24.11.2020 - As anyone who follows the Premier League will know, one of the most colorful managers around is Jose Mourinho. The 57-year-old Portuguese coach has also made a fantastic start to the 2020-21 campaign, demonstrating every ounce of his tactical expertise by leading Tottenham Hotspur to the top of the table.
Spurs opened the season in somewhat mixed form and, while they were clearly always regarded as one of the teams capable of being a Premier League contender, battling amongst the top four teams, more people were backing reigning champions Liverpool, following the remarkable 2019-20 campaign they produced. Likewise, 2018-19 title-winners Manchester City were also tipped to make a big push, with their manager Pep Guardiola having reinforced his team.
Jose Mourinho on life in the Premier League ? pic.twitter.com/bd0VXeSxJl
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 20, 2020
Nevertheless, the shrewdness and experience of Mourinho should never be underestimated. Although his managerial record is amongst the best of any head coach in European club soccer, many experts and pundits do still believe he failed at Manchester United, becoming one of several managers who failed to guide the club the Premier League title, which hasn’t graced the trophy cabinet at Old Trafford since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
While he didn’t leave the Red Devils without guiding the team to some silverware, including an impressive double of the EFL Cup and UEFA Europa League during the 2016-17 season, Mourinho undoubtedly left with the sensation of unfinished business. When he was fired by Manchester United in December 2018, he still believed he was the only coach capable of ending the Premier League drought at the club.
After almost a year out of work, Mourinho was finally appointed as the manager of Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019, replacing Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino when he was fired after a disastrous opening to their 2019-20 Premier League campaign. Spurs went on to finish sixth in the table, as Mourinho began to lay the foundations of his own style and preferences, which brought fans a glimpse of the improved performance he could get from the team.
What made the 2019-20 season all the more interesting was that the work of Mourinho was under closer scrutiny thanks to the Amazon Prime documentary All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur. Given that cameras were constantly present around the club and their training facilities, this produced many interesting and amusing ‘fly-on-the-wall’ moments for viewers to observe, watching the daily work of Mourinho and his interaction with the players.
In what is now his first full season in charge at Tottenham, it’s fair to say that Mourinho has firmly established himself at the club, while the team couldn’t be any clearer about what he expects both tactically and in terms of performance. That’s the kind of performance that competitors playing the Top Eleven game would hope to emulate, given that Mourinho is also the faced used to market the popular online sports management simulation.
According to Mourinho in the promotional blurb for the game: “Football management is all about love and passion for football. But to become really successful, you also need to know your team, think a lot and outsmart your competitors.” These are all qualities Mourinho himself has demonstrated in his management of Tottenham Hotspur this season. If he can guide them to the Premier League title, it will also be one of his greatest coaching achievements.
