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It was the question that most people had in mind when José Mourinho was appointed Tottenham’s new manager in November 2019: is Special One still special?
Soccer has evolved considerably since Mourinho reigned with Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. His tactics, philosophy and tricks worked wonders in their heyday, but in this new era there are doubts that his soccer strategy can prosper.
After leading the Spurs to the top of the table in December, there was real optimism that the club was thriving under his leadership and that he had finally buried the negativity for which he is famous.
But since the loss to Liverpool two weeks later, both results and morale have steadily declined, as has the attitude of the Portuguese manager.
After a third loss of the season to Chelsea, the first time since 2012, he snapped at a journalist questioning his decision to leave Gareth Bale on the bench.
When he took office, he promised he was a different manager than the one who was miserably fired by Manchester United 11 months earlier.
‘I’m going to make new mistakes. I’m going to be stronger, ” he said at his Tottenham inauguration. “From an emotional point of view, I am relaxed, motivated and ready.”
United had slumped to the middle of the table in the 2018-19 season with Mourinho, and when things started to get ugly there, they fought with several players and their frustration was visible in their press conferences.
With the wrong results, fans are already starting to see the same cracks appear in North London despite their initial promise, and the omens are not good for Tottenham. Sportsmail looks at Mourinho’s biggest stumbling blocks and how they have resurfaced with Spurs.
Negative football
Talk to any Tottenham fan in recent weeks and they’ll tell you one of two things: they’re fed up with Mourinho’s football and want him out, or they’re fed up with his football but want him to win them a trophy.
No fan can be satisfied with how the team is playing and it has resulted in a goal from their last three losses to Liverpool, Brighton and now Chelsea.
Harry Kane might have been injured, but Mourinho’s setup had been stifling Tottenham long before. Nothing infuriated the Spurs faithful at home more than watching the team sit back and defend a 1-0 home lead against relegation-fighting Fulham.
When the Spurs win a game, it’s often not a pretty sight, but a “we did the job” attitude prevails.
The Spurs have shown they can go to Chelsea and put the men behind the ball and come out with a 0-0 draw, and the victories over Arsenal and Man City have been the result of sitting deep and hitting them on the counter.
But it seems that Tottenham’s opponents are getting wiser with Mourinho’s tricks, and his philosophy, which contradicts the Spurs’ spirit of attacking with style and flourish, is proving to be wildly unpopular.
Paul Merson, who is not a popular figure in the N17 due to his connections with Arsenal, claimed this week that Mourinho’s team is the worst team to watch in the Premier League, but it will be hard for fans to disagree. with him right now.
“The game on Thursday night, the first half, for a Tottenham fan was embarrassing,” he told Sky Sports.
‘It was embarrassing at the highest level. I sat and looked, and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It’s amazing what José Mourinho must be saying to those players ”.
Former Spurs forward Peter Crouch also took aim at Mourinho’s tactics, saying they must be “demoralizing” the team. At United, fans had also grown weary of the abject football on display at Old Trafford in the latter stages of his tenure.
After a 1-1 draw with the Wolves, Paul Pogba criticized his coach’s strategy, leaving Mourinho furious.
‘When we are at home we must attack, attack, attack. That’s Old Trafford, ‘he said.
We are at home and we should play much better against the Wolves. We are here to attack. I think teams get scared when they see Manchester United attacking and attacking. That was our mistake. ‘
United, a club also famous for its offensive traditions, fired Mourinho in December 2018 and immediately brought in former player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the aim of bringing back the traditional style with which United is associated.
The Norwegian’s set-up had a revitalizing effect on the team, as he won his first game in charge 5-1 against Cardiff, and won six straight games, giving him the best start to his tenure since the days of Sir Matt Busby.
Player Explosions
Keeping the peace within a team is crucial to keeping a happy camp, but Mourinho has been at war with so many players that it’s easy to lose count.
If you watched Tottenham’s documentary All or Nothing on Amazon, you’ll remember that he went head-to-head with left-back Danny Rose last season after the defender’s fury for being left out of Mourinho’s plans.
