This won’t sit well with those that believe that José Mourinho, as talkSPORT’s Tony Cascerino says that the players need to take responsibility for the slump at Spurs. It’s difficult to mount a cogent argument against anything the former player says, simply because if the stadiums were full of fans, it would be ambitious to believe they would all be chanting ‘Mourinho Out!’ as Tanganga and Sanchez clattered into each other like characters in a Tom & Jerry cartoon.
Agreed. The NLD against a bang average Arsenal was utterly dispiriting too.
The errors being made are schoolboy. You can’t coach ‘clearances’ and basic passing which is where Newcastle’s first goal came from. If the players were 12 years old, you might. Technical aspects are ingrained in to every coaching session, but no manager is looking at the basics, a coach expects them to be in place at this level. But it is where we let goals in.
I agree that player confidence will be rock bottom and Mourinho had to maintain this, but after 16 months Jose couldn’t continue saying ‘chin up’ to Sanchez and Dier. He has done all he can with this bunch and he’s ad enough. Jose needed better quality players, which is how he has won his trophies with Chelsea, Inter and Real. He won’t get them under Levy, so it is best he goes.
If we want a coach to make our players better we need to get get Rodgers.
How can it not be the coaching, Mourinho has built his career on having
a solid defence with minimum goals conceded, were all the players performing as bad as they have shown this season, the answer is no !
Sanchez and Dier have lost the plot completely, confidence shattered which rubs off on other players, Ledders and Mourinho have to take criticism also, even though the manager refuses to accept any.
Spurs have one of the best defenders in Ledley King in the coaching staff, he is there to coach the defenders along with Jose.
We need strong leaders on the pitch shouting and keeping them in line.
Players have responsibility as much as a manager, and are culpable for the mistakes they make, problem is too many players are making too many mistakes, and Mourinho has not sorted them out in the way he is supposed to.
The initial quotes from Mourinho had to be upbeat, but I agree it was daft of him to go on record. Like cooing over a car before discovering there was a bird’s nest under the bonnet.
Some of them don’t want to play for anybody. I have heard of teams and players who quit when the going gets tough.
But I never in my life saw a Spurs team quit when it was two nil up before a ball had been kicked in the second leg against Zagreb.
For Jose to say the quality in the squad excited him when he arrived hasn’t helped him, especially as we all knew different. Having 3 transfer windows to sort out the issues hasn’t helped him either. Jose has had ample time to improve the squad and the existing players, therefore he isn’t exempt from blame. Most of his ire is rightly aimed at the players but what about the muppet who hired him?
The real moment of truth for me will come when Jose decides to criticise Levy. Poch threw a few back handed comments about being ‘brave’ and him being the ‘coach’, these will have stung Levy. As yet, Jose has kept his powder dry, but how long will he stay silent?
Jose has tried a number of permutations with our back 4, which speaks volumes in itself, but it is apparent Aurier, Doherty, Sissoko and Tanganga cannot be trusted at right back. Dier, Sanchez and Rodon cannot be trusted at CB and Davies is not a good left back. Jose has to pick a back 4/5, the big issue is the squad are simply not good enough. Tanganga, Rodon and Reggie are relatively inexperienced at Prem level, so to trust Sanchez as the ‘leader’ was never going to end well. If they can’t do it against Newcastle what hope is there?
These players have to accept the criticism because the mistakes that are being made, week in-week out are nothing to do with coaching. However, these players don’t seem to show a positive reaction when asked to do so. How many actually want to improve and move to another level would be interesting to know. Bar 3-4 of them I don’t think they want to play for Jose. I hope Kane and Hojbjerg are telling the squad this isn’t good enough or do Sissoko, Aurier and Dier rule the dressing room?