The anti-Mourinho meltdown never needs much prompting, the grumbles online usually start after about 20-minutes if we’re not winning. Ironically, one senses there’s a correlation between the fans dissatisfied with José, and those that felt reinstalling Christian Eriksen was a sound idea. The parameters of imagination involved are invariably narrow to the point of negligible. Last week some fans fancied installing Brendan Rodgers at the helm.
Last night, one individual thought that the Southampton coach’s name was worth throwing into the mix. Personally, I’d prefer Zippy or Bungle from Rainbow to be given a chance. Or what about the guy in the bear suit, Geoffrey, was it?
The cold truth of it is that the Spurs squad is still undermined by players who are complete failures from past regimes. Dear me, Erik Lamela has been bumbling about the place for 8-years. Eric Dier (we will discuss another mind-bogglingly bad performance later on) is a colossal failure. The now 27-year-old’s career has also slipped past him without honours. Harry Winks’ is 25-years-old in a few days. Another player that would be unlikely to cause a stampede if Spurs were to offer him for sale. Dele Alli’s crowning glory may well yet be that the only coach to court him in a transfer market is Pochettino. You couldn’t make it up.
And then we have all the more recently accrued junk that show no signs of precipitating meaningful change. Carlos Vinicius is a name some fans are still struggling to understand the logic of having if he can’t get a go when Harry Kane is injured. Penny dropped yet? He’s not good enough. Not a guess, an observation based upon the fact Mourinho doesn’t play him unless it’s against pub sides. I didn’t mention Gedson Fernandes. There you go, that’s that attended to.
Matt Doherty was a pretty imperious player at Wolves, his time at Spurs has been utterly disappointing. Davinson Sanchez began his time with us brightly and has become a bungle waiting to happen. It’s worth sparing a mention here for Ledley King. A source close to the club told me at the time it was a political appointment and I guess we are really reaping the benefits of that decision now.
Elsewhere, we have an ageing Toby Alderweireld who simply cannot manage to play every game any more – the same can be said about Gareth Bale. The expensive fairytale that turned out Grimm.
This squad has pockets of hope, players that could start a rejuvenation, but they are battling against the odds. Mauricio Pochettino was pulled from a burned out car and some fans it seems, appear to believe that from the ashes, class players might be pulled. To those fans I have 4 words. You. Are. Kidding. Me.
Mourinho doesn’t need time, in so much that Portuguese could spend the rest of his days coaching Winks and still get nowhere. What José needs are transfer funds and his problem is the debt that we’re shackled to forever thanks to the ENIC business model – which included everything a boy could wish for – except pandemic insurance that Wimbledon took out.
If you don’t like Mourinho, that’s fine, I’m not selling him. I’m selling reason.