Football news - What have you done, Tottenham?
:focal(136x152:138x150)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2015/11/13/1731704-36632322-310-310.png)
Updated 20/11/2019 at 11:12 GMT
Tottenham have pressed the self-destruct button in a way only Tottenham can.
Jose Mourinho, Mauricio Pochettino
Image credit: Getty Images
WEDNESDAY'S BIG STORIES
Chance of this working: 0%
"Lads, it's Tottenham!"
Never have Sir Alex Ferguson's immortal words rung truer. Spurs have self-destructed in five months, regressing from Champions League finalists to... actually, just a team going through a slight blip. And yet they have breathed new life into their unwanted slogan 'Spursy'.
They will be forever remembered as the team that threw away their greatest modern-day manager. If Mauricio Pochettino had lost the dressing room, then sack the dressing room. In five years, he transformed the club from a Younes Kaboul-captained punchline to one that forgot what Thursday night football felt like. He could have rebuilt again.
A man who was a less erratic Moussa Sissoko limb from potentially winning the greatest prize in club football is now on the job market. And a man who once claimed he wouldn’t pay to watch his own team is off it.
Mourinho took Chelsea to the precipice of relegation, sunk Manchester United lower than under David Moyes. If he was once a revered manager, he's now become the character he feared most – a specialist in failure. Not 'just missed out on the top four, better luck next year' failure. Full-blown 'every player wants to leave tomorrow' failure. Whether his tactics have become outdated, or his personal style grates on the latest generation of pampered footballers is irrelevant. His legacy is destroying teams – and no team craves destruction quite like Tottenham Hotspur.
The next three years are mapped out already:
- 2019-20: Heroic climb into the Europa League spots under new captain Nemanja Matic and leading man Zlatan Ibrahimovic, including gritty 1-0 win over Liverpool that helps Manchester City win the title
- 2020-21: The trophy drought is over! OK, it’s the League Cup, but there’s an open-top bus parade and a DVD including that famous revenge win in Colchester. Rumours swirl that the players dislike Mourinho
- 2021-22: Mourinho tramples on any lingering squad harmony and awaits severance package. Daniel Levy refuses to blink first and stalemate ensues. Spurs are relegated
Still, that new Amazon documentary promises to be delightful…
Farewell Diego
But enough about an Argentine making a shock exit from management. We bring news of, erm, an Argentine making a shock exit from management.
Admittedly, the word 'shock' is used loosely. When Diego Maradona took over at Argentine outfit Gimnasia in September it was always destined to be a catastrophe... and so it proved, when he racked up another speedy departure on Tuesday.
Anyway, let's reminisce on the good times: his flawless home record (played four, lost four) and the fact he was in the frame for the Spurs job for about 30 minutes.
Congratulations to Wales (you still owe us £5,000)
The Warm-Up still hasn’t forgiven Wales for bottling their Euro 2016 semi-final with Portugal after having a fiver at 1,000-1 on them winning the tournament.
However, they have a chance for atonement after Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Hungary catapulted them into the draw for Euro 2020. We’re just deciding how much money to lump on Aaron Ramsey and co.
HEROES AND ZEROES
Hero: Mason Greenwood
"And Southgate is going to make a change… it’s Mason Greenwood! Can he drag England back into this thrilling Euro 2020 final?"
We don’t want to get too carried away, but this is some sweet composure from the 18-year-old. Just ignore the defending, yeah?
Zero: Daniel Levy
No explanation required.
IN THE CHANNELS
Just loads of tears for Pochettino:
HAT-TIP
And the players also deserve a share of blame. At one stage this season it looked as though Pochettino might start dropping the refuseniks, adopting an All Blacks-style No D***heads policy. Except, it turned out there were too many d***heads. Critical mass had been reached. In the last week Danny Rose has announced that he will simply run down his contract and then leave, as though this is just the norm now. It felt like an unguarded glimpse behind the scenes. Mission accomplished. The players will now have a new manager. They will also have a worse manager.
The Guardian’s Barney Ronay delivers an unavoidably brutal reality check for Tottenham.
COMING UP
Spurs announce they were playing a huge prank and Mauricio Pochettino returns to the dugout.
Andi Thomas is definitely in on that prank. He's here tomorrow to explain how they pulled it off...
Scan me
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement