When Jose Mourinho was named Tottenham Hotspur’s manager in November 2019, there was understandable skepticism about his suitability for the role.
His final days at Manchester United left some wondering if his time at the top was over, like the lifelessness of his team and the apparent lack of ideas in the dugout.
Just 12 months after his appointment, he is at the top of the Premier League with 20 points from nine games.
What has changed for Mourinho? And what has he got now that he wasn’t at Old Trafford?
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Mourinho, in particular, did not get the support of the United Board to get the signatures he wanted with the in the summer of 2018 main problem Regarding failure to land one of the manager’s core defense goals after making expensive moves for Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof over the past seasons.
At the Spurs However, the manager has identified important goals and received the green light for them. Whether this would also be the case in the third season of the manager is of course controversial, but is supported for the time being.
We’ve seen this focused approach bring benefits over the summer, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – an important target more or less from the moment it became clear that the former Southampton man would be available – an immediate impact on the pitch would have.
One reason things have been so floating is, of course, the presence of an established partnership in the attack.
While Harry Kane’s role developed under Mourinho, his understanding with Son Heung-min dated well before the Portuguese manager’s arrival.
Such a relationship was never even allowed to in Old Trafford, thanks in part to Mourinho’s own decision-making.
By introducing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the group in 2016, he made way for what he considered safe, but at the expense of developing relationships between the likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
Even as the Swede became less critical and approached the exit door, the introduction of Alexis Sanchez prevented such a development further.
If Martial and Rashford had been more established in their partnership by the time Mourinho arrived – as is the case with Kane and Son – he might have felt safe enough to work with what he had. Instead, he forced himself to continually reset the attack to the detriment of his team.
As with Ibrahimovic this first season, there is an argument that Mourinho’s efforts to develop something sustainable at Old Trafford were hampered by the short-term appearances of David De Gea in the manager’s sophomore year.
The goalkeeper’s form helped correct deficiencies elsewhere in the squad and may have been seen by supervisors as a justification for not requiring defensive recruitment and yet once the unsustainable form was above average again for 2017/18 The goalkeeper’s wheels began to loosen.
(Image: Kirsty Wigglesworth – by Pool / Getty Images)
While Hugo Lloris is by no means a limited goalkeeper, Mourinho now knows that he will not be saved repeatedly by a superhuman presence between the sticks. This has forced his hand a bit and requires a more solid all-round approach.
Tottenham weren’t afraid of absorbing pressure into Mourinho’s system, taking three wins in league games where they had less than 50% possession (pro StatsBomb / FBRef ) but it has been a containment as a team approach rather than dependence on one man, which means there are many individuals out there who can remove the danger if necessary.
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While we’re only a handful of games in the new season, it would be wrong to get too carried away with Spurs’ development under Mourinho. There are still fragile areas, and injuries to a key man or two could still cause immeasurable damage to the team.
However, the differences between his team this season and the one he left at Manchester are far from superficial and we can certainly point to significant ways in which he appears to have grown in both application and possibilities .
The trick now is to keep it going.
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