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I spoke to Tottenham manager José Mourinho at Zoom last week and it was obvious his spark was back.
You can also see him in his press conferences and in his posts on Instagram.
His team is in a good place now, for all kinds of reasons, and you can tell he knows it.
At 57, José’s legacy is already established, of course.
Just look at your track record – you will become one of the best managers ever, because of what you have already accomplished.
But now he has the opportunity to create something different with the Spurs, something that, in a strange way, would be almost more than anything he has done elsewhere.
I mean, can you imagine if he won the Premier League with Tottenham? There are not many other coaches on this planet who would even think that it is possible to enter the Spurs and win the title in 18 months, much less be able to carry it out.
Jose won’t admit that his side are contenders, of course, but it’s clearly something he feels he can get his teeth into.
Off the pitch, you can tell he’s more comfortable now that he’s back in London than in Manchester, living in a hotel.
In it, he has the players he loves and has instilled in them the spirit he demands of them.
It’s been just over a year since he replaced Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs boss, and he’s already knocked down the road.
No wonder he’s smiled again.
“A brilliant plan, but José aims to improve it” We cannot forget what Poch did for Tottenham because he made them regulars in the Champions League and took them into a whole new stratosphere in terms of their belief levels.
Mourinho, however, somehow looked at that plane and said ‘it’s brilliant, but I can improve it because I know the secret ingredient.’
That secret ingredient is the desire to win.
These Tottenham players are very good footballers, but the question was ‘do they want success enough to get it in a horrible way?’ Basically, are you willing to do it the Joseph way? It looks like they are, and the bigger results you get, the more they’ll be in the palm of your hand.
On top of that, Mourinho is willing to make the tough decisions.
Getting Dele Alli out of the group was not easy, but he felt it was necessary and was shown to be right.
The same happened with the sale of Christian Eriksen in January.
You could say in the Amazon documentary that Mourinho wasn’t very interested in the idea, but look at how it has worked.
Spurs don’t seem to be losing the Danish midfielder, while Eriksen must be watching from afar thinking ‘what have I done?’ because Mourinho is bringing out the best in many of his former teammates.
When I asked Jose about that, about how he has so many leaders on his team, he said that he doesn’t see it as if he is the one who creates or even identifies them.
Their philosophy is more than ‘leaders show me who they are’.
It doesn’t necessarily happen immediately either, and French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele is a great example of that.
“ If the players do their thing, they don’t play for José. ” There is a reason Mourinho loves players like Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg because they give him a minimum of 7/10 every week. more than reliable, they are special, like Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, of course.
Ndombele is another in that group.
I watched him play for Lyon against Manchester City in 2018 and with his technical ability, smart passing and physical power he always had the potential to be one of the best, he just took the time to adapt to what Mourinho asks for.
I think that when Mourinho enters a club, he gives the players a frame and tells them ‘this is what I want.
Doing so will improve.
If you want to do your thing, you won’t play for me. ‘
That broke with Ndombele last season, so he was on and off the team, but now he’s applying himself and doing exactly what Mourinho asks for.
He is now a starter, week after week, and in the opening hour against City on Saturday he was the key component to Tottenham’s game plan.
Why Daniel Levy Deserves Credit Too All areas of this Spurs team are working well now, but that wasn’t the case in their first game of the season, a disappointing loss to Everton.
At the time, he wasn’t thinking of a Tottenham title bid.
In fact, I wondered aloud in which direction the team was headed.
But I really didn’t understand the effects of the unique circumstances surrounding this season and the much shorter preparation time some teams had in the preseason.
Anyone like me, looking from the outside, couldn’t really take that into account, which is where coaches are way ahead in their understanding of where their teams are.
I’m sure Jose knew before the game against Everton that his team was nowhere near ready.
Looking at them now though, you can see what they’re capable of now that they’re up to speed, and it looks like they have the squad depth they’re going to need as well.
This is where Tottenham president Daniel Levy deserves some credit, after a period in which he has been under quite a bit of pressure.
He has managed to build what is possibly the best football stadium in Europe, and then acquire one of the best coaches in the world in Mourinho.
On top of that, he has assembled an enviable squad across the Premier League with the balance and backing he has in every position.
There is a mix of experience, youth, rhythm and power.
Oh, and also a world-class advanced line.
Whats Next? Everyone has to be prepared for a great month. A defining month? Tottenham’s next five games in the Premier League Sunday November 29 Chelsea (a) Sunday December 6 Arsenal (h) Sunday December 13 Crystal Palace (a) Wednesday December 16 Liverpool (a) Sunday December 20 Leicester (h ) Spurs have put themselves in a very good position in the Premier League, now they have to maintain it.
One of their problems is that their games are thick and fast, especially since they are in Europe, and each of them presents a challenge.
After facing Chelsea on Sunday, the Spurs face Arsenal, Liverpool and Leicester in the coming weeks, in very specific matches in terms of intensity level.
This is where the depth of the Tottenham team, and the playing time that everyone gets, will be very important.
The fans may not like to see it, but I think Mourinho is going to have to rest some players at different times.
Harry might have to step aside for a league game (he’s all started so far) and someone else walks in.
I know Mourinho talks about the importance of Tottenham’s campaign in the Europa League, and they also can’t assume that they will sideline Crystal Palace in the league a few days before they take on Liverpool.
But I don’t see how he plays with his best players in those games, and he still has them in their prime for all the big games.
It is not just a physical challenge that you will face next month, it is also a mental one, and this is even before we get to the Christmas period, which will be even busier.
They don’t even have to win all the games I just mentioned because as this season is going for everyone, a huge advantage would be avoiding major injuries.
But clearly, the ideal would be to maintain their momentum and for that to happen, fringe players need to be ready – not just ready to play, but ready to do their best.
Mourinho has already sent a message about it with his comments after players rested against Royal Antwerp in late October and his team played poorly and was beaten.
Whenever you do that, you need the players coming in to have the right mindset and show you why they should be the ones to start regularly.
Regardless of how it works, it’s important that the Spurs get it right.
The margin of error is very small and this period could define the rest of the season: where they end, if they end with a trophy, and which one.
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