“The end of an era” Poyet defends Mourinho

Former Tottenham star Gus Poyet believes that his old side have ultimately come to an end of an era and must rebuild.

Spurs opted to sack Mauricio Pochettino in November, with Jose Mourinho appointed as his successor.

Although that led to an upturn in form following his arrival, things haven’t gone to plan for Tottenham this season as they could end up empty-handed while possibly missing out on Champions League qualification.

Time will tell if the season is completed amid the coronavirus crisis, but Poyet has defended Mourinho while insisting that injuries have hurt them this season, as has the need to now potentially rebuild to start a new cycle.

“I think it is the end of an era, the end of a process,” Poyet told Goal. “At certain places, you can manage the process in a way by slowly changing.

“There are other places where you hang onto a team until the end and then you feel like you have to change everything. I think Tottenham is in that place at the moment. This defends every manager in the world, not only Jose Mourinho.

“The players normally like the change; then reality comes back on the players. It will be an important end of the season for Spurs but even more so in the market after. I think they have a plan.”

Should the campaign resume, Spurs will be looking at a seven-point gap to fourth-placed Chelsea with nine games remaining, while they crashed out of the FA Cup and Champions League prior to the suspension of fixtures.

However, Mourinho will be likely boosted by the return to fitness of Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son among others, and so they’ll be hoping to salvage something from the season if it can be completed.