JOSE Mourinho has been here before. It was winter 2017, with Christmas starting to appear on the horizon, when the Portuguese led his Manchester United side, then second in the Premier League table and eyeing up a title challenge, into a match against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in what was a true test of not only his players’ credentials, but his as a manager.
Parallels can be drawn between the position United found themselves back then and the one Tottenham Hotspur are in now. They too are sitting second in the table after a positive, if not scintillating, start to the season. And they too face a fixture against Guardiola’s Manchester City with Christmas just around the corner.
Few predicted there would be any talk of a Tottenham title challenge this season, especially after the North London club started their campaign with an underwhelming home defeat to Everton. Mourinho arrested the slide Spurs suffered towards the end of Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure last season, but evidence of real progress, the kind that could turn Tottenham into title challengers, was scant.
The circumstances of the 2020/21 season, however, could be perfect for a Mourinho team to finish top of the pile. The shortened nature of the campaign means the title race is likely to be a war of attrition. This is where Mourinho thrives. The elite level of the game left him behind for a number of years, but the Covid-19 pandemic might just have brought it back to him, even if just for one season only.
Raheem Sterling will be fit for Tottenham vs #ManCity.
— Man City Xtra (@City_Xtra) November 16, 2020
Unlike at Manchester United, Tottenham have delivered Mourinho players to his specifications. In Matt Doherty and Sergio Reguilon, Spurs now have two flying full-backs who don’t just offer width, but attacking threat. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is the perfect Mourinho midfield anchor, while Tanguy Ndombele has finally earned the trust of his boss.
Then there’s the frontline of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, with Gareth Bale slowly, but surely, finding fitness following his return to Spurs on loan from Real Madrid. Mourinho has long been unfairly typecast as a defensive coach, but it’s true he tends to leave passing patterns and movements in the final third down to the individual instincts of his attackers.
Spurs have become the quintessential Mourinho team in a very short space of time. A number of pieces have fallen into place for the 57-year-old who, not so long ago, was widely seen as finished at the top of the sport. As things presently stand, Tottenham have to be considered among the Premier League’s potential champions.
The side that wins the Premier League title this season won’t necessarily be the best side in the division, but the one that can absorb the most punches. Mourinho is a manager who demands strength of character and winning mentality from his players. This is a guy who told his players to be “c****” in Amazon Prime’s ‘All Or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur’ documentary series.
A victory over City on Saturday would bolster a growing belief Spurs can go all the way this season. Guardiola’s team aren’t the unit they were back in December 2017 when Mourinho’s United suffered a 2-1 home defeat that highlighted just how far off the required standard they still were. Three points against a team that has won just three of their opening seven league fixtures this season certainly isn’t out of the question for Tottenham. Spurs are 16/5 to beat City on Saturday evening, with the Draw No Bet 43/20.
While Mourinho and Manchester United always felt like an awkward fit, Spurs have moulded to the Portuguese quicker, and more comprehensively, than anyone could have imagined. The uncertainty of the 2020/21 season so far has prompted several questions over who is real and who is not. Tottenham have the chance to prove they are the former this weekend.
Latest odds: Tottenham (16/5) Draw (3/1) Man City (41/50). For all current Tottenham vs Man City odds, click here.
