IN becoming a target for Jose Mourinho this season, Tanguy Ndombele has joined an illustrious list of players. At Real Madrid, it was Iker Casillas who found himself on the end of the Portuguese’s ire, with the legendary goalkeeper eventually forced out of the club. In Mourinho’s second spell as Chelsea boss, it was Juan Mata who suffered. And at Manchester United, Paul Pogba’s relationship with the 57-year-old became publicly strained.
Mourinho’s recent reigns, at Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man Utd and now Tottenham Hotspur, have followed a very consistent chaotic pattern, but even by this measure his first season as Spurs boss has seen him move through the motions at triple quick time. The comments made about Ndombele after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Burnley underlined this, with Mourinho close to full meltdown mode just four months after his appointment. It usually takes him until his third season to reach this mental stage.
All this goes against the grain of what Mourinho promised upon his arrival at Spurs. Having flamed out at Man Utd, leaving the Old Trafford club in a worse condition than he inherited, the Portuguese vowed to change his ways. This included the hiring of a new public relations consultant to overhaul an image that had become somewhat toxic in recent years, cynically explaining some of Mourinho’s early behaviour at Tottenham. He isn’t normally one for hugging ball boys.
Mourinho properly calling out Ndombele. ‘I was expecting players not tired to give more to the team… ‘somebody’ has to realise this is the PL. I hope that next season he can be fantastic…’.
— Chris Miller (@WindyCOYS) March 7, 2020
More recently, though, Mourinho has reverted to default. Spurs are currently struggling for fluidity, especially in the final third of the pitch, and faced with an uphill battle to finish in the Premier League’s top four, keeping their place in the Champions League for next season, the Portuguese has spun many of his favourite excuses. Injuries have undeniably taken a toll, but Mourinho is attempting to perpetuate the idea that Tottenham are achieving all they can at this moment.
The case of Ndombele counters this notion. Signed for €60 million last summer, the French midfielder was meant to be a lynchpin for Spurs, but has instead been ostracised and scapegoated by Mourinho. Is this really the best use of a player who would be an asset for almost every other European club? Does Mourinho truly believe this will bring the best out of Ndombele? And if not, why is he inflicting such unnecessary damage?
Man management was once Mourinho’s strongest asset. The Portuguese was renowned for his grasp of conservative tactics, but was never revered as a true tactician in the same way his contemporary and rival Pep Guardiola was and still is to this day. Instead, Mourinho won games and titles through his relationships in the dressing room.
This is evident in the way many of his former Chelsea players in particular talk about him. “He made me believe I could go to the next level,” Frank Lampard once explained about the manager he won two Premier League titles under. “His man-management was second to none and that's why I always say Jose Mourinho was the best manager I worked for.”
So what has happened to Mourinho’s knack for man management over the past few years? Why has he made a habit of picking fights with his own players rather than forging the sort of bond with them that gave him the foundation to succeed so spectacularly at Porto, Chelsea and Inter?
There’s a theory that Mourinho has not so much been left behind tactically by the modern game, but by the new generation of player. While top professionals like Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba were once emboldened by Mourinho, now the sport’s best are more likely to be repressed under his charge. Mourinho has implied that Ndombele is the embodiment of Spurs’ flaws, but the truth is that Ndombele is the embodiment of Mourinho’s.
