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Jose Mourinho

How do you feel about Mourinho appointment

  • Excited - silverware here we come baby

    Votes: 666 46.7%
  • Meh - will give him a chance and hope he is successful

    Votes: 468 32.8%
  • Horrified - praying for the day he'll fuck off

    Votes: 292 20.5%

  • Total voters
    1,426

King of Otters

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2012
10,751
36,093
What's he supposed to do though? Magic ability into players who have seen their best days and others who are at best, average? I cant think of a manager who could get this sorry lot playing well. Not with all the injury problems, which I believe blame can be laid at the previous coaches door.

I just don't buy this. Our attacking players are getting swamped game after game because the team is being set up so defensively.

Injuries haven't helped, but no way is Mourinho getting anywhere near the best out of the current crop of players.
 

THOWIG

Well-Known Member
Feb 14, 2005
6,499
8,329
Love hearing people say "Mourinho needs to coach them". He doesn't coach. He's relied on his man management and his tactics. There is no way he is getting the best out of the players. They look so unhappy, lethargic and just done.
 

talkshowhost86

Mod-Moose
Staff
Oct 2, 2004
48,100
47,054
Of course not, but right now they all have a fitter, more balanced squad (with actual strikers), and may even have less defenders/goalkeepers making costly and blatant errors on a game by game basis than we currently do.

If Mourinho had access to the whole pool of fit players across all of those sides for the Utd game, I don't think many of ours would be playing in their current state. Bear with me here. Lets take a quick pick out of those sides.

Pope, Aarons, Godfrey, Tarkowski, Mings, McNeill, Hojberg, Grealish, Cantwell, Ings, Pukki

Jose would probably have a better shot at getting a result with that lot right now. Lo Celso 100% gets in and Dele probably does too (on rep if anything), maybe Sanchez and possibly Moura if you want some pace and width (although that also brings the likes of Buendia and Redmond into play). Players you'd consider to be top quality like Toby and Jan just look done right now. Lloris' mistakes are coming thick and fast. It's damning.

Some of it is on Mourinho for sure - I was hoping for a lot more - but the way things are right now is particularly dire. The thing that's scary to me is that I think the players are actually giving their all right now, whereas towards the end of Poch's tenure you could at least write it off as the players and Poch under-performing because they checked out mentally. The reality is we are fundamentally broken and it's a huge worry. With a proper preseason and a full bill of health, there is still the basis of a CL worthy squad to build on, if we can somehow keep hold of our best players (i.e. the injured ones).

Now some will look at this post and think I've jumped the shark, but actually look at those names and our players right now and tell me how many Spurs players you'd honestly put in vs Utd at the weekend?

But you've picked the best 11 across four squads there.

Again I don't think anyone can say that each of them have an actual better squad than Spurs.

And in terms of them being fitter/more balanced etc then that's part of Mourinho's job.

If the keeper and defenders are making mistakes, don't pick them, and certainly don't pick a style which relies on a strong defence.

There are definitely mitigating factors to explain our terrible performances, and Mourinho is not entirely to blame. But he's also doing absolutely nothing to improve things as far as I can see, and that's worrying for the longer term.
 

SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
But you've picked the best 11 across four squads there.

Again I don't think anyone can say that each of them have an actual better squad than Spurs.

And in terms of them being fitter/more balanced etc then that's part of Mourinho's job.

If the keeper and defenders are making mistakes, don't pick them, and certainly don't pick a style which relies on a strong defence.

There are definitely mitigating factors to explain our terrible performances, and Mourinho is not entirely to blame. But he's also doing absolutely nothing to improve things as far as I can see, and that's worrying for the longer term.

I think this is part of the issue, I don't think he trusts any of them which is why we keep chopping and changing, which in turn keeps making things worse.

I agree sitting back is not helping, ideally we play on the front foot but I just wonder if the team is capable of it for 90 mins. Teams don't fear us with Kane and Son out, the fear is gone and they fancy a scalp.

