SITTING nine points off Chelsea in fourth, it’s going to be a huge ask for Jose Mourinho to get Tottenham into the Champions League places.
But with 25 games to go it is certainly not a task that is impossible.
Alan Shearer has backed Jose Mourinho to be a hit at SpursCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Mourinho is a serial winner and I’m convinced he will win trophies at Spurs, whose last piece of silverware was the League Cup back in 2008.
While they obviously won’t win the title this campaign, I would not put it past him winning a trophy and potentially challenging for the league next season if he can strengthen his squad.
It’s a bold decision to bring him in but one that will bring success.
He will have to change, though, because the Jose we have seen at his last three clubs has fallen out with players and lost the dressing room.
He took them on and lost and ended up out of a job because of it.
Having had 11 months out of the cut and thrust of management he will have reflected on what went right and what went wrong.
And the one thing he will have looked back at and learned from is that you just cannot take players on any more.
Yes, you can be ruthless, hard and honest with them.
But when you take on five or six players in a dressing room then there is only going to be one winner.
I think he can and will change. The best adapt and evolve and there is no doubt he is one of, if not the best in the business.
People talk about whether he will work out well in the long term, but is there a long term in football anymore?
Even Pep Guardiola in his career has picked up silverware and left clubs.
The theory goes that Mourinho comes in, wins trophies, creates a mess and then gets out.
That has happened in the past but I also think that’s part of moving forward and adapting, so I think he and Tottenham are a good fit.
When you look at the players at his disposal it’s not as though they can’t score goals and when you have that threat you’ve always got a chance.
In Harry Kane he’s got one of the best centre-forwards in the world and in Dele Alli he has an exceptional talent who is on his way back after a dip.
Dele’s upturn in form started before Saturday and against West Ham — who were embarrassingly bad — he was better still.
Playing behind Kane in the No 10 position he caused problems throughout the game. The Hammers just couldn’t get to grips with him.
They didn’t know whether to get tight or not and in the end they just couldn’t handle him.
When you bring the likes of Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura into the equation, Spurs have plenty of ammunition going forward.
With that talent in your squad there really isn’t a lot a manager has to do in terms of setting a team up to win.
With a couple of shrewd additions in the January transfer window there is no reason why Mourinho can’t take Spurs back to where they were at the top end of the table under former boss Mauricio Pochettino.
I was really surprised at the timing of his sacking, coming at the back end of the latest international break.
He had done a great job and if there was one guy with a bit of credit in the bank then it was him.
But having said that, the players had simply stopped running for him and I felt his body language towards the end suggested he wanted it to be brought to an end, too.
While it’s sad to see him go I’m happy Mourinho is back in the Premier League.
Whether you like him or loathe him he creates headlines and is a serial winner.
He’s been on the front and back pages since his appointment last Wednesday and there is no doubt he will love that.
He plays the game as well as anyone and you don’t get to achieve what he has without being savvy.
He knows he needs to go in there, stroke a few egos, get one or two onside and get them playing like they can again.
If he does that, I’m pretty confident it won’t be long before he’s got them back up the table and lifting trophies.
José Mourinho delighted loud music is pumping once more in the Spurs dressing room
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
