Tottenham played some beautiful football under Mauricio Pochettino and for a good few years we were among the top teams in both England and Europe but at the end of the day, we won nothing.
The same players we saw last night, well most of them, were the same players that went downhill faster than a Swedish skier under Poch, we forget the state of the team Jose Mourinho inherited.
In football terms Mourinho has been at Spurs for just five minutes, he has a massive rebuilding job on his hands with a bunch of players that do not fit his style of football and it is not going to be easy on the eye as the Portuguese stamps his vision on the club.
It is a fallacy to suggest that Mourinho plays boring football, his teams down the years have been both entertaining and when necessary boring because he is only interested in one thing, winning.
At Man Utd he won three trophies, that is three more than what we have won in many years and his tenure there was criticised brutally.
As Spurs fans we have a choice to make, we either accept the dross we are dished up with a realistic chance of silverware when Mourinho finally can field the team he wants in his image or we get another manager in the hope that he can do what Poch failed to do and turn this lot into winners.
Obviously, some if not most Spurs fans will believe that Mourinho is past it and we will not win anything with him in charge but the thing is this, his record at every single club he has ever managed contradicts that. The man is a proven winner even at clubs where his time in charge has been seen as a failure.
The big question we have to ask ourselves is this, do we want entertaining football with no silverware or do we want boring football with a genuine chance of trophies?
The idea that we can have both entertaining football and win silverware is for the birds, in my opinion. These players are not capable of that, Poch could not do it and neither could most managers before him.
Since the restart, we have collected wins over West Ham and Everton and a draw against Man Utd, three games that we could easily have lost and yet we picked up seven points while playing dreary football.
The loss to Sheffield United was a bad one but that happens and one loss from those four games is not actually a bad return when you consider the state we were in before football was suspended.
Mourinho is going to need time and he will need the support of the fans to see through his vision, turning on him so early into his stint at the club will achieve nothing.
I am not a Mourinho fan, I did not want him in charge but he is and I am prepared to give him time to implement his strategy to turn Tottenham into winners, even if it is at the cost of entertaining football.
In the past we won trophies with entertaining football, but maybe being too gung ho cost us another league title. Point is if you havent got great players at certain times then i would rather be boring & win 4 or 5 trophies. Holland cant play total football now because they dont have Cruyff , Neeskens etc. If there is a way of winning whilst you wait for more talent do it. In 1989 Arsenal won the title , but their team had a fraction of our talent. But we won nothing. 1987 league cup semi, Rocastle last minute winner. But we should have been 6-0 up by then. So many times we are not ruthless. Maybe in 10 years we can have a great team , but in meantime win ugly. Get it in record books. 1 league cup in 20 years. Disgrace
I agree – if we aren’t winning and the football is dire, the fans won’t be happy! We could well have an entire season without fans though, so we’ll see what happens.
My hope, and my suspicion, is that this period is particularly bad to watch while he gets to grip with our defensive shape. After that has improved, we’ll be hard to beat, the results will start coming, and the confidence of the players will return, improving the football for us all to watch.
There’ll be little backing for this once fans are back in, paying world-record prices Especially when we’re not competing with the top sides who do play dynamic, exciting football.
In terms of winning trophies. I don’t think anyone can guarantee anything. Only a fool would go on someone’s word for something that’s not entirely in their control. All we can do is back a serial winner and let him do the rest.
The article isn’t getting on his back. It says he will definitely win trophies at spurs, regardless of what we’re seeing after 9 months of him in charge. Actually *because* of the type of football we’re seeing now!
He did, and he’d already had a good look at them by then.
Sure, other managers have different styles that are more entertaining and also win trophies, but since we hired Jose, let him do it his way. If he doesn’t improve anything after a full season then we can all get on his back then.
He said he’d have Spurs challenging for the title next season. I’m taking him at his word.
