The_Times__6_March_2020

the times | Friday March 6 2020 2GM 71

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Police to speak to player, brother and fan

with the player and I understand the

player.”

He also suggested the supporter was

not necessarily a true fan based on his

belief that he was sitting in a corporate

area. “The people that are in these priv-

ileged positions by the tunnel, of course

some are Tottenham fans,” he said. “But

I think a lot of corporate, a lot of

invitation, a lot of people with special

status and probably it’s the place of the

stadium where I sometimes have

doubts over if they are the real Totten-

ham fans — the ones who support the

boys until the last.”

Meanwhile Burnley manager Sean

Dyche, whose side take on Spurs at Turf

Moor tomorrow, has revealed that on

two occasions this season he has

reacted when he felt individuals were

going too far with their abuse from the

stands. Dyche admitted yesterday that

he had some sympathy with Dier and

said there had been instances in recent

months when he had politely but firmly

called on a male supporter of an oppos-

ing team to tone down his insults. “You

manage a group of people but they are

people and everyone has a moment

when enough is enough,” Dyche said. “I

don’t know the details but if you think

logically for a player to feel the need or

urge to do that then it must have been

something serious.

“Twice this season I have thought it

was too much and I have said to the

person, not using any expletives, ‘That

is enough now.’ ”

Stand, but the friend insists there was

no physical element to the altercation.

On Wednesday night, Mourinho

accepted that Dier had gone beyond

what is acceptable as a professional

player, even though he said he would

not support disciplinary action from

the club.

“I think Eric Dier did something that

we professionals cannot do but in these

circumstances every one of us would

do,” Mourinho said. “Because when

somebody insults you and your family

is there and you get involved with the

person that is insulting you, in this case

a younger brother, I think Eric did what

we professionals cannot do. But I am

continued from back

Mourinho has discovered the job

is much harder than anticipated

E

ric Dier always looks, at the

end of a game, to the

members of his family in the

stands. It is heartening that

the England midfielder

would seek them out even after

defeat. On Wednesday he probably

expected to issue an apologetic shrug

or spot a thumbs-up for at least

performing well despite Tottenham

Hotspur having been knocked out of

the FA Cup by Norwich City.

Sadly Dier, 26, saw his younger

brother in an altercation with a

supporter and charged into the stands

to help him out. As José Mourinho

pointed out, this was unprofessional

but entirely understandable. In fact,

the Spurs head coach navigated this

startling incident perfectly. He elicited

sympathy for his player without

seeming to condone his actions.

Mourinho is keen to create a squad

that feels like a family and such an

incident and his reaction to it will

help to foster that impression.

Mourinho said the incident should

not detract from a “fantastic” FA Cup

tie. He failed to add it should not

detract from the failings of his team.

This was a horrendous result for

Spurs, a big blow for their head coach.

Those supporters saddened or baffled

by the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino

could at least puff out their cheeks in

a spasm of pragmatism knowing that

Mourinho has the knack of winning

silverware. Now their best chance of a

trophy has gone. The worst part is

that Spurs let it slip through their

fingers. They held the lead but never

built on it, they created chances in a

spurt of energy in extra time but

naively squandered them. When it

came to the penalty shoot-out they

were out-thought, outpsyched,

outmanoeuvred.

“We have other things to play for,”

Jan Vertonghen said after the defeat.

“We still have the top four or five. We

game’s tolerance of abuse

Fracas should not distract

us from Mourinho’s failings

still have everything to play for in the

Champions League, and we feel that

we can turn it around.”

Of course it is not implausible that

Spurs can come back from their 1-0

defeat at home to RB Leipzig and it is

not ridiculous to suggest that they

can climb above Wolverhampton

Wanderers and Manchester United to

challenge Chelsea in fourth place in

the Premier League but, as

Vertonghen points out, “the form is

not there”. If Tottenham cannot

impose themselves at home against

the side at the foot of the table, it is

hard to see where the good form will

come from.

Mourinho is perhaps the most

pigeonholed manager in the business.

He is known for his ruthlessness,

pragmatism, short-termism, single-

mindedness, disregard for aesthetics,

refusal to promote youth and love of

reaching finals. He is not big on

finesse or cuddles. He inherited a

team with two of the finest and most

reliable forwards in the land and

he would have

backed himself to

make sure a side

with Harry Kane

and Son Heung-

min would win

something. I would

hazard a guess that he

considered it faintly

ludicrous they had not done

so already. All that was

needed was resolve and self-

belief.

Unfortunately Tottenham

have less self-confidence

than they did in the final

weeks of Pochettino’s reign.

Mourinho must feel like the

headteacher brought in to a

posh but failing school

knowing that a few hard-hitting

PowerPoint presentations in

assembly would improve exam

results only to find that his best

maths and science teachers were

about to emigrate.

The job is much more

complicated than he ever

imagined and it seems to be

beyond him. With each passing game

his defence changes shape and

identity. Vertonghen and Toby

Alderweireld were dropped for the

game against Wolves with Dier

coming in at the heart of a back three.

It was a back three because Wolves

played with a back three. Against

Chelsea, Mourinho went for a back

three because that is what he had

heard Frank Lampard would do.

Norwich play a back four, so Spurs

mirrored that formation. All three

games were lost and in all three

games there was hesitancy at the

back because with each passing

match, Spurs do not evolve, they shift

and squirm.

You can argue it would be unfair to

blame Mourinho for defeat in a

penalty shoot-out and yet its progress

epitomised the nervousness at the

club. Norwich’s first spot kick was

saved but the home side failed to

punish them. Tim Krul wandered

around his goal, peering at the bottle

that reminded him how to

address each penalty-taker, and

Mourinho’s team were visibly

undermined.

Why would Mourinho

allow Troy Parrott to take

a penalty having informed

us the teenager needed

more nurturing before he

could be considered a

deputy for Kane?

Parrott came on in

extra time and the fans

were pleased to see

him, though he

looked off the pace.

To have scored in the

shoot-out would have

been more than a

crowd-pleaser but

Mourinho had created a

self-fulfilling prophecy:

the doubted player will

doubt himself.

Norwich have problems

but they squeezed through

to the quarter-finals thanks

to their identity and

boundless optimism.

Mourinho and Spurs are

being strangled by their

inability to find even one of

those attributes.

Alyson Rudd

Feature Writer

of the Year

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC/GETTY IMAGES

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