In Jose Mourinho, Tottenham appointed the wrong manager

For all his charm, charisma, wit and winning pedigree, Jose Mourinho is the wrong manager for the job at Tottenham Hotspur.

Mourinho took the football world by storm when he unexpectedly led FC Porto to Champions League glory in 2004. Innovative, passionate and inspiring, Mourinho’s management style was revolutionary.

He elicited the best from every player under his mentorship. All of his pupils were fully committed to his cause, to his aspirational, yet achievable, vision. Over the years Mourino’s magic has waned considerably. While he still has an uncanny knack for galvanizing a team in the immediate aftermath of being appointed as manager, his ability to maintain motivation becomes evermore fleeting.

I would understand Daniel Levy’s decision to appoint Mourinho as manager if his intention was to win the Premier League this season. Immediate success is what Mourinho is renowned for. It’s his primary selling feature. He arrives at a club, often winning silverware in short succession. But that possibility, after the club’s poor start to the campaign, was already off the table when Mourinho got the job.

Tottenham simply didn’t have a strong enough squad to challenge for the title this season, even without suffering catastrophic injuries to Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min, Moussa Sissoko and Hugo Lloris.

Based on the difficult start to the campaign, along with the individuals the roster is comprised of, it’s not too farfetched to say Spurs need a rebuild. And if that’s the case, appointing Mourinho as manager makes even less sense.

To rebuild effectively, Mourinho would require at least three, maybe four, transfer windows. Real Madrid, from 2010 to 2013, is the only club in which his tenure as manager lasted for more than two years. And that’s wherein lies the rub.

Based on numerous examples from his past, there’s no way he’ll be around long enough to see his seeds fully bloom. His dogged, negative philosophy lacks ambition. It’s devoid of the innovation and ingenuity his style used to be known for. Mourinho doesn’t take accountability for his mistakes, instead deflecting whenever possible. And he now has a tendency to alienate, maybe the most worrying of his flaws.

Wherever Jose goes, chaos follows. The media circus that has followed Tottenham since his arrival is to the detriment of the club. After the Norwich loss he said something that sums up perfectly his unsuitability to be Tottenham manager.

He said that Tottenham need to prioritize either the Champions League or the Premier League, as his players are too tired to compete on both fronts. While that might be true, managers at the top level should keep those type of incredibly defeatist, uninspiring comments close to the vest. Throwing in the white towel before a match has even kicked off is conduct unbecoming of a Tottenham manager.

While I hope Mourinho proves me wrong, I fear many of us already know how this story ends.