@Favour I see where you're coming from.
You want success as do all Spurs fans. But how do you define success?
Some have their doubts about Jose even though he has won wherever he has gone. I do commend him for getting results but there's a reason the world calls it "the beautiful game". Barcelona & Ajax are the forerunners of this proactive, expressive, possessve & expansive football. They have been for years with Michels, Crujff,& even Pep. Mourinho has rejected it even though he was immersed in Barcelona's DNA under Sir Bobby Robson.
Mourinho's is reactive football Apart from his early days at Porto & first stint at CFC, his approach has been "win at any cost". Just avoid losing. His beliefs are counter intuitive to what glorious football is.. His thinking is that:
1. whoever makes the most mistakes is more likely to lose. (there's truth in this)
2. the team that has the ball is more likely to make a mistake.(there's truth in this too)
3. so let the other team have the ball & provoke them to make mistakes (that's a choice to make)
So he'd much rather not have the ball.
Spurs fans want the ball. That's when the magic happens.
I've always believed that the game is far more fun to play when you have the ball.
Furthermore, it's much harder for the other team to score when they don't have the ball. These are elementary postulates.
Poch is a very different animal & I'll avoid speaking of the vast differences in personality & character.
Before Poch took the job, he delved into the history of Spurs.
He embraced the clubs ethos. He knew what the club was about & what the fans wanted. He did his best to deliver with little resources.
In a very short period, he got us playing exciting & attractive football. He had a willingness to introduce & work with youth. Players played with a bravado & flair even though they were much younger than their opponents. If they didn't have the ball, they would hunt it down like a pack of wolves.. They wanted to show what they could do. Consequently, most opposition hated playing against us because they knew it was going to be a very grueling & potentially humbling experience.. I'm not going to speak for others here but I really looked forward to each. game. I loved watching them & my expectations rose with them. I believed we could win each time out. Even when we lost' I still felt some pride because we generally outplayed them & fought right til the end..
Yes there were challenges. Times when many felt he should have made a change in tactics or player earlier in the game to effect a result but didn't or was too late. These were either growing pains or simply that he was letting his players on the field know that he had faith in them. But for the most part it was very positive & an encouraging time. There's no denying that he lifted us up.
Poch seems like a very honorable man. He doesn't even have a rep. He represents himself & his word & a handshake are good enough for him.. There came a point where he stated that he needed players. A refreshing of the team was imperative. But didn't get it. Where have we heard that before? I sense someone may have broken his word (probably Levy) & as
@Dorset says 'he got the hump'. If that was the case, I wouldn't be surprised if that may have disillusioned him. Could he fulfill his & the fans ambitions with little to no investment? Note the omission of a key figure.
You're right. He didn't win us trophies, but he got us much closer than we have been in quite some time. I mean, he got us to compete at the summit of club football.
I;ll digress slightly.
I take great pride in knowing a little country like Greece won the Euros. King Otto Rehhagel was/is an intelligent man & tactician. He had a plan to best utilize what players he had as some of his more talented players were left behind in Greece given they didn't buy into the team first mentality. The team was resilient & played their hearts out to a T. It was an immense over achievement & they didn't do it with sexy football. Nevertheless, nothing can take that victory away.
So why did I bring this up? Because he did what he did to win. Something Mourinho does too.
But there is a big difference in how Otto Rehhagel & Mourinho employ their tactics & players at their disposal. Rehhagel had players of very limited ability yet through the way he set them up he was able to bring the best out of them. Conversely, Mourinho has had some of the best talents in the world yet he is prone to shackling them with his suffocating tactics. He inhibits their potential.
But I genuinely do hope he can bring us success.
S*#t. Sorry for rambling on.
