Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Jose has a vision – but can he change his spots?
The Tottenham Hotspur job may well be Jose Mourinho’s last opportunity to preserve – some would say restore – his reputation as one of the greatest managers in European football.
At 56, and with a dispiriting end to his tenure at Old Trafford still fresh in the memory, Mourinho has been given a fantastic opportunity to make one more big impact on the Premier League.
It appears he has recognised the need for a change of approach.
The surly figure that characterised his final season at Chelsea and most of his tenure at Manchester United appears to have been replaced with, in his own words, a ‘humble’ one.
Well, it is for others to judge if Mourinho will assume more humility at Spurs, but he certainly gave a balanced and well-considered appraisal of the tasks ahead and his own suitability for them at his unveiling on Thursday afternoon.
He has been given a wonderful chance to rejuvenate a club that was in the Champions League final only six months ago and has a phenomenal infrastructure in place.
Mourinho is famous for operating in three-year cycles, with the third year not always going to plan.
His appointment seems at odds with Spurs’ previous incumbent. Mauricio Pochettino steadily built a team over a five-year period, changing the mentality of the entire club which grew in stature all the time.
The Argentine was part of a bigger project, with huge developments taking place away from the first team pitch during his stay in North London.
Mourinho hinted that he could be prepared to embrace a more holistic approach when he spoke at Tottenham’s Enfield training base ahead of today’s match against West Ham United.
“This is a vision. Everything starts with a vision,” he explained.
“The stadium is part of the vision, the training ground is part of the vision, the academy is part of the vision, to keep all the best players is part of the vision. Maybe to have a manager with my experience is part of the vision.”
Mourinho is good at making an immediate impact but he usually requires a pre-season. It will be interesting to observe his work coming into this job mid-term. He is a serial winner, though. Of his three posts in England, his time at Manchester United is judged as the least successful, but even during his stay at Old Trafford he lifted a Europa League and League Cup, not to mention a runners-up place in the Premier League that he regarded as a huge achievement.
“I consider one of the best jobs in my career was to finish second with Man United in the Premier League,” he claimed. “I keep saying this because people don’t know what is going on behind the scenes.”
Those difficulties he faced at Manchester United haunted him during a final season in which he appeared to turn on several players and became a distant, aloof presence. The same thing happened towards the end of his second spell at Chelsea.
On his unveiling at Spurs, he alluded to the reasons for his discontent. Tottenham’s players will have watched on with more than just curiosity.
“When I don’t win, I cannot be happy,” Mourinho continued.
“I cannot change that in my DNA. I hope I can influence the players that they will not be happy without winning football matches.
“Another thing that the people who work with me have to learn is that sometimes you have to work with people that you don’t love and work well.”
It was a message for his players that now is the time to come together for the greater good and put any personal differences aside. It has been a poor season so far, but Mourinho can turn things around quickly if his faltering team recaptures the form it is capable of.
The final word should be reserved for Pochettino, though. For the dismissed manager to instantly become one of the most sought-after coaches in Europe raises the question of whether ditching him was a wise move.
On a personal level, the timing of his sacking was cruel.
He oversaw existential change at Spurs, taking the club into a new stadium whilst ensuring regular Champions League football on a budget more akin to a team struggling in the lower reaches of the Premier League.
Handing Mourinho a salary package which doubled his predecessor’s seemed to be the final insult. Pochettino left through the back door, not even being given the opportunity to say a proper goodbye to his players or the Spurs supporters. He deserved better.
