Jose Mourinho is the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur after the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino on Tuesday.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea boss has signed a contract which will run to the 2022-23 season, a deal that has reportedly made him the second highest paid manager in the Premier League behind Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.
With Tottenham languishing in 14th place in the league, on their worst run since the 2000-2001 season and without a single away win in 2019, Daniel Levy made the decision to relieve Mauricio Pochettino of his duties. The news has received some mixed reactions with many questioning the timing of the decision. However, it is one Levy felt was needed as “regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing.”
In comes Jose Mourinho, and one many hope will have been refreshed and reinvigorated from his year out of a job after his sacking by Manchester United in December. There are many problems on the agenda for Mourinho to address but one which seems more significant than most is re-igniting the fire and desire back in players which Mourinho stated ‘excites him’.
The Portuguese coach is well known for his previous fall outs with high profile players and Daniel Levy is certainly taking a risk in appointing Mourinho, but what cannot be denied about the former Chelsea coach is that he offers a winning culture and and a siege mentality, it’s either his way or the high-way and a direction which will certainly spur on some of the players in the dressing room but which of them could benefit most from Jose Mourinho’s appointment?
ERIC DIER?
A long term target for Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. Eric Dier has endured a difficult year in North London and has somewhat been on the fringes of the squad because of various injuries and illness. Although, he did start Pochettino’s last game in charge at home to Sheffield United before the international break, it is clear that Eric Dier needs a career injection and some fresh confidence and Jose Mourinho could provide him that.
With Euro 2020 fast approaching, Eric Dier currently finds himself out of Gareth Southgate’s plans for England and will be looking to force himself back into the managers thinking as the season progresses.
Dier’s career has faded over the past year. After appearing to be on cusp of embarking on a bright career in his first few seasons under Pochettino, it is the recurring injuries and form that has seen him drop down the pecking order. However, with the midfielder now seemingly fit and Mourinho reportedly a keen admirer of the player, there is no reason why Dier can become a key figure for Tottenham once again as Mourinho plans to reshape the squad. Mourinho requires his players to run through brick walls for him and give it their all, Eric Dier certainly falls in that category.
Whether Mourinho utilities him as a centre-back or a defensive midfielder is another matter entirely, but his potential re-emergence under the former Manchester United manager could become the catalyst for a career revival.
DELE ALLI?
How Mourinho plans to rejuvenate Dele Alli will be one of his biggest tests as Tottenham manager. It has become abundantly clear that Alli is a shadow of the player he was couple seasons ago. The former MK Dons midfielder has only scored twice in the whole of 2019, a true reflection of the kind of form Tottenham have embarked on in this calendar year. Gone are those days when Alli used to be the forefront and the face of Pochettino’s new Spurs, he was a player with charisma, confidence and an aura that so effortlessly ran riot along with Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen to become one of the most feared attacking trio the club had ever experienced.
It’s as though Alli has become a victim of his early success. Once one of Gareth Southgate’s most trusted attacking lieutenants a year ago, he now finds himself out of the international picture with James Maddison and Mason Mount deservedly emerging as two of England’s brightest attacking midfielders. As it stands, it is incredibly difficult to see Alli regaining his spot in Southgate’s plans. Whether his poor form is as a result of a burnout from the World Cup last year, or just a lack of confidence, there is some major work to be done for him to recapture the form that made him one of the best young midfielders around. Still only 23, time is on Alli’s side. It will be a huge task for Mourinho but one the Portuguese will relish in.
Mourinho loves getting the best out his high calibre midfielders and Alli is no different. Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, Wesley Sneijder and Mesut Ozil have flourished under his leadership in the past. Maybe the Portuguese tactician could inject the swagger back into Alli’s play. Mourinho’s sudden appointment may have just come at the perfect time for him.
TANGUY NDOMBELE?
Former Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele could ultimately be the pick of the bunch under Jose Mourinho. Ndombele is arguably the most gifted midfielder in the whole Tottenham squad and may just be the player to benefit most out of Mourinho’s pragmatic style of play. The French international simply holds all the ingredients needed to become one of the best in his position and hugely versatile also. He can pick a pass, quick on his feet, he can tackle and is hugely influential in both the defensive and attacking phases of play.
Ndombele has only shown a little of his capabilities in a Tottenham shirt under Pochettino, struggling for confidence and form whilst being in an out of the starting XI. However, the current climate at Spurs may be the chance for a fresh start. Mourinho is a huge advocate of box-to-box midfielders and Ndombele is more than capable in fulfilling the roles that Mourinho may demand of him.
The Portuguese coach seeks to win matches in transition which means his teams are hard to break down and also possess a player who is well-versed in breaking up attacking play and quickly shifting the ball from defence into attack in an instant. Not only that, but can also consummately dribble the through pressing systems which instigates swift attacking patterns in the final third. Tanguy Ndombele can give Mourinho those traits in abundance. If deployed next to Eric Dier or Harry Winks in the middle pivot within a 4-2-3-1 system, it will provide Mourinho with the perfect balance in the middle with Dier/Winks sitting as the holding force – a reincarnation of Claude Makelele – and building from the back. Ndombele will surely be tasked with doing much of the running, carrying the ball from midfield to attack with his sheer power and dribbling abilities.
Mourinho loves his midfield powerhouses, Ndombele could provide the perfect tonic.
SERGE AURIER?
Ivory Coast international Serge Aurier has proven a controversial figure for much of his career and there has been no shortage of the needless drama during his Tottenham career too. If Pochettino may have been lenient to his antics, Aurier is about to be under the tutelage of a manager with a similar controversial pedigree, but with a reputation for a no nonsense approach. The right-back can choose to tame his ego and embrace his new manager or choose the highway. If he opts for the former, Mourinho could potentially have a totally different animal on his hands. Despite his nature, Aurier’s footballing abilities can become a real weapon if Mourinho manages to get the best out of him. His attacking qualities are unmatched, the marauding runs down the right and his perfectly whipped and weighted crosses have already been showcased in North London but its in his discipline and defending that so often lets him down.
Regularly considered one of the best defensive coaches to grace the game, Mourinho will certainly iron out Aurier’s defensive lapses in concentration and transform him into the kind of player Tottenham dreamt of when they signed him from Paris Saint-Germain over just over two years ago.
Aurier has long been considered a right-back with massive potential, maybe its time he finally fulfills that promise under one of the best managers around.
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