The problem is we have a broken defence, non-existent to weak midfield and a tired and unbalanced attack. I'm not sure where you start with that lot. I must admit I expected us to shore things up at the back. Even since Son got injured we've scored a few goals that could have earned us points were we not so poor defensively.

Jose certainly doesn't seem to be the man to improvise with a broken squad, I fully agree there. I just hope he can do better with a fitter and better balanced one. Offer me Nagelsmann now and I'd snap your hands off, as much as I'm defending Jose.
 

TheHoddleWaddle

Well-Known Member
Dec 13, 2013
11,289
20,289
Love hearing people say "Mourinho needs to coach them". He doesn't coach. He's relied on his man management and his tactics. There is no way he is getting the best out of the players. They look so unhappy, lethargic and just done.

They did before JM arrived too.
 
Jan 31, 2006
2,184
6,495
Throw in Osimhen, Boucare, Grealish and Aaron's and you have a completely different side. Then go back to the diamond formation and that's a good looking team.
 

Seafordian Spurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
2,157
4,141
It's a perfect shit storm of Jose's rather, er, pragmatic approach to football and a team depleted (on many levels).

Ho hum.
 

SirHarryHotspur

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2017
4,993
7,408
Throw in Osimhen, Boucare, Grealish and Aaron's and you have a completely different side. Then go back to the diamond formation and that's a good looking team.

Are any of those any good in goal ? Number one priority on the evidence of the last three matches is a goalkeeper.
 

punkisback

Well-Known Member
Apr 10, 2004
4,410
7,278
I think relatively; this is the worse group of players that he has probably managed. Not to say they're bad, but more that they are not as good as what he has had before. And because of this, he cannot understand how to use them and feels that to go ultra defensive is the way forward. When actually we would do so much better keeping possession against your Norwich, Saints and Burnley rather than conceding it. This isn't defending him, more me trying to undersand hi mindset.
 

yankspurs

Enic Out
Aug 22, 2013
41,883
71,187
Throw in Osimhen, Boucare, Grealish and Aaron's and you have a completely different side. Then go back to the diamond formation and that's a good looking team.
Not really. We still have Winks, Toby, Dier, Gazzaniga & Lloris who need replacing this summer. Not signing 2 CB’s along with them would be a disaster. But problem is, we arent signing those guys.
 

Kiedis

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2013
2,926
8,490
I said in jest when we appointed him that we'll be the only club he wins nothing with. That wasn't a dig against him or that I don't want him here, I do and I want him to succeed where Poch failed.

We just don't have the winning mentality as a club. Its Poch's biggest filing that he did not instil that into us. and we will ocntinue to carry on as we are until someone can. It's a bigger job than 1 man (the manager) is capable of so it's unfair to blame Jose at this stage, but it should be led by him.

Winning mentality is such a nothing phrase, since it's always used in a binary way.

Pochettino had enough of that winning mentality to consistently make us among the best teams in the country by talking up his players and almost deceiving them into thinking they were better than they were through individual and collective coaching.

Did he fall on the final hurdle a couple of times in cup competitions, absolutely. But loser mentality? Fucking hell, all I've heard from the serial winner after a honeymoon period of about three weeks is constant whining, defeatist tactics and him covering himself with a new layer of teflon every week.
 
D

Deleted member 27995

Love hearing people say "Mourinho needs to coach them". He doesn't coach. He's relied on his man management and his tactics. There is no way he is getting the best out of the players. They look so unhappy, lethargic and just done.
Maybe they could remember some of the first things they ever did as a player. Trapping a football is literally football 101 probably closely followed by hitting a 5 yard pass, head up?

Basics might be something they could do in their own time in the back yard with their kids ...
 

Dougal

Staff
Jun 4, 2004
60,344
129,918
Say what you like about Mourinho but he’s achieved something no Spurs manager has achieved in over 20 years. He’s made me send my ticket back. I can take failure, I can’t accept surrender.
 

