Tottenham Hotspur appointed Jose Mourinho last week and he has got off to a great start to life at Spurs.
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson claims that Tottenham Hotspur head coach Jose Mourinho has gone into the job eager to keep all the Spurs players on his side, in contrast to his sterner approach in some of his previous roles (Daily Star).
Tottenham dominated the football headlines last week after long-serving head coach Mauricio Pochettino was dismissed and, less than 12 hours later, the charismatic Portuguese manager was handed the Spurs reins.
Mourinho has held some of the biggest jobs in club football, such as Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United, but has also had apparent disagreements with some key players in the past, such as then-Chelsea star Eden Hazard and Man United’s Paul Pogba.
Merson believes that Mourinho has changed his approach after being sacked by United and Chelsea in the last four years, given “some bad players” have finished him off in the past, which has proven a learning curve for the coach.
“I thought we saw a different Mourinho this week,” Merson wrote in his Daily Star column. “I think he’s been out of the game a while and had a chance to think and learn from his mistakes.
“He’s had some bad players finish him in his last couple of jobs. Maybe he’s realised he needs them all on his side at Spurs. There just seems to be a real feel-good factor around him and the club at the moment. Hugging the ball boy. Winning matches again.”
One example of this approach is Mourinho’s public apology to Eric Dier following his early substitution in the midweek Champions League win, telling Football London: “I had to do it for the team and I apologise to Eric despite him knowing that I did it for the team and not with any intention to hurt him.
“I think the fans also understood that. I did it for the team and in the end the team is the most important thing. Christian gave us what we needed at that time.”
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