Absolutely Poch was about mentality too. But Poch was working with some of our key players when they were younger. Arguably, Poch was instilling the No Fear, We Can Win This, mentality in the likes of Kane and Sonny for the first time. Even Verts, Eriksen and Toby who had been used to winning at Ajax grew into that We Can Beat Anybody mentality under Poch, in large part because of what was, at our best, a breathtaking high press and high defensive line. And of course we won. Mentality is useless if you're losing every week.
I continue to believe that Poch had invested so much emotionally into the Champions League final that when we failed to win that match, he was burnt out. He had literally lost his MoJo. The purchase of GLC, Ndombele and Sessegnon was a chance to reboot, but unfortunately due to pre-season injuries & lack of match fitness Poch never saw any of them on the pitch in a meaningful way.
Enter Mourinho. He inherited a group of players who were nearly winners, but who also seemed tired and jaded, and increasingly unwilling or unable to deliver Poch's intense tactics. Some of that group have left, eg Verts and Eriksen, and others will, eg Rose.
But I think our squad needed a new voice and a new challenge to instill fresh belief into them, to start a new cycle.
To bang on again, Makelele's quotes about that chavski dressing room are crystal clear. Much as it pains me to say, Terry, Lampard, Gudjohnsen and Gallas were all good players, but Makelele credits Mourinho with turning them from talented footballers into winning footballers.
As a Spurs fan, and like you, I love great football, with flair, technical brilliance, breathtaking skill. But I've seen some thrilling moments from Ndombele, Kane, Sonny and GLC in recent weeks, and we attacked down both flanks with our FBs against manure. If Mourinho can continue to make us more solid defensively, whilst channeling that flair to help us pounce, and win games, then that's good for me.
I believe the group of players we have at Spurs can be stronger mentally than the group he had at manure. And I believe they're as good, and in many cases better, than that squad.
And whilst some of our performances at the end of last season bored me to tears, I remind myself that Mourinho has used creative midfield playmakers in his best teams. I give you Deco at Porto, Sneijder at Inter, Ozil and Modric at Real, and he wanted Pogba to be this player at manure. Right now, it looks like Mourinho is working out ways to use GLC and Ndombele to provide that creativity for us.
So, I'll take Mourinho on his own terms, and wait to see whether his methods still work. Always remembering Eva Carneiro and Tito Vilanova.
Last edited:
