In an unexpected flurry of midweek drama, Jose Mourinho was instated as the new Tottenham Hotspur manager only 11 hours after Mauricio Pochettino was sacked. He arrived back in England with a disputed legacy. Some remember him as a serial winner who has won titles in four different countries, others remember the frustrated and often helpless figure who was sacked by Manchester United. One thing is guaranteed, Mourinho’s return to English football will bring plenty of press conference theatrics, sometimes in the form of mind games, at other times in the form of naked insults. Mourinho to Tottenham is the kind of move that previously happened only on the pages of fantastical, dystopian football novels written about an era when the sport has become a pharmaceutical arms race and the Premier League has been replaced by an all-encompassing European Super League. The latter may be an eventuality closer to the present than we think; in the case of Mourinho’s move to north London, the future is now. Even 24 hours on, it still feels like a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. Some Tottenham fans even spent Wednesday morning trying to convince themselves that the club’s manager had been sacked. But in fact the deal had been done long before the supporters even got a sniff. On the surface of it, this is a wrong-headed decision; Tottenham had become a regular in the Champions League and a European finalist under Mauricio Pochettino with a team founded on the principles of youth development, home-grown talent, canny spending and attractive passing football. Mourinho flies in the face of all of that. It is a complete change of direction.
The big decisions Tottenham got wrong that led to Pochettino’s firing and the start of the Mourinho era But maybe that is no accident, and rather than a U-turn it is a gear change. It is not easy, in modern football, to move a team between tiers. Breaking into the top six remains, even with Spurs and Manchester United floundering, an impossible dream for others in the division and Liverpool and Man City now seem in a league of their own within that. So imagine taking Tottenham, so long aiming for a single-digit finishing position with a high watermark of fourth in a very good year, into the top echelon inhabited by the super-rich and long-established, and all Mourinho on West Ham, his opponents on Saturday: It’s very difficult to play a football match where only one team wants to play, very difficult…This is not the best league in the world, this is football from the 19th Century. The only thing I could bring was a Black and Decker (tool) to destroy the wall.” – January 2014, after Chelsea side drew 0-0 with Sam Allardyce’s West Ham on a shoestring budget. For a while, Robin Poch and his plucky band of merry men took from the rich and gave to the poor, but it could not go on. Reality, dressed as the Sheriff of Nottingham, eventually caught up with them. (This metaphor has already gone on too long.) Pochettino could not, for many reasons, the details of which will doubtless sell many books in the coming months, sustain his offensive. No matter how hard he tried, he could not turn the team into something it was not. Daniel Levy has never been shy to sack a manager. His axe may have grown rusty over the Argentine’s fiveyear tenure but he has not forgotten how to swing it – before Pochettino’s arrival, five men had led the team in six years.
And this appointment tells us much about the direction Tottenham are moving in: decidedly upwards. For all of his efforts and a glorious run to the Champions League final, Levy clearly does not think Pochettino is the man to take Tottenham to the top tier, where only Man City and Liverpool now reside in England, having given him ample opportunity and this summer a hefty amount of money with which to do so. Mourinho can. He may not be as well-loved as Pochettino or have the will of north London behind him – yet – but his appointment sends a message to the world that they are part of the global elite. This is not a club whose fleeting moment in the sun has come and gone, whose hipsters will abandon them for the next fashionable club who comes along. The Portuguese manager’s history, his prestige and his global profile – he is the most recognisable boss in the world – make him a perfect candidate. The move for Mourinho is just the latest step after the club-record transfer, the billion-pound stadium, the state-of-the-art training ground and the strong links to the American market through the NFL. Even Mourinho, in his first interview as Tottenham manager, was clearly briefed well. “When you say beautiful stadium you are too humble,” Mourinho said. “You have to say the best stadium in the world. I think that is the reality. “The training ground is second to none. It probably can only be compared with some American football training grounds.” Spur’s fans will hate to hear it, but Mourinho is just another building block in Project Brand Tottenham. He may not last long. Traditionally, the wheels come off Mourinho’s teams after two years and he is gone in his third season. He is such a seismic change from the previous regime that it may be an even shorter tenure. But it is a further signal of intent as to the direction this club is going. There is a very exclusive party going on at the top of world football and Spurs believe Mourinho is the man who can talk them past the bouncer. Here are some of his best and most relevant quotes from his career so far:
On his new club Tottenham:
“I could not take the job because I love Chelsea supporters too much. I’m Chelsea.” – March 2015, when asked about Tottenham trying to hire him in 2007. “It looks like probably now some of the boys are not so happy to stay. They have their eyes in bigger pictures…looking to the possibility to play for Real Madrid, for Barcelona. Maybe in this moment the team is not that focused family full of chemistry.” – September 2019, when working as a Sky Sports pundit.
