Premier League Opinion: Jose Mourinho's methods are not compatible with success at Tottenham

Of all the terms Jose Mourinho has introduced to the English football lexicon, the most enduring is “parking the bus”. Intended as a sleight at opponents in his first season in the Premier League, it hangs as an albatross around his own neck at his worst moments. One of which came on Sunday night at Molineux.

It is one of football's strange quirks that the team Mourinho was condemning back in 2004 was in fact Tottenham. Following a 0-0 draw in 2004, the then Chelsea manager famously remarked: "As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal. I would have been frustrated if I had been a supporter who paid £50 to watch this game because Spurs came to defend.”

The same query could have been raised about Tottenham’s pathetic display against Wolves: what would Tottenham fans make of a performance which laid bare once again the abundance of caution which means Mourinho is no longer the force he once was. Was that worth the cost of watching?

One statistic stood out above all others after the 1-1 draw: Tottenham had more shots on goal in the first minute than they did in the rest of the match combined. One after 27 seconds, Tanguy Ndombele’s goal after 57 seconds, and then one more in the 21st minute. And that was it. As Spurs retreated into their shell in supine fashion, it allowed Wolves to claim their late equaliser and condemn Mourinho’s side to a fourth Premier League match in succession without a win.

It is not that playing defensively or sitting on a lead away from home is by nature an illegitimate approach. Earlier on Sunday, we saw a fantastic vision of what defensive football can achieve when Sam Allardyce, deploying what Jurgen Klopp caustically described as a “6-4-0” formation, took a point from West Brom’s trip to Anfield.

But for a team as blessed as Tottenham are with attacking talent, it’s borderline unforgivable. And it makes no sense. Looking at the profile of the Spurs squad, the pragmatic approach really is to play to their strengths: namely utilising the two world-class attackers they have in Son Heung-min and Harry Kane. Not invite pressure on a defence which does not possess similar calibre. The result, ultimately, is the fact that Mourinho’s side have now dropped nine points from winning positions in the last 10 minutes of matches.

Another factor was Mourinho’s bad decision to take off Ndombele, the game’s outstanding player, who quite apart from scoring inside a minute displayed the class which has marked him out as a potential great of the game. Perhaps Mourinho does deserve some credit for how the Frenchman has flourished this season, but it is tempting to consider Ndombele’s development has come in spite of a manager who has never really seemed to trust in him fully.

Subbing Ndombele on 70 minutes certainly felt like a moment laden with symbolism. It was unquestionably an unforced error by a manager who was looking to hold onto a one-goal lead and ended up seeing it blow up in his face.

Perhaps it was telling that there were no fireworks from Mourinho after the match. No grand defence of his approach or any lashing out. Instead he seemed almost resigned to the criticism which he must have known was coming his way.

“I don’t want to say much, I know the way I prepare the team, what I ask the players, what I told them at half time, I know all that and I don’t want to say much more about that,” he said. “We didn’t have that ambition, that desire to go for more. You know me, you know the way I work, I don’t want to say much more about it.”

And that, really, is the problem. We do know how Mourinho works. Spurs fans know it. He won't change and his methods will keep delivering the same results which they have since football moved on. 2004 is a long time ago now.