Is this going to be a knee-jerk reaction article to the 2-2 draw with Newcastle United? Of course it is.
Another opportunity absolutely wasted and there is no point blaming the defense, they do not pick themselves, they do not apply the tactics and strategy.
Can the midfield be blamed? No, for the same reasons and obviously neither can the attack, so who is to blame?
Jose Mourinho that is who.
Why? Because he has had enough time and has a big enough squad to be able to get these players to not sit back every single time they get the lead.
Some will argue that Jose has a massive task ahead of him because of the deadwood at the club. Well, have a look at that Newcastle team, have a look at Crystal Palace, Wolves, Fulham and so on. Is there really an argument that this Spurs squad is inferior or weaker than those teams? Of course not.
Spurs have a good enough squad to be able to beat the likes of Newcastle United and it is not as if this is the first time this has happened this season, it is happening time and time again.
Add in the losses to Arsenal and Dinamo Zagreb and the manner of those defeats and you have to accept that there is a significant problem with the mentality of the team and not their talent.
Make no bones about it, this is purely down to Mourinho and his management.
Now, I am not in the Mourinho out camp, we are fifth and still very much in the race for a top-four spot and we can still win the Carabao Cup but if we fail to achieve either of those then defending Mourinho any further becomes futile.
He does need to bring in his own players but that does not excuse what he has done with the squad he inherited and the players since brought in under his watch.
The blame is with Mourinho and the clock is ticking. For now, he has my support but I am loaning that support only temporarily and I suspect I am probably now in the minority camp.
Jose is someone who still comes with a huge amount of experience and cache. Why? Because he’s highly rated after he career he’s had. So you would expect some kind of upward lift in form after taking over, regardless of the state the squad was in.
He’s had a summer, with half the previous season to suss the squad out. Not very impressed myself, yet when I say I’m not i’m Told I’m missing the point… 🤔
I couldn’t agree more, the fish rots from the head, the club has no identity and considering we have a genius business man at the helm, I am at a loss understanding the strategy of bringing Mourinho in other than to appease folk for the sacking of Poch. It’s a disgrace from top to bottom. If the strategy was to buy young, develop build and sell then what is Mourinho doing here?? The game is about glory emblazoned all over the stadium… what glory?? The team have forgotten how to pass the ball, I saw Brighton this evening, they move the ball 100 times better than we do. Get Rodgers in, a young hungry manager with something to prove, he will bring youngsters on, play decent football, it’s ridiculous, Bale, Son, Ali all sat on the bench. What a joke
I supported JM’s appointment as I thought although the style of play would be dull, I would take that if it meant keeping it tight at the back and winning the majority of games by the odd goal leading to silverware or finishing top four, which for me always felt like winning something..
However, we are none of the above, clearly JM and his staff or not capable of improving players or providing a strategy that the players can by into. Poor Sanchez had a shocker today, he as we all know has gone backwards and his confidence is brittle at the best of times. But then to pair him with Rodon who is still finding his feet at a so called big club and playing in Prem is unforgiveable. In my opinion its all over bar the shouting for Jose, he knows it and the players know it, don’t even dare mention to me “but we are in a final” bollocks to that. We have no chance against Citeh…HK and Sonny need to move on in the summer but our chairman will demand fees that won’t be realistic meaning not only will he have to find a new manger but have a very unhappy dressing room as he will not spend the money on players needed to make the squad really competitive…
We have and will always be Spursy and I for one will not be continuing to shell out a fortune next season for the pleasure of watching this dross anymore…
Ain’t he gone yet! Months ago it was clear.
We have great attacking, flair players, and we have a coach/manager that’s the opposite, and we have no money for his type of players, so it’s a no brainer.
I think with the kids we got coming through, they should at the end of the season get nagelsmann in from Leipzig and he’ll turn Tottenham into a top four side by the end of next year, you can’t have that much, attractive talent, with that mindset.
Yes we have a better squad on paper than most in the prem, but not many are good enough for a top 4 team. Defensively we are the worst we have been for many years, since Toby and Jan anyway.We sit 5th despite some woeful performances, because of some great individual play. So to put all the blame on Jose seems wrong, because without him this squad would be mid table only. We have not invested in the squad over the past several years and we have bought some very average players, usually the ones that are not good enough for better teams but somehow its expected they are good enough for us. We have also spent ridiculous money on, for example, Sanchez, N Domble, who are clearly not that great. Doherty, Aurier, are not good enough,so where do you start to rebulid this squad and we know there will be very little to spend. So when Harry, and possibly Sonny, leave next season, WHAT NEXT?
[…] Bruce Grove, theboyhotspur.com […]
Based on the last 20 years, is that so bad? It wasn’t that long ago that the season was over by March.
Seriously, what are you expecting with the budget and salary we pay? Look at the current top 4 – what right do we have to expect to be in that company?
We are about to see the classic Mourinho unravel.
The blame game comes out again, the short answers to questions, the miserable Mourinho, the players not responding, the fans not happy.
This is classic classic Mourinho, history repeats.
Hearing the defence of the manager, that he has a load of dross in the squad. I bet most of the teams in the league would swap their squad for ours. There is no way we should be performing like this time and time again against absolutely rubbish opposition.
This is at two peoples door, the Manager for the here and now god awful performances and the chairman’s ineptitude.
Wake up smell the coffee, Mourinho is not the man he was, he hasnt been for quite some time. The only person who believes he is the best coach in the World is himself, he is deluded as are the fans that hark back to trophies won years ago.
Football moves on, he hasn’t and he is being found out week after week.
Old lane or new lane, it doesn’t matter, the chairman is clueless and the manager is just as bad.
No good having quality players if you dont have the right man to make them play how come a manager like scott parker can get a load of rubbish playing maybe not winning but more entertaining football think what he could do with players like we have at spurs
The problem is most of our wide players majority of whom use their weaker foot for balance continually drift in field meaning time after time when possession is gifted away we end up overloaded in the wide areas or the opposing full back attacks our one with space to work with…
The team is so stale, so slow (probably slowest in the Prem), so lacking in ideas. It has the personality of a second hand breeze block. At a loss to know what to do when so many players either consistently make mistakes, don’t turn up or appear to not give a toss. Harry Kane surely has to question the wisdom of staying on for another dose of this shite? Is Jose to blame? Well, he has on more than one occasion used the collective “we are a team” when bad stuff happens-so yes, in part he must take responsibility. Really poor today.
2 new full backs that can defend first and overlap second
True Bruce but it doesn’t feel like happy days. Negative and pessimistic is exactly my default as a Spurs supporter. Im very willing for them to prove me wrong.
This conclusion is a reasonable one to make and is hard to disagree with, and to be perfectly honest I have expected much more from Mourinho and his managerial expertise from what we have seen so far.
Surely a manager at any level walks into a new job with the initial intention of analysing every player’s ability and deciding if they are not only good enough, but have the right attitudes to become a team player.
He then must decide on a formation with players who can adapt and be comfortable with what he is asking of them, and also devise an alternative system to switch to when required.
I have struggled with how we have approached so many games this season and questioned how negative the style of play has been, simply it’s down to the tactics deployed not suiting these players or the lack in mentality and attitudes that they require for the job in hand.
Either way the message is not getting through, and yet we find ourselves currently lying in a challenging position for European qualification and have the chance of silverware, I am utterly lost as to what to think anymore.
Probably more than what your comment means to me Tangangry.
mmm, 2 points behind 4th and in the final of the Carabao Cup, yes you are right, that is enough reason to be very negative and pessimistic, Thanks for schooling me there James.
You gotta love Bruce banging the old drum, we can still win the Carabao Cup and still get Champions League football.
Hahahaha
A place in the semi finals of the Europa League was there for the asking, they couldn’t be bothered.
A shock defeat of Chelsea gives you a chance to have a go at Champions League football, they don’t look particularly interested, Harry and a few others excepted.
Truly there is something rotten in the state of Tottenham.
Sanchez only plays well if Toby is next to him else he’s a liability. I reckon Dier would of done a better job today (not that Im advocating for him to return), Sanchez made poor decisions all over the pitch…he’s been there long enough to show some kind of leadership but its sadly lacking
Lloris made a top save today, but Sanchez is an absolute liability, gave the ball away for the first goal and clattered straight into Rodon for the second
I thought he was unlucky to be hooked at half time… lo no show was terrible he should of gone at half time, especially after just having been booked..,there is no way Son had 45 mins of PL football in his legs either. todays loss is entirely on Mourinho & his diabolical use of subs, and subsequent game management.
I’m sure your loaned support means the world to him Bruce. A comfort in dark times no doubt.
We all know that we need a big clear out and quality replacements but I can’t see it happening.
Most of that team will still be here next season, Sanchez and Dier will be still be here and Lamela.
They’ll buy a new centre back and a creative midfielder and maybe a right back. That’ll be it. Rinse and repeat, ad infinitum.
It’s the defending, it’s a complete joke, we need a right back, a LEFT and a RIGHT footed centre back and a new keeper. All that and a striker to replace Vinicius who does absolutely nothing, can some tell me what the point of Vinicius is?