (or at least no where near as fast) with the players we have out but having Kane and Son back at this stage wouldn't have us playing attractive football all of a sudden. I'm not trying to belittle how much it would mean to have them back, I just mean we had glaring issues even with them present under Mourinho. The things we needed to really improve when they were present are the same things we need to really improve on now.

What I will say about this is GLC hadn't broken through at that point (Soton game). We had no semblance of a functional midfield until after Kane's injury - for me thats Winks and GLC since around Watford - so that's a small positive. Defence has improved a bit since then too.

I'd like to see what we could do with Kane, Son, Bergwijn on the pitch together with GLC and a fit Ndombele supporting them for sure. It's the thought of that that gives me hope for us being good again. Not all Mourinho teams have been dull after all.

 

[bigpalacios]

Seems fucking criminal now that we dodnt bring in a striker, the rest of the squad depth doesnt look too bad but we do look really blunt up top. Really worrying for the rest of the season, if Mourinho gets us into the top 4 he is a miracle worker.

 

[popstar7]

Didn't we play a number of games without 2 or 3 of Ali, Kane, Son and Eriksen last year? I think the first game they all started together was when we smashed Everton in November/December?

Possibly 2 or 3 out of those 4, but I singled out Eriksen, Kane and Son because they weren't available tonight. We used to be able to find a way to play without Harry or Sonny but hardly ever had to without Christian. Now he's gone and the other two are out of action for the foreseeable. That's a huge handicap and I think we have to recognise that. Whatever we achieve, or don't, in the rest of the season will be have to be seen in that context.

 

[soflapaul]

As a member of old school, i expect Tottenham to win and to win with flourish. That was why Jose's appointment was concerning.

At this point in time, i have zero expectation of playing with flourish and am more than willing to settle for wins regardless if it is ugly. This is about getting back to Wednesday night games in Europe. With the level of injuries and the players' mental states, this is an extraordinary challenge for Jose or any coach for that matter. I"m not going to bash Jose for unwatchable soccer until he has had to install his system and his players. And then i'll bash like hell if it is negative or losing soccer.