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There is an uncomfortable truth that sits in the corner of Tottenham’s dressing room, manager’s office, treatment room, dining room and boardroom like a giant elephant throughout Daniel Levy-Jose Mourinho’s elongated vanity project which is the Amazon Prime documentary. Serie All or nothing.
All or nothing is a trite title anyway, a generic name for what often appears to be a scripted reality show that is a poor man Made in chelsea. But when the answer to the inherent question he raises about Mourinho’s months in charge of Spurs last season is not “everything” but “nothing”, it only manages to draw attention to the failure of the club.
As this season dawns and the Spurs prepare to face Everton in their opener on Sunday, there is no prospect of Mourinho fighting for the title this season. He’s not that guy anymore. The Carabao Cup? Perhaps. The FA Cup? Maybe. The biggest prizes? No longer.
José Mourinho is the star attraction in the behind-the-scenes documentary Todo o nada de los Spurs
The series granted exclusive access to cameras for Tottenham’s entertaining 2019-20 season
So when you go beyond the Tom Hardy narration and the atmospheric soundtrack, there is a void at the heart of All or nothing.
‘Nothing’, because once again the Spurs didn’t win a trophy, despite the fact that President Daniel Levy said on screen at the office party that he wanted one for Christmas. ‘Nothing’, because, despite Mourinho’s obsession to catch Chelsea, he finished seven points behind them. ‘Nothing’, because they did not come close to entering the Champions League, the task that was brought to Mourinho.
‘Nothing’, because they have fallen behind since Mauricio Pochettino’s last full season at the club.
And ‘nothing’ because, as Mourinho bitterly pointed out on Friday, finishing in sixth place, with the first commitments with the Europa League that it brings, has condemned Spurs to an insane start to the season that could see them play nine games in 22 days. . That is not an accumulation of accessories. That is stagnation.
Of course, All or nothing it has some redeeming features: the players look good. It’s hard not to like Eric Dier for his courage and blunt taciturnity, Japhet Tanganga for his outspokenness, Dele Alli for his humor and Danny Rose for the courage and intellectual honesty that seems to disarm and baffle those of a more Machiavellian nature.
Levy is a bit David Brent, a bit too self-satisfied, a bit star-studded. Find me someone who will look at me the way he looks at Mourinho. It is usually the second season when they learn.
Sadly, that hell will come too late for All or nothing. Even Mourinho isn’t without pleasant moments, although he does act like a man who vows to try to impress cool guys, not because he feels it.
Danny Rose’s spirited conversation with Mourinho during the January window was the highlight
The cameras show the team meetings, the dressing rooms of the day and everything that happens
That’s a metaphor for the show, really. It’s hard to know what someone is really feeling because so much of it seems fake, self-conscious, and modified.
Henry Mance, writing in the Financial times, called it ‘the first draft of the hagiography’, which nailed its reverential tone towards José in particular and the club in general.
Show me a more servile assistant than Joao Sacramento and you’ll be going to some. He is Phil Neal in An impossible job, an extraordinary man of yes, but All or Nothing never comes close to providing the same perspective as the documentary ‘I don’t like that’ gave us. The unintentional comedy Sacramento delivers doesn’t seem to have made the cut.
We always knew that Mourinho was a good actor anyway. And I mean the Oscar-worthy version of football. And he has such fierce charisma that it dominates the series.
Levy is part of the supporting cast in orbit around the star. And the players are extras who live in a Jose Wonderland, except it’s a Wonderland that’s Blackpool on a sad day.
Spurs president Daniel Levy is part of Mourinho’s supporting cast in orbit around the star
It’s a shame the series tries to ignore the fact that the Spurs have become secondary players again after Pochettino went for the stars.
They finished 40 points behind Liverpool last season and yet have only signed Matt Doherty, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Joe Hart in the summer window so far. They are all good players but, taken alone, they do not speak of a great ambition to start closing distances.
The truth is that Mourinho is in camouflage. That is the purpose it has now. Both on the small screen and in a football club.
The strength of his personality, the radiance of his charisma and the skill of his management hide a list of weaknesses and support problems. Look at the bright, glittering star and try to ignore the fact that the team is fading into nothingness outside of the top four.
Mourinho’s personality, charisma and management hide a list of secondary problems
Even before the Spurs have kicked a ball this season, Mourinho is complaining about the encounters and struggling to sign a forward who can act as a backup for Harry Kane.
Tottenham may be an improved team this season, but the feeling is that others will have improved more. Instead of closing the gap, it is possible that teams like Everton will overtake them.
So I look forward to the last three episodes and watch the anticlimax of the battle for the sixth in the guise of a great triumph. Spurs fans better get used to it. The sixth could be as good as it sounds for a while.
In All or nothing, any thoughts that Tottenham would be competing for big trophies ended at the end of episode one.
Ryan Fraser is a good player and in many ways a decent signing for Newcastle United.
But let’s not forget that when Bournemouth needed him most last season, he disappeared.
Ryan Fraser has signed for Newcastle, but disappeared when necessary at Bournemouth
In fact, he refused to extend his contract to last until the end of the delayed season and watched Bournemouth fall.
Adversity, it seems, isn’t really his bag, so if the going gets tough, and they usually do in St James’ Park, Newcastle fans better brace for another disappearing act.
In light of the growing concern within rugby about concussion injuries, the threat they pose to the long-term health of players and the future of the game itself, a 10-game suspension for Owen Farrell as punishment for his sickly high entry in Half Wasp’s Teen Fly Charlie Atkinson this month seemed right.
What seemed wrong, cowardly, and completely absurd was that the ban should be cut in half to five games because England coach Eddie Jones said Farrell was a good kid and works a lot for charity and an independent panel decided that that mattered.
That kind of ‘mitigation’ not only pokes fun at the disciplinary process, but also raises uncomfortable questions about the game’s commitment to the health of players already being asked to risk their bodies more than ever in this congested season. .
Owen Farrell has received a five-game penalty for a reckless high tackle against the Wasps
Serena Williams is increasingly likely to end her career stuck at 23 individual Grand Slam victories, one less than Margaret Court’s record of 24. She has not won a Slam since 2017 and has since finished runner-up twice at Wimbledon and twice at the US Open. Last week, she was close again, reaching the US Open semifinals before losing to Victoria Azarenka.
But even though he will play the French Open this month, he will be 39 when the tournament begins. Simple statistics may tell that she is not the greatest player of all time, but any meaningful analysis of the times she played and the obstacles she faced make her a powerful case.