Mourinho on Pep Guardiola:
“When you enjoy what you do, you don’t lose your hair, and Guardiola is bald. He doesn’t enjoy football.” – September 2014, after the pair clashed about their preferred length of grass on a football field. “I hope one day Guardiola has the chance of winning a brilliant, clean championship with no scandal.” – April 2011, before Mourinho’s Real Madrid faced Guardiola’s Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final, a tournament which Barcelona eventually won. “Every time I play Pep [Guardiola] I end up with 10 men. It must be some sort of UEFA rule.” – August 2013, after Mourinho’s Chelsea lost to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup
the face of all of that. It is a complete change of direction.
The big decisions Tottenham got wrong that led to Pochettino’s firing and the start of the Mourinho era But maybe that is no accident, and rather than a U-turn it is a gear change. It is not easy, in modern football, to move a team between tiers. Breaking into the top six remains, even with Spurs and Manchester United floundering, an impossible dream for others in the division and Liverpool and Man City now seem in a league of their own within that. So imagine taking Tottenham, so long aiming for a single-digit finishing position with a high watermark of fourth in a very good year, into the top echelon inhabited by the super-rich and long-established, and all
Mourinho on West Ham, his opponents on Saturday:
It’s very difficult to play a football match where only one team wants to play, very difficult…This is not the best league in the world, this is football from the 19th Century. The only thing I could bring was a Black and Decker (tool) to destroy the wall.” – January 2014, after Chelsea side drew 0-0 with Sam Allardyce’s West Ham
on a shoestring budget. For a while, Robin Poch and his plucky band of merry men took from the rich and gave to the poor, but it could not go on. Reality, dressed as the Sheriff of Nottingham, eventually caught up with them. (This metaphor has already gone on too long.) Pochettino could not, for many reasons, the details of which will doubtless sell many books in the coming months, sustain his offensive. No matter how hard he tried, he could not turn the team into something it was not. Daniel Levy has never been shy to sack a manager. His axe may have grown rusty over the Argentine’s fiveyear tenure but he has not forgotten how to swing it – before Pochettino’s arrival, five men had led the team in six years.
Mourinho on himself and God:
“Please do not call me arrogant because what I say is true. I’m European champion. I’m not one out of the bottle, I think I’m a special one.” – June 2004, after being unveiled as the new Chelsea manager – arguably his most famous line. “We have top players and, sorry if I’m arrogant, we have a top manager.” – June 2004, also after being unveiled as Chelsea manager. “If I wanted to have an easy job…I would have stayed at Porto – beautiful blue chair, the UEFA Champions League trophy, God, and after God, me.” – July 2004, Jose reveals he’s only second to God in Porto
Mourinho on respect:
“(Holding three fingers up) 3-0, 3-0. Do you know what this is? 3-0. But it also means three Premierships and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me and two for them two. So respect man, respect, respect, respect.” – August 2018, Mourinho’s moments before storming out of a press conference after his Manchester Unite side were beaten 3-0 by Tottenham.