Rose, known for his outspoken personality, questioned Mourinho’s team picks on defense despite the team’s poor record at the rear, saying: ‘Other people have been shit in training and games, but they’re on the team. everyday. game. It’s not fair.’
He left the coach’s office and never played with the Portuguese coach again. Crossing the former Chelsea manager is rarely a good idea, as Dele Alli has discovered this season.
Alli has started just one game in the 2020-21 campaign, on opening day against Everton, and has since been banished from the first team photo.
Mourinho has not been impressed with the midfielder’s efforts in training, and has been criticized for some poor performances when given the chance.
Against Stoke in the League Cup, Mourinho removed Alli after his midfielder gave up the ball during a counterattack that resulted in a goal. The player sent off angrily after being substituted, and his boss accused him of “creating trouble for his own team.”
Mourinho, who was happy to allow Alli to move to Paris Saint-Germain on loan in January before the deal was broken, attacked him again after his loss to Chelsea and said the club “ has not had a good Dele Alli ” since he had been at the club.
But Alli is not the only player with whom he has not agreed on this term. Gareth Bale has not even come close to living up to the expectations of his return to the club despite his affinity with the fans, but Mourinho does not seem the least bit interested in the sentiment.
The Welshman has won just two Premier League starts since his loan from Real Madrid and Mourinho has preferred to play Steven Bergwijn up front, despite not registering a goal or assisting this season, with Bale out of shape.
Sportsmail revealed on Friday that Bale’s appetite is being questioned behind the scenes at Tottenham with question marks about his work rate.
Of course, clashing with the players was a major factor in Mourinho’s demise at Old Trafford. Like Alli, Pogba was another great personality at United and one he failed to bond with.
The coach, who had brought the midfielder back to his childhood club from Juventus in a record £ 89 million deal, was filmed confronting the player in training for posting a video of himself laughing on Instagram after a loss. in the League Cup against Derby County.
He had criticized Pogba’s attitude at times and was far from satisfied after the player headed to Miami to recover from a hamstring injury instead of Manchester. Since the player couldn’t find his best form, Mourinho often took him out early during Pogba’s second season at the club.
When he was finally fired, Pogba posted, and quickly removed, a picture of him smiling, accompanied by the message: “Put a title.”
In his second spell at Chelsea during the 2015-16 season, it was a dispute with his physio Eva Carneiro, whom he criticized for dealing with Eden Hazard during a key moment in a draw against Swansea in August, which seemed to put the former . nail in his coffin.
He said that Carneiro “ needs to understand the game ”, which generated a strong conviction for unfair treatment, and then he was involved in a dispute with his forward Diego Costa, who threw the number to the Portuguese coach after not being able to take him to a 0-0 draw against Tottenham in November. Chelsea gave him the ax a month later.
Sarcastic comments in the media
An irritable Mourinho is the first sign of trouble, and that certainly became apparent after Tottenham’s loss to Chelsea on Thursday night.
She had not taken a question about Bale’s absence very well and had told the reporter that she did not “deserve an answer.”
Journalist Alison Bender asked Mourinho: ‘Can I ask a little question? Obviously you were one zero down … Gareth Bale, a lot of people said to bring it … may I ask why you didn’t bring him over? ‘
Mourinho replied laconically: “Good question, but I don’t think it deserves an answer.”
The Spurs boss simply said “thank you” before turning around and storming out.
Turning on the press was the beginning of the end for Mourinho at Old Trafford.
After a 3-0 loss to Spurs by Mauricio Pochettino in August 2018, Mourinho was upset by questions from journalists after he defended United’s display, claiming that a section of fans had applauded the team in the beep full time.
His collapse saw him walk out of the press conference in anger, and although he was given another four months to improve the results, his frustrations highlighted the underlying tension that was clearly transmitted to the players.
‘Today the players left the pitch after losing at home and applauded them, because they deserved it, so keep trying, and trying, and trying, and keep trying [to ask questions].
‘Just to finish, do you know what the result was?’ he said, holding up three fingers.
«3-0, 3-0. Do you know what this is? 3-0.
But it also means three Premierships and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 coaches put together. Three for me and two for them two [Pep Guardiola and Manuel Pellegrini]. So I respect the man, respect, respect, respect. ‘
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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