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He’s announced himself previously as the special one or the happy one, and although he hasn’t explicitly stated it, Jose Mourinho seemingly presented himself now as the humble one.
At his unveiling as Tottenham Hotspur’s new head coach, he showed a humble streak which had been absent during his tenure at Manchester United.
He also spoke of vowing not to make the same mistakes in his new post in North London, and radiated a noticeably more vibrant and reinvigorated aura than the gloomy and capricious cloud that characterised much of his spell at Old Trafford.
Many believe the former Chelsea and Man Utd manager will eventually revert to type as his pugnacity and tendency to cultivate a siege mentality more often than not erodes into untenable relationships with players and owners, while the football manifests itself on the field with the same decay and decline.
It happened in in 2015 at Chelsea and more recently with Manchester United in 2018, where both times it was in December where the Portuguese tactician was relieved of his duties.
However, the December of 2019, brings with it renewed optimism that the ‘humble one’ seeks to adapt and reinvent himself after a period of self reflection and the realisation that the game is in danger of passing him by at the top of table of European football.
Jose Mourinho. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
The manner in which Spurs have reignited their season has been thrilling so far, from the first half demolition of West Ham, the total destruction of Burnley and to the dramatic late act against Wolves all a glimpse into the world of Jose Mourinho’s most vintage teams- tough, uncompromising and winners.
Mourinho has spoken about continuing the work of Mauricio Pochettino as he looks to convert Spurs from nearly men to winners of titles and silverware.
Pochettino did an outstanding job in defying a historical reputation of softness and Spurs-iness that has plagued the club for decades. He turned the club into a reputable force of class and substance in recent years in the English game and on the continent.
However, while that is a major step in the evolution of Tottenham’s transformation into one of Europe’s emerging powers, the step that makes all the difference and leaves the most defining of memories is to win trophies.
Successive top-four finishes and various cup runs and a Champion’s League final appearance are achievements worthy of praise. They are significant in a historical sense for their relative progress, but ask a Manchester City or a Liverpool or even a Chelsea or Manchester United fan, and they will tell you that progress comes in the way of trophies.
(Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
For many years, you could speculate on anything that has come out of Jose Mourinho’s mouth and claimed it be disingenuous or agenda setting. It could be deemed as downright facetious or borderline lying, but when he says that ‘working with these players is what has attracted me’ in reference to the Tottenham squad, there is absolutely no surprise.
Mourinho has a central defensive partnership in Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld that has been the most impressive over the last five seasons and a world-class number 9 in Harry Kane who not only scores goals but is the fulcrum of the attack.
In Son Heung Min and Lucas Moura, he has two tactically versatile players born for the counter attack and in Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, a pair of bona-fide match winners capable of getting into the box and getting goals.
More pertinently for Mourinho, he has a plethora of John Obi Mikel-like types such as Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama, Moussa Sissoko and Tanguy Ndombele to provide the physical presence and tactical discipline to wrestle a game away from opponents through spoiling tactics.
This is a team made for Mourinho’s football and a team craving Mourinho’s tactical and organisational prowess to elevate Tottenham to the next level to truly challenge for major honours.
The way in which Dele Alli has been masterfully recovered through a shrewd piece of man management to resemble precisely both the barnstorming and balletic number 10 that so gracefully attacks the box at his very 2016-17 best, is testament to Mourinho’s enduring qualities as a motivator.
His stupendous goal against Manchester United – where he exhibited a velcro touch to flick first time over a despairing United defence and cushion a sumptuous volley past David de Gea – is a goal few players in the world could score.
His reverting back into almost a second striker role behind Kane has been a revelation so far as Mourinho begins to lockdown key posts for his most settled team in the coming weeks and months.
The humble one needs to prove once more that the halcyon days of European conquest via Portuguese and Italian colours are not just a distant memory but an enduring inspiration which could end Tottenham’s near 12-year wait for silverware.
RB Leipzig presents a favourable but far from straightforward opponent in February’s resumption of the Champions League, and it could yet prove to be the stage for Mourinho’s greatest achievement yet. For ‘the game is about glory’ as Tottenham’s hallowed double winning captain Danny Blanchflower famously stated, there has been no greater force in modern management that has lived by this sentiment than Jose Mourinho.
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