Romulus

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2012
6,901
11,081
Nagelsmann quote on us and our tactical approach "I don't want to say it was easy. It sounds kind of arrogant"

Jesus that's some damning of José it's one of the worst things that could be said. Blows open his tactical genius myth.

if you have anything about you, these sort of comments burn deep in your soul and you'll do anything to make sure that nobody says that about you again.

I expect no reaction against UTD. this group are made of mush
 

Nebby

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2013
3,363
6,377
But there is quality in the squad...and Mourinho for all the money his being paid should find the solutions and stop complaining about injuries and stop calling individual out.

Never mind the other injuries, just put Kane and Son back in our team, and Dele back in as an attacking number 10, and we wouldn't be struggling half as much as we are now. It's not just about the goals they score, it's also about the questions they ask of opponents.

Of course, that would only get us so far. Against better opposition our midfield and defence simply isn't good enough, with only Lo Celso really making a "top four" level contribution.

To become serious title challengers, our entire defensive unit needs replacing, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. What we can do though is make a few key changes and get us back to a level where the team is capable of finishing within the top five. That should be a realistic and achievable ambition.
 

TheHoddleWaddle

Well-Known Member
Dec 13, 2013
11,289
20,289
I just don't buy this. Our attacking players are getting swamped game after game because the team is being set up so defensively.

Injuries haven't helped, but no way is Mourinho getting anywhere near the best out of the current crop of players.
Neither did MP in the last 6 months or so. He didnt have the injury list either. We were defensively woeful then.

To pick up on the other point, the team being set up defensively, which is still more leaky than a pair of tramps pants, should go more attacking? Thus being even more porous, surely? If theres no target man / striker skillset, what's the point?
 

Dougal

Staff
Jun 4, 2004
60,344
129,918
Great points by Alasdair Gold on Mourinho's culture of excuses and self-centrism. The man is sucking the life out of Spurs every day. As he does.

In October 2018, Spurs were set to face Lionel Messi and his Barcelona side without the key quartet of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen.

Ahead of the match, Pochettino said: "We are not victims. We play tomorrow - we win, draw or lose but we are not victims. We accept everything.

"We have bad luck with injuries but it's not the moment to talk about each injury. We are strong because we are Tottenham and every player must feel he is able to win.

"This is my fifth season in Tottenham and never I put excuses because of injuries. I don't want easy excuses. When you build a team of 25 players, all must feel important.

"We believe we are going to win with young guys or senior players. That is our mentality. I am not a victim in football or in life."

My Gaffer.
 

Phomesy

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
9,188
14,102
In reference to the way he physically beasted players? I wanted him to remain, for what it's worth as I couldn't see anyone making this current squad do any better. JM not getting a.tune from.them proves it really. But the injuries sustained cannot be coincidental to how they were put through the mill.

Even poch said the team was pretty much done in and needed a slow rebuild etc etc.

But for all the JM bashing, I've yet to see anyone suggest what he could.do better with the players that makes any sense. So, as per my point above, this squad barring a few exceptions, is average. Otherwise they'd have played put of the malaise by now under 2 coaches

So Poch's responsible for Bergwijn's injury? What's he doing - taking him for secret gruelling fitness sessions behind Jose's back?

Suppose he broke Son's arm too?

And gave Dier appendicitis?

This whole "Poch's regime broke the squad" is utterly risible nonsense. Apply Occam's razor - is it more likely that Poch's fitness regime was responsible for 4 years of a squad performing above and beyond their individual abilities - and then, once sacked because some players didn't want to do it any more - the squad's levels of fitness dramatically dropped, leading to poor performances and a big fat Ndombele?

Of course Jose's struggling with this group. They learned that you can get a coach who makes you work (and succeed) sacked. Jose's fucked before he even walked through the door with precedent.
 
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