Tottenham hire Jose Mourinho to complete whirlwind managerial shakeup

Jose Mourinho is the new man in charge at Tottenham, taking over within hours of Mauricio Pochettino being let go. How did we get here and how will this work?

Tottenham have appointed Jose Mourinho as their new manager, just hours after Spurs surprisingly sacked Mauricio Pochettino.

Mourinho is back in management 11 months after he was fired from his post at Manchester United. The Special One is now tasked with a peculiar project.

Tottenham had been a club on the rise under Pochettino – four consecutive top-four finishes domestically and a first-ever Champions League final in 2019 – but this season has begun disastrously.

Tottenham sit 14th in the Premier League with 14 points from 12 matches to start the season (3W-5D-4L, plus-1 goal difference).

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy pointed to those results in his reasoning for firing Pochettino, saying in part, “Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing. … We have a talented squad. We need to re-energise and look to deliver a positive season for our supporters.”

Within 12 hours, Levy had hired perhaps the world’s most results-focused manager.

In announcing Mourinho’s hiring, Levy said, “In Jose we have one of the most successful managers in football. He has a wealth of experience, can inspire teams and is a great tactician. He has won honours at every club he has coached. We believe he will bring energy and belief to the dressing room.”

Mourinho’s track record of success is undeniable: three Premier League titles, two Champions League titles (at different clubs), further domestic titles in Spain, Italy and Portugal. He’s managed, and won, at the game’s biggest clubs.

However, from the moment Pochettino was surprisingly fired and Mourinho’s name emerged as the immediate front-runner, there were questions about the fit.

Mourinho’s spell in Manchester was arguably his least successful job and it ended with plenty of questions about how his tactics fit at a modern mega-club. Plus, his typical desire to ask for squad reinforcement and transfer spending didn’t seem to jibe with Levy’s reluctance to spend on deepening a strong-but-shallow squad during Pochettino’s time in North London.

In the club’s announcement, Mourinho was quoted saying, “I am excited to be joining a Club with such a great heritage and such passionate supporters. The quality in both the squad and the academy excites me. Working with these players is what has attracted me.”

He likely won’t have the kind of free-spending backing he usually wants so hopefully he really does like these players.

Spurs and Mourinho still seem like an unlikely pairing, or maybe this has all just happened so fast, but squint and you can see how it makes sense for each of them.

Mourinho is back in the Premier League – after holding out for another chance in England despite being connected to jobs in France, Italy and China – and Levy gets to see if the world’s most dead-eyed winner can deliver a trophy to Tottenham after years of raised expectations with nothing to show for them.

Whether it actually works out like that, though, is much more complicated. Things with Mourinho usually are.