Episode 1 of “All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur” hit the best and worst moments of the Mauricio Pochettino era, along with the start of the Jose Mourinho regime.
Getting an inside look at your club is not something every fan wants the opportunity to enjoy. With Spurs having an entire docuseries on Amazon Prime Video, ‘All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur’, it is an opportunity too good for fans to pass up. The first three episodes are now available on Amazon Prime on demand.
Following the amazing success and incredible run to the Champions League final from the previous season, even the producers could not have envisioned the journey the club would take over the course of the season, as Mauricio Pochettino’s five-and-a-half year reign at the club as manager came to an end.
It is at the end, where the Tottenham Hotspur ‘All or Nothing’ story begins. Here are three observations from episode one.
1. This is Tottenham Hotspur
The first scenes of the show are a clip of about 11 seconds that has become quite familiar to all of us Spurs fans, as it was Heung-Min Son’s incredible, goal of the season run against Burnley.
That incredible moment was certainly one of the high-water marks in a season that was quite disappointing, particularly thinking about where Spurs were coming from.
Following Son’s incredible goal, the emotion of the club starts to take hold as Tom Hardy states “this is Tottenham” and talks about a football club that “has always believed in flair” as video of Gareth Bale and Paul Gascoigne flash across the screen. Noting the club’s more than 100-year history – nothing plastic here – however, much of that success, as noted in the open, is in the past.
This queues Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the new 21st Century club that is Tottenham Hotspur. We then get to hear from Daniel Levy in a straight, unfiltered way that rarely is seen. Levy accepts that many criticize him, but notes the hard work of building the stadium, wooing the NFL, and frankly getting “lucky” with Mauricio Pochettino.
It is the luck of the Argentine and the end of that luck where the story starts to turn.
2. The best and worst of times
Just as Levy maybe got a bit lucky with Pochettino, there is no doubt a little hint of luck was found in the magical run to the Champions League final in 2019. After a little assistance from VAR to dispatch Manchester City, fans and foes alike got to relieve what is one of my personal greatest sporting fandom moments in my 43 years of life, in Amsterdam.
Those final 15 seconds, where Son passes it back to Moussa Sissoko, who boots it up to Fernando Llorente, who knocks it down to Dele Alli, who then plays in a flashing Lucas Moura for the game-winner will live on forever in Tottenham’s history.
That play and situation was like an NBA team coming back from 20 in the fourth quarter of game six of the playoffs and then winning with a half-court heave, with Moura scoring three in the second half.
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I know I screamed and hit my knees the first time when I experienced that third goal live and I still get goosebumps to this day watching the play, again, and again. However, the tough part for Spurs was that it was NOT the final, it was not Game 7, there was one more match play. Regardless of how you feel about the handball, which was not covered, Liverpool scored two and the dream ended in so many ways for Spurs that day in Madrid.
Disappointment and disbelief turned into disgruntlement and disagreement as Tottenham went from the precipice to despair in only a few short months.
While I am sure other pictures and video do exist, it was a very sullen Mauricio Pochettino portrayed in the video. The obvious stark differences in the before-Madrid and after-Madrid Pochettino were obvious. The smile, the fire, the passion, were just not the same after that loss. It was clear that the Champions League final loss haunted Pochettino and everyone else at the club. That and the fact that Christian Eriksen wanted to leave.
So here are the cameras and the one and only trophy of the Pochettino era and what do we see, video of Poch complaining about his power and role at the club prior to the Audi Cup. In reality, Harry Kane’s goal from half field, Moussa Sissoko lifting the trophy, all of that was just tape over cracks that was never going to hold as the season fell apart right in front of everyone and Pochettino and company seemed helpless to stop it.
This slide was underlined after the Bayern Munich highlights, where an early 1-0 lead turned into an embarrassing 2-7 loss to the eventual European Champions. The episode moved ahead to the loss and draw in two matches at Merseyside and then had highlights of Pochettino’s last win, 4-0 over Red Star Belgrade, as well as his last match in charge, a 1-1 draw very Sheffield United.
Suddenly, the Mauricio Pochettino era was over and a new regime was about to begin.
While I love Pochettino for what he did for Spurs and the joy he brought over five-and-a-half seasons, it was clear change was needed and Amazon worked hard to make that change quite apparent. As things shifted to the Jose Mourinho show.
Tottenham & Mourinho – a New Era Begins
As per Levy himself, Mourinho is one of the two top coaches in world football – with Pep Guardiola presumably the other – although not named. We get the introduction, the 25 trophies, the not smiling, the little bit ruthless bit, but we also get a glimpse of the man manager. Mourinho expects his players to be all in 100 percent and if they are, they will get along, if not, he will let them know, right Dele?
You can see the excitement in some players – like Toby Alderweireld – and the nervousness in others like Harry Winks and Jan Vertonghen. After over five years, learning a new style on the fly would be tough. As you see the team and Jose preparing for practice, and then in practice, you see just the kind of hands-on coach he is.
Jose is all over his players both physically and verbally. Sometimes it is good praise, sometimes it is to tell them their effort is not good enough – in much more colorful language – but it is always direct and always from him to the player. Whether running next to Harry Kane to encourage that diagonal run or stopping the video to call out Dele Alli for not practicing hard enough, Jose does not hope people get the message, he tells them.
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Jose wants to know his team and wants to have some control. He talks to Kane about being a global movie star, like Mourinho himself is, noting he has a “big dimension”. He seems somewhat concerned learning from Joao Sacramento that Moussa Sissoko has big influence in the dressing room, responding with only one inappropriate word.
Jose is quickly learning the team and seeing what makes Spurs get the soft label from some as he often notes how they are all just too nice, nice boys. Instead of nice boys, they need to be bleep on the pitch for 90 minutes to win matches. I will never play for the man, but darn am I ready too, because it is all about winning and darn do I hate losing, too.
This is where the episode ends, with Spurs preparing for Match 1 of the Jose Mourinho era and a new venture ahead. Whereas episode one did not have an introduction or title sequence, there is one for episode two and beyond as the new 21st century Spurs are brought to the forefront. If nothing else, at least we know they win that opener, before the pain of the Eriksen exit becomes real once more, but that is for episodes two and three.
So, what did you think of episode one? What are you looking forward to in future episodes?