Nicely arrogant or out of touch... will the real Jose please stand up?
THIS week, only another tweet from Wagatha Christie herself could have stopped me writing about Jose Mourinho. Tottenham Hotspur named him as their new manager before Mauricio Pochettino’s taxi had even reached the corner of Seven Sisters Road, and the immediate response from some fans and pundits made Black Friday seem like a Sunday morning stroll through the Lake District. And that’s understandable as, when it comes to dividing opinions, Jose makes Marmite look like Haagen-Dazs.
There have already been a billion words written but, to me, the only question that matters is… which Mourinho are Spurs going get?
Will it be the modern instalment – a manager who has looked somewhat dated tactically and out of touch in his handling of the modern-day player.
Or will they get Jose 1.0, with a suitable level of arrogance, a smirk
Maybe Jose has taken up meditation and played the sitar. Probably not, but he has had time to reflect
that could undress a nun at 100 paces and a squad that would take a bullet for him.
In terms of taking a gamble, this one is right up there with going on a night out with Liam Gallagher. The smart money says it will end in tears, but I am not so sure.
Daniel Levy (below) and Mourinho are as odd a couple as Matthau and Lemmon, but they have obviously had the conversation and that’s why a small part of me thinks we may see a more vintage Jose.
His year out of the game is his longest gap between dugouts, ever since he first rocked up at Benfica in 2000 with a Don Johnson haircut and a dream.
Maybe he has gone on long country walks, wept openly at Titanic, taken up transcendental meditation and taught himself to play sitar. Probably not, but it was time enough to rest, recharge and rethink his recent past.
The most important factor is how Mourinho deals with his new Spurs players.
This is not a bad squad by any stretch of the imagination. It is just demotivated, distracted and deflated.
His hardest job will be creating a happy home, either through a significant churn or several arms around shoulders. It will certainly need more than a text to Harry Kane. The dynamics of top-flight dressing rooms have changed beyond recognition. It used to be that even the hottest young stars paid their dues to the senior squad members, and thought twice before knocking on the manager’s door. Those days are long gone.
The kids are now the cash cows and star players of any age know their extraordinary financial worth. Either they stay happy and you reap the rewards, or they go Awol and you face the consequences. Managers can no longer scream the odds and threaten the belt. These days they will just tell you to f*** off and call their agent. The workplace, football or not, has changed.
The world has moved on, and so must Mourinho. On the pitch, tightening up defensively and improving away form are immediate issues, but both these tasks are right up his alley.
Forget the whole 14th place in the league nonsense. He is three points behind fifth. Spurs will make the last 16 of the Champions League and he can be a hard man to beat over two legs. The ‘serial winner’ will also have a clear run at the FA Cup.
The other big issue is Jose’s media meltdowns. In his last two jobs, he has been more dangerous on the mic than Eazy E, but he needs to adopt a ‘water off a duck’s back’ mentality. His words will be picked apart and twisted because they know they can get a rise out of him. He needs to simply block it out or laugh it off, rather than rise to the bait.
So, I am genuinely not sure how it will work out but Jose is undoubtedly the master of his own destiny or the architect of his own downfall. This next chapter is actually all about him, but to succeed he needs to make it about everything and everybody else.