I totally agree, and for us to do the same it will take years, money and a structured plan. I’ve waited long enough, so patience I have. Money though! That’s where I lose it. We had it, just didn’t spend it on players, now we have none (apparently). Structured plan! We bought Ndombele and took a year too long to build a stadium that cost us big, especially in lost revenue whilst playing at Wembley. Unlike City and Utd we can’t really afford expensive mistakes, but we keep making them, far too often for my liking. This rebuild puts us back under the cosh for at least another year. It’s tough getting in to the top 4, much easier for Simeone in Spain.
There’s a bloody great elephant in the room Bruce. Who’s going to pay for the team that Mourinho wants to field in his image. We keep being told there is no money. Sell our best players now in a depressed market, that’s a fire sale. We need quality and quality doesn’t come cheap. As Tom Cruise famously said, “Show me the money”. And don’t tell me there is bíg money waiting for Davies, Lamela, Moura, Sissoko, Aurier, Rose, KWP. We’re getting nothing for Vertonghen same as Wanyama, we got practically bugger all for Dembele and Eriksen.
Unfortunately the reality check has been to this idea that trophies are imminent. Since he arrived there has been no discernible improvement. The gap to Chelsea and Man U is as large now as when poch left. In four encounters against those two sides (both managed by rookies) Mourinho achieved just 1 point. These are the big games in which it’s alleged he still excels.
The two trophies in his last job came in his second season, after a world-record spend of 400 million pounds. In the third season he was fired with United closer to the bottom 3 than to Klopp and Guardiola.
I would say stop awarding him trophies at spurs on the basis of no improvement and us being out of the race for 5th despite the average competition. All it does is provide mors ammunition for those who enjoy mocking spurs fans. In the unlikely event he wins something next season, celebrate then. But awarding him trophies in these circumstances?? What is that all about?
Simeone has the players for that system,we don’t.
We’re in a post Poch transition period that Levy is dragging out for five years. Our key Poch players are onto him and their morale is through the floor. Wimbledon in the 90’s were more entertaining to watch than this dross.
The average manager lasts 18 months (give or take an hour). In comparative terms Mourinho has had more than 5 mins. I agree with Marbella, the teams that tends to win are the best ‘footballing’ teams, the teams that attack and excite. Ergo, try to play this way to win. This is not to say other ways do not work, Inter with Jose in 2010, but that is not the norm. Do we therefore discount the norm because ‘everyone’ else is doing it, in the off chance we break the mould? That is some risk, especially as to break that mould we would need the best defenders. Do we have the money for them? Simeone has the same mentality/philosophy as Jose, it is a tough watch. Grinding out results by defending and attacking can be harduous, but I’d rather attack.
The reality is the squad has some top class players and a chunk of average players. Davies, Aurier,Dier, Sissoko, Winks, Moura et al would never be in the first eleven of a title and honours seeking club. What we are seeing is the manifestation of the ENIC effect of chronic under investment in the squad over decades. Levy seeks to qualify in the top four as his metric of success. He pays his managers top dollar hoping that they can get a tune out of the squad like Pooch did for a few seasons. He calculates it cheaper to pay out £14 million to Mourinho than spend what is needed for world class players. This squad however has lost faith and aged in that process. I doubt we will hold onto Kane and even Son without any European football. Who can blame them. They have one career and why would anyone waste it on ENIC’s vision.
The reality is the squad has some top class players and a chunk of average players. Davies, Aurier,Dier, Sissoko, Winks, Moura et al would never be in the first eleven of a title and honours seeking club. What we are seeing is the manifestation of the ENIC effect of chronic under investment in the squad over decades. Levy seeks to qualify in the top four as his metric of success. He pays his managers top dollar hoping that they can get a tune out of the squad like Pooch did for a few seasons. He calculates it cheaper to pay out £14 million to Mourinho than spend what is needed for world class players. This squad however has lost faith and aged in that process. I doubt we will hold onto Kane and even Son without any European football. Who can blame them. They have one career and why would anyone waste it on ENIC’s vision.
Couldn’t disagree more. Man City play great football and have won plenty of silverware whilst doing so. Liverpool played entertaining football in the last two seasons to good effect. Barcelona and Real Madrid both play good football and win nearly everything. Spurs fans won’t put up with the dross they are being served up ad infinitum.