ALL OR NOTHING
What was said in Tottenham Hotspur documentary
Much has been made of Amazon Prime Sport’s latest fly-on-the-wall documentary – All or Nothing: Spurs. The North London side have followed in the footsteps of English Premier League rivals Manchester City, who were featured in the previous series, which documented their record-breaking 2017-18 season under Pep Guardiola. Since the first series in 2016 – All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals – other teams across various sports include fellow NFL franchises the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams, New Zealand’s All Blacks and the Brazilian national football team. The focus on this series is mostly Jose Mourinho, after he replaces Mauricio Pochettino, and Chairman Daniel Levy, who has overseen Spurs’ new stadium and academy. There are focuses on individual players and much is made of the club’s work in the community, which stretches to the first team. There is also plenty of football.
How much any of these series really pull back the curtain is open to debate. The club are clearly given some creative control in return for access to every facet of their organization so it is hard to believe that Amazon hold all the cards. Nonetheless, we are not getting a chance to go into the Spurs training ground and dressing room any other way – and we get to see more than we ordinarily would.
So what were the best quotes from the now concluded nine-part series?
“But, for 90 minutes, for 90 minutes, you cannot be nice. For 90 minutes, we have to be a bunch of c***s. Intelligent c***s, not stupid c***s.” – Jose Mourinho tells the players in no uncertain terms that he wants them to develop a nasty streak in order to win.
“I’m not a guy who likes to fight or shout back, on the pitch I am the guy who wants to work and who wants to win everything… in football we are more than family… I think it’s normal” – South Korean superstar Son Heungmin in the aftermath of a bust-up with captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in a game with Everton during Operation Restart. Spurs won the game and both players made up.
“I made beans for the first time the other day. Baked beans.” – Dele Alli comes out of lockdown proud of his recently acquired culinary skills.
“Right, top three chocolate bars.” – Alli again, asking a physio to name his ideal snacks. “Dime, Drifter and Crunchie” – to which Alli takes a strong stance on coconut. “If anyone puts Bounty in their top three I’m never speaking to you again!” he says.
“How the f**k did we lose that? It’s the f**king same every single game. They are the worst goals I have ever seen. Same problem.” – Alli after a loss, that kicks off an argument with his teammate and friend Eric Dier. “Del, why do you keep on saying these comments?” Dier says. Alli says, “Because nothing changes,” to which Dier responds, “Well put a name on them, yeah?” Alli claims he could name the
“whole
f**king team” as at fault. “Do you speak good English? I am afraid of you as a marker, because you are capable of giving a shit penalty with VAR. I’m telling you already, I am afraid of you.” – Mourinho to the multilingual Serge Aurier ahead of one of his first games as Spurs boss – a must-win UEFA Champions League game. The motivational methods of the Portuguese coach are the focus of most of the series after his arrival at the club to replace Pochettino.
“Everybody says my name wrong. Everybody calls me Jose. I’m not Jose. I’m Jose.” – while learning how to properly say the names of his new charges in his very first training session, Mourinho turns it on its head to tell them how to say his name properly, probably after years of it being pronounced the Spanish way by Britain’s media. We later see the coach ask Kyle Walker-Peters if he prefers to be called Walker or Peters to which the young fullback replied “Both.” It is purely coincidental that he was later loaned to Southampton, a move which became permanent this summer.
“Where’s Dele? I understood already that you are a f**king lazy guy in training.” – Mourinho singles out Dele Alli in front of the rest of the squad after spotting that he is not the most committed trainer. The boss spends much of his time talking to the player telling him “I’m going to be a pain in the ass on you. And you are lucky,” and also “Yesterday I was 20. Today I’m 56.” His efforts are rewarded as Alli goes on a run of goals and assists.
“By being with me, I can help you to explode.” – Mourinho has a private meeting with captain Harry Kane where he tells the England striker he can make him go up a level or two.
“What I don’t accept, because it is my nature, to be here and win nothing, but I feel that we can because of you. You have better players than I had at Manchester United. The club has a lot [of potential] to explode.” – Mourinho, talking to Kane, says Spurs should be doing better than his last club, where he still won a Europa League, League Cup and finished second in the English Premier League.
“Too much time in places I don’t belong. I don’t belong in the box or in the stands or even the sofa in my own home. I belong to the game. I was empty. I needed my place.” – Mourinho reflects on his time out of football after being sacked by Manchester
United.