ImagesGetty Images; PAeventually come to them under Mourinho. He doesn’t need to
prove his qualities.
“Tottenham have a lot of tradition, but Mourinho has this power
of attracting a lot of attention, which will enable them to sell their
brand in the Asian and Middle East markets. The club will get more
money and become even more famous with Mourinho. That’s part
of the process to win big trophies. It happened to Porto, and it will
probably happen to Tottenham.”
Porto were Portuguese champions within 18 months – although
such is the high standard at the top of English football, it would be
a huge ask for Spurs to win the Premier League in 2020-21.
“This isn’t going to be the typical Mourinho, where he bursts onto
the scene, wins the Premier League twice, then leaves,” says Glen
Johnson, thinking back to their time at Chelsea. “He will have to give
Tottenham a good five years. But he’s never done it before.”
As for the Champions League, Mourinho guided the Londoners to
the last 16 with a comeback victory over Olympiakos in November,
but they take on RB Leipzig without injured talisman Harry Kane.
Although they are facing an uphill struggle to qualify for the next
edition, Carlos Alberto believes it is possible for Mourinho to win the
Champions League with Spurs at some point. “Let’s not forget that
Tottenham are the current runners-up,” says the ex-Porto striker.
“They’re not the biggest favourites to win it this season, but they’ve
already proved their strength. So, yes, there’s potential to win it, and
Mourinho is keen to show the world he can do it again.”
Specifically, Jose is keen to show that, after 10 years without any
Champions League glory, those days aren’t behind him.
“It isn’t easy to win the Champions League,” says Baia, dismissing
his former manager’s decade-long drought. “Pep Guardiola couldn’t
win it with Bayern Munich and Manchester City. PSG threw money
at it and haven’t won it. Mourinho won it for two different clubs and
that’s already impressive. For me, he’s the greatest manager ever.”
If he does win it with a third club one day, no one will be able to
dispute that view, according to Carlos Alberto. “That’s more difficult
than it is to win three times with the same club,” he insists. “It’s so
difficult to win the Champions League even once – imagine doing it
for three different clubs.”
Mourinho has imagined it for 10 long years. “Do I want to win it
for a third time? Of course,” he said before his first European game
with Spurs. El Dorado is still on his mind. The quest to return to that
magical place has come close to destroying him, just as it destroyed
Sir Walter Raleigh. Not finding the city of gold on his first expedition,
he tried for a second time 22 years later. Ignoring a ceasefire in
the Anglo-Spanish War, his men attacked a Spanish outpost on the
Orinoco, and his son was killed.
Raleigh never did find El Dorado. When he returned to England, he
was sentenced to death for violating the ceasefire. For his bosses, it
had been one battle too many.
Thankfully, the consequences of failure won’t be quite that dire for
Jose Mourinho. But if he’s ever to reach El Dorado again, there aren’t
many more battles he can afford to lose.It’s easy to be distracted by
what Mourinho stands for.
He’s been such a prominent
personality over the past
decade and a half that it’s
a challenge to separate the
provocative character from
the training-ground coach.
When he was announced
by Tottenham, many fans
were concerned by how he
might act with the media,
how he might bond with a
group of players who weren’t
his own, and what kind of
football he’d preach – and
understandably so, given the
utter debacle
at Manchester United and
the way he salted the earth
at Chelsea and Real Madrid.
But nothing matters more
than the dynamic between
employee and employer.
That is where the most
obvious mismatch appears to
be – between the methods
that Mourinho has used to
manage successfully in the
past, and how Daniel Levyhas typically run the club.
There isn’t much common
ground. Both have to make
significant compromises if
their union is to be a success.
Spurs supporters are split
on this issue. Some continue
to see Mourinho as a
guarantee of silverware and
are prepared to put aside all
other concerns in pursuit of
those elusive trophies.
Others worry. They question
whether he really offers
those same guaranteeswithout the support of an
exorbitant budget. They also
wonder if combining Levy
and Mourinho – two
intractable egos with such
contrasting perspectives on
the game – is a personality
clash that might bring out
the worst in both. Supporting
a club at war with itself is
every fan’s nightmare.
The road ahead is a pretty
long one. Qualifying for the
Champions League again
will probably depend onother sides failing. Progress
through this season’s
tournament is likely to be
hindered by a leaky defence,
ill-equipped midfield and
another long-term injury
problem to striker Harry Kane.
Nothing Mourinho does will
matter if Spurs are unable to
rebuild their squad. In Levy’s
eyes, he has now appointed
a proven winner. But that’s
not going to yield anything
tangible without a significant
change in the club’s attitude.“SPURS SUPPORTERS ARE SPLIT”
Tottenham fan and journalist Seb Stafford-Bloor assesses the chances of success under Mourinho
MORE On FOURFOURTWO.COM
- The making of Jose – translator to Special One (by Andy Mitten)
- How Mourinho changed the way I watch football (by Clive Martin)
- Quiz! Can you name the last 20 European Cup-winning managers?
Above Striding out
at Bayern’s Allianz
Arena during his
time at TottenhamJOSE
MOURInHO