This has been a something of a transitional season for Tottenham Hotspur.
The London club sacked a long-term manager, and then replaced him with a proven individual, appointing three-time Premier League winner Jose Mourinho in his place.
Unfortunately, their fortunes haven’t turned all that much under the former Chelsea boss as before this weekend’s action they still sat nine points off of the top four places, failing to win any of their previous three league games.
Mourinho’s appointment hasn’t had the desired effect, and one pundit believes that it will be a while until the Spurs can reap the rewards of Mourinho’s management.
What’s been said then?
Joe Cole gave a worrying verdict on Spurs’ short-term ambitions under the former Manchester United boss.
“I think we didn’t appreciate how bad things had got in the last few weeks under Pochettino,” Cole said on BT Sport’s pre-match coverage of Watford vs Tottenham (18/1/20 12:00)
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“Jose’s got a real difficult job. He said in the media this week that this is the most difficult job he’s had since the Porto job and the expectations he had over there. I think it’ll be around six to eighteen months until you see Jose properly implement his style into the team.
“I think with this group of players, you’ll have players who want to leave and players he’ll want to bring in, Tanganga has done a good job, I think he’s still searching for his best Tottenham team.”
Spot on
Unfortunately, Cole might be right on this one.
When Mauricio Pochettino was first appointed as Spurs boss he cultivated a young, hungry side that were desperate for success, but almost six years later the club still haven’t won a trophy.
Christian Eriksen is seemingly as good as gone, and there are still questions around Danny Rose and Jan Vertonghen’s futures as their contracts tick down.
Mourinho is just over two weeks into his first transfer window with a new team, so it could take some time for him to stamp his mark on this under-performing Spurs side. However, when he does, it could be the dawning of a great era if he manages the same level of success he achieved at Chelsea.
In other news, Spurs have been urged to sign one man by a former player.