They say that in football management, the best time to ask for backing is when you are under pressure as it is. When at the apex of power, few managers look to rock the boat and/or squad harmony by making major demands. Often, when this happens, it can leave the club and the coach at loggerheads and thus harmony is ruined. When things are already falling through the floor, though, why not chance your arm?
This is a tactic that Jose Mourinho has used in the past, and his recent utterings at Tottenham suggest a similar approach. The Portuguese supremo is a well-loved coach on the circuit, but has seen his methods, mood, and mentality questioned ever since he left Real Madrid. Spurs was supposed to be his second coming, a return to the ‘old Jose’ after his Manchester United exit.
After failing to make the UEFA Champions League for what looks like a second season, Mourinho has thrown the gauntlet down in front of the boardroom at Spurs.
The message? Back me with moves and with more power or let me go.
Indeed, in an explosive conference, Mourinho asked for the clubs’ people in power to back him 100% to help reshape the dressing room and to create a unified message that everyone can stick to. Mourinho was furious after the 3-2 aggregate defeat to Dinamo Zagreb and was clear that his ambition was not being met at the time.
A 2-0 win against Aston Villa at the weekend, with goals from Harry Kane and Carlos Vinicius, was enough to give Mourinho confidence again. After the game, he addressed rumours of discontent and made sure that the Spurs board knew that he wants more to keep making progress.
What did Spurs coach Jose Mourinho say after the Aston Villa match?
Speaking about the dressing room as a whole and wider issues at the club, Mourinho told Sky Sports in a post-match interview: “Football nowadays is not easy in relation to that [dressing room unity].
“The selfishness is around, the individual interests are around, the agents are around, the connections between agents and press are around.
“And instead of developing a feeling of a team, empathy, ‘I do for you, you do for me’, ‘I win if I play 90 minutes, I win if I am in the stands’. This is something that you need time to develop this in a group. Nowadays you need time because society and the psychological profile of younger people is not an easy one.
“I want to be proud of my players, it does not matter the result. And during my career I was proud of my players many times after defeats. I was not proud last Thursday or at the Emirates.
“For me, more than thinking about what position we are going to finish, whether we are going to win the [Carabao Cup] Final, is to try to develop this spirt that we need. But I cannot do it alone. I have to do it with my club. I have to do it with my players in the dressing room. But tonight I am really happy with what they did.”
For Spurs, then, the message is simple – give Mourinho more control, or start again.
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