Jose Mourinho Fired at Tottenham Hotspur
After a mere 17 months at the helm of Tottenham Hotspur, Jose Mourinho was shown the door due to poor performances throughout all competitions. The man that replaced club legend Mauricio Pochettino brought expectations that he would elevate the club to a new level, but failed to do so in the 17 months in charge of the club. Former Tottenham player Ryan Mason has since taken the charge following Mourinho’s departure.
What happened?
With Results Initially Being Solid, Mourinho Quickly Wore out his Welcome. (Getty Images)
When former manager Pochettino was let go due to poor performances, it was quite a shock because of the progress the club had shown since he took over in 2014, going from not competing for league titles and European competitions to a second-place finish and Champions League Finals appearance. Pochettino was let go in late 2019 due to poor results in the Premier League and other competitions. Mourinho won the Premier League in previous stints with Chelsea Football Club along with Champions League Championships with clubs such as Porto FC and Inter Milan, so the idea that Mourinho would bring a winning mentality to the club was not necessarily a bad one.
Mourinho in his time at Tottenham was handed a squad that showed it could compete at the highest levels of European soccer but failed to do so while he was at the helm, with results in the Europa League -- different from Champions League -- and the Premier League proving to be the catalyst to his firing, a defeat to Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League being particularly embarrassing.
Mourinho had the club seriously competing for the Premier League earlier in the season, sitting on top of the league in early December. But as the new year crept in and continued, the results began to slump and thus he was eventually shown the door with his club sitting in seventh place.
Results don’t seem to be the only reason for his departure, as reports surfaced that he lost the dressing room due to his thorny style of criticizing players, not taking personal responsibility for losses and not adjusting his conservative and defensive style to suit his players. These factors have been present at all of Mourinho’s previous stops, but due to lack of results, the level of patience was not the same as it was in the past.
The firing comes at an interesting time because of the fact that Tottenham committed to joining the European Super League the day before his firing. Was this an internal disagreement between upper management and Mourinho?
This writer doesn’t think so, but interesting nonetheless.
Mourinho’s Career is Likely not Overdue to his Resume, but his Next Stop Will be Important for His Future. (Peter Powell/AFP via Getty Images)
Another interesting part of the timing of Mourinho’s firing is the fact that Tottenham was due to compete for the English League Cup less than a week after he was fired. One of the most winningest coaches in European club soccer history is let go a mere few days before you have an opportunity to win silverware for the first time since 2008 and you replace him with a rookie coach? Tottenham lost the League Cup to Manchester City, squandering their last chance at silverware for the season.
Feeling bad for Mourinho? You shouldn’t.
Mourinho was reportedly making 15 million pounds a year with no buyout clause included. This means even though he is fired, he is guaranteed the money offered to him until 2023.
To make a quick comparison to an American football coach, one could easily call him a deluxe Jon Gruden, due to his resume having championship pedigree, a career on television in between coaching gigs and the modern game of football having passed the man leading to millions of dollars (pounds) being burned in hopes of restoring results that haven’t/won’t come.
