‘We have to do what is right for the club,’ chairman Daniel Levy said, reflecting on Mauricio Pochettino’s November sacking and Jose Mourinho’s appointment, in a trailer released on Friday for the eagerly anticipated All Or Nothing Amazon series covering Tottenham’s rollercoaster and eventful 2019-20 season.
‘And only time will tell if it’s the right decision.’ Some of a Spurs persuasion fear they may already know the answer.
Just over a year ago Tottenham produced arguably their greatest performance under Pochettino to reach the Champions League final.
Jose Mourinho takes Tottenham training on Friday, just hours after a disappointing draw
In a teaser of Amazon’s new documentary, Daniel Levy says ‘time will tell’ is Jose is right man
Staring defeat and a heart-breaking semi-final exit in the face, Pochettino inspired a miracle comeback to rival all comebacks away at Ajax, from 3-0 down on aggregate to 3-3 and through on away goals.
Pochettino could not contain his emotions, shedding tears of joy which further endeared him to fans… if that was even possible.
Harry Kane, still injured at the time, blocked out any pain he might have been feeling to join the full-time players’ pileup after hat-trick hero Lucas Moura’s dramatic late tie-winner.
Spurs fans everywhere celebrated in sheer disbelief. It was an unbelievable, goosebumps type of night, one where Spurs’ team, manager and fans were all united.
Since arriving in 2014 Pochettino had given fans a squad and club to believe in, be proud of and enjoy watching culminating in the visit to the Johan Cruyff Arena that they will never, ever forget.
How things have changed. With Pochettino gone and Mourinho now in his place it is almost impossible to imagine the current side producing such a stirring display of intense, shackles off, risk-taking, never-say-die football as they did in Holland. Meanwhile, there is not much for the supporters to like about what they are seeing right now.
Tottenham fans will reflect fondly on Mauricio Pochettino and their night away at Ajax in 2019
Pochettino had given fans a squad and club to believe in at Spurs before he was sacked
Cracks had begun to appear in Spurs’ form as their historic Champions League run increasingly began to dominate their finish to last season.
The hangover of losing to Liverpool in the final also continued into this season, resulting in Pochettino’s departure.
But rather than revive Spurs’ fortunes Mourinho appears to have sucked the life out of them.
This week has brought a four-point haul which has papered over the cracks of two morale-sapping, painful-to-watch performances.
The lacklustre 1-0 win against Everton came via an own-goal and featured just two Spurs shots on target.
Mourinho has sucked the life out of the club and there doesn’t appear to be a clear vision
Eric Dier (second left) watches Mourinho’s arrival with shock in the Tottenham canteen
‘You’d almost rather lose than win playing like that,’ one source said this week. They then failed to have a single shot on target in their goalless draw against third-bottom Bournemouth on Thursday.
A Bournemouth side with the third-worst defensive record in the league. The last team to not have a shot on target against them were Middlesbrough in the Championship in 2015.
Kane saw more of the ball defending set-pieces in his own box than posing a threat in Bournemouth’s, so starved was he of service.
It has not taken long for the doubts to start creeping in about Mourinho at Spurs and much sooner than his third season, which was previously the one when things started to go wrong.
Those concerns were initially there from day one when his appointment seemed one that was a strange fit for both him and the club.
There are already plenty of doubts about ex-United boss Mourinho’s suitability at Tottenham
The likes of Ryan Sessegnon (left) and Tanguy Ndombele have suffered under his management
At his unveiling, Mourinho insisted his outlook had changed after almost a year out of football but he also said ‘you never lose your DNA, you never lose your identity.’ That should have been a warning.
The reactive rather than proactive, joyless, safety-first football that appears to lack an attacking plan has followed him from Old Trafford to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
There are also similar concerns about his devaluing of the club’s assets through his treatment of them. At Spurs, those players have been Tanguy Ndombele and Ryan Sessegnon.
In Mourinho’s defence, he explained in detail, and with some justification, before football’s suspension how injuries from day one wrecked the tactical plans he had.
Spurs were 3-1 up at West Ham when Ben Davies got injured, triggering a domino effect which continued into football’s shutdown with Kane, Son Heung-min, Moussa Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn all suffering too.
Though it could be argued his resources have been as good as restored since the restart and there has been no major improvement.
Decisions have gone against Spurs, including a push on Kane away at Bournemouth this week
It may not take long before Levy realises that Mourinho was not the right man for the job
Key calls at crucial times have gone against Spurs too.
Kane’s goal at Sheffield United being ruled out and then not getting a clear penalty when he was pushed in the back early on by Josh King at Bournemouth were deflating, potentially match-changing decisions.
Their eventual failure to break Bournemouth down has left them ninth and with an uphill task to get European football next season.
With no Mourinho clear vision to yet buy into with any confidence and minimal money available post-Covid-19 to revitalise the team these are already concerning times for Spurs.
It might also not take too much more time before Levy discovers the answer to whether he did indeed make the right call for the club.