The downfall of Jose Mourinho at Manchester United could be traced back to a tetchy press conference following his former side’s defeat to Sevilla at Old Trafford in the Champions League.
Mourinho moaned and made excuses and suggested that some of the players in the Spanish outfit would walk into his Manchester United side.
The Red Devils finished second in the Premier League behind a vastly superior Manchester City side and lost in the FA Cup final to Chelsea at Wembley.
The following summer, Jose Mourinho didn’t get what he wanted in the market and it was only a matter of time before it went into flames for him at Manchester United.
But that press conference sowed the seeds for fan discontentment towards him and disconnect between him and the players.
Jose Mourinho’s appointment as manager at Tottenham Hotspur was a shock to many in the game. His style of management and his footballing ethos was a massive departure from Mauricio Pochettino, his predecessor at the north London club.
The Argentine has remained a popular figure amongst the Spurs fanbase and his stock has only risen in the last few months, which is not good news if you are Mourinho.
The Portuguese made all the right noises upon joining Tottenham and was all praise for Pochettino.
But the style of football has been uninspiring, his handling of club-record signing Tanguy Ndombele has again put forward questions about his ability to manage modern footballers and he has looked tetchy in front of the press in the face of apparent or perceived slights.
Tottenham need stability, but at the moment, the prospect of no European football and a manager who is known for his combustible tendencies is something the club do not want.
The sight of Hugo Lloris and Heung-Min Son almost coming to blows on the pitch was not pretty no matter how generously Mourinho wanted to paint that picture to the media. Is it a sign of a healthy dressing room?
Can Jose Mourinho turn it around at Tottenham? He remains a managerial great but there is a feeling modern football has passed him.
Is Jose Mourinho in the endgame at Tottenham?
No matter where Tottenham finish at the end of the season, Jose Mourinho is likely to get the next transfer window to reshape his squad. But how much money will he get to spend?
The pandemic has cut into football finances of major clubs and Tottenham’s decision to furlough their staff when the season was suspended showed that the budget is tight at the club.
The north London club have taken out loans to the tune of more than £637m to build their new stadium.
But now there will be no fans at their modern stadium for some time and the two NFL games they are scheduled to host this year is also likely to happy in the United States.
The matchday income that Tottenham were expecting has come to a halt due to no fault of the club but that’s the difficult financial reality they are set to face.
The north London club have never been big spenders in the market and club chairman, Daniel Levy is known for his parsimonious ways.
The pandemic is set to further reduce the budget the club will earmark for new players.
There are already reports that Mourinho is likely to have nothing to spend in the market and the club will only target free agents in the market.
Jose Mourinho is not a fan of reduced budgets and throughout his career, he has had significant money to spend at his clubs. He spent big at Chelsea, had massive funds at Real Madrid and was backed significantly by Manchester United in his first two summer transfer windows.
Whether he will be able to adjust to the new financial reality at Tottenham will go a long way in deciding how his time at the north London club shapes up and the future doesn’t look great.
Mourinho’s history suggests that a fall-out with the squad or chairman Levy is inevitable once he grows frustrated of the constraints at Tottenham.
The internal bickering, the sniping at players in press conferences (he has already talked Ndombele down in public) and the generally grim mood in and around the club are the harbingers of an eventual Mourinho sacking.
The feeling is that it is not if but when Jose Mourinho receives the P45 at Tottenham. But can he buck the trend? I would suggest, do not hold your breath for it!
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