Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League hopes took another hit over the weekend.
Paul Merson has admitted that it would be a ‘shock’ to him if Jose Mourinho was appointed by Tottenham to ‘excite’ the fans because he feels they got the ‘wrong manager’ if that’s the case, as he told The Debate on Sky Sports.
On Sunday. Spurs suffered yet another defeat and they were involved in another goal-fest under Mourinho, as clean sheets have been hard to come by for the North London club this term.
A number of weeks ago, Tottenham recorded a late 3-2 win at Aston Villa, but this time around, they were on the end of a 3-2 defeat against fellow Champions League rivals Wolves.
Speaking on The Debate (02/03/2020 at 10:55 pm), Merson commented on Tottenham’s defensive problems under Mourinho and the suggestion that he needs to bring the ball out from the back and play in a seemingly expansive way.
“How many times has Mourinho since he has been in the Premier League have you seen him involved in these goals fests?” Merson questioned on the Debate. “That’s not Mourinho like. And even though they haven’t got them two [Kane and Son], one thing I would expect is for them to be rock solid.
“I am shocked by the way they are, at the moment. They are so open and all over the place. I think this manager is good enough to set a team up not to let in goals they are letting in.
“I think they have got the wrong manager [if Mourinho has to set up Spurs to play], and I don’t mean that in a horrible way because this man is a legend. But he wins football matches, it doesn’t matter how he does it. I have been to Chelsea, we have been 2-0 up at bottom of the league at half-time and that’s it, it stays 2-0.
“It’s not like a Man City where you go and win five or six. He would rather win 2-0 than 4-1 – It worries me that he has to go out there and excite the Tottenham fans. That worries me. If he is brought in to excite the fans and not win football matches is a shock – I have seen Mourinho with lesser players [than his current ones] and keep clean sheets.”
Spurs last kept a clean sheet at the start of February when it Ironically came up against perhaps the most attacking team in the country in Manchester City.
Mourinho has been in charge of 23 games in all competitions for Tottenham since his arrival and they have conceded 31 goals during that period.
What hasn’t helped his cause is that he has walked into a team that has been struggling from a defensive standpoint prior to his arrival and he has been missing that focal point in Harry Kane.
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