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Right, plenty to say about Spurs last night – some of it highly critical, some specific to the game and circumstances (each of LFC’s off-kilter front three score – typical). But that’s not the issue IMO. Sorry, long thread again.
Compare Spurs now with the situation of, say, two full seasons ago. Significant money has been spent after the club went *two windows* without spending a bean. There were problems but the club still secured top 4 and got to a CL final.
There are still problems with the playing personnel now but the squad is surely deeper and by reasonable expectation better. Key positions have cover. Best players have improved. The manager has been backed. So are Spurs any better off? Clearly not.
There are lots of reasons for this, but the idea it’s nothing to do with the manager is pure cods. Results are ok as a whole but performances are a concern. Any goals for and against stats are misleading, skewed in part by BCD football. And as for the defence – blimey.
This is what Mourinho was supposed to be good at: defensive organisation. But the defence gets away with it even in good games. Concessions are not isolated ‘individual errors’, but repeat, pattern, systemic – give half decent oppo the ball and they will expose a weak back line.
Some of the results this season have been a mirage. Spurs rarely dominate games, fail to seize the initiative and casually throw points away. Draws and defeats are invited because the general approach is passive and reactive.
The philosophy is clearly ‘don’t lose’. Fine, but a bit of problem when it results in too many defeats and draws, and passes up wins there for the taking. It’s negative, craven, and boring, wasting the attacking talent at the manager’s disposal.
It’s not all down to the manager, of course not. But it’s so predictable it was going to be like this. We hear now of calls for a rebuild and the need for big spending. But why does the ‘born winner’ need it if he’s such a coaching genius? That doesn’t make any sense.
Yeah yeah, get out the tiny violins, for all is not lost for Big 6 Spurs. Top 4 is still a possibility, the League Cup final beckons and decent runs in the other cups are achievable. But that represents modest ambitions given what was promised – going to ‘the next level’.
That means winning major trophies. In other words, winning the league and/or the Champions League. That’s the measure Mourinho’s cheerleaders set, no-one else. So, are Spurs any closer to achieving that? Right now, the answer is obvious.
