Is Mourinho facing an identity crisis in his early days at Tottenham?

It’s still early days for Jose Mourinho at Tottenham, but the manager has thus far failed to remake Spurs in his image or adapt to theirs.

Never before has soccer management been so defined by ideology. Not even in the days of Johan Cruyff or Arrigo Sacchi were the ideas and methods of the coach fetishized like they are now.

Much of this is down to Pep Guardiola who made the understanding of systems and formations for more than just the soccer nerd. He made it part of the mainstream discussion, and from the other end of the spectrum Jose Mourinho also played his part.

Through his success at Chelsea, Inter and Porto, Mourinho became one of European soccer’s most identifiable coaches. His conservative ideas on the game contrasted greatly to that of the expensive, dynamic Guardiola, but there could be no doubting the effectiveness of Mourinho’s approach. It made him the sport’s go-to-guy for instant success.

At Manchester United, though, and in the final days of his second Chelsea stint, Mourinho suffered something of an identity crisis. It can be debated whether the Portuguese has lost his grip on his own grips or whether the soccer zeitgeist has left him behind, but success has been harder to come by in recent years.

Mourinho vowed to change his ways, both as a coach and a personality, upon his surprise appointment at Tottenham Hotspur. After all, this looked to be an unnatural union from the start, with one renowned for being a quick-fix sort of guy and the other being a club which values the harnessing of youth and the worth of the long term. One of the two parties had to change and Mourinho promised that it would be him.

So far, though, his struggles with identity – his own – have continued. Spurs are still the defensively vulnerable, frequently flaky side they were in Mauricio Pochettino’s final few months in charge and Mourinho has demonstrated scant ability to open up his mind to embrace a more modern attacking strategy.

Indeed, Tottenham’s play in the final third has been generally stilted under Mourinho. This was an issue he faced at Man Utd, failing to forge the fluid frontline so many at the club wanted. Now blessed with talents like Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Heung-min Son, not much seems to have changed.

Of course, it’s still early days for Mourinho at Tottenham. He has only been at the club for a matter of weeks and so it’s possible that he will get to grips with the squad he inherited between now and the end of the season, either forging them in his own image or finding a way to change his own image in line with the strengths and weaknesses of his players.

Despite all this, Mourinho seems to be in a state of denial. “We play so well, we create so much. In the beginning we were conceding lots of goals from corners but we stopped that,” he insisted after a disappointing 2-2 draw away to Norwich, implying progress, even at an incremental level, was being made.

“We conceded the other day against Brighton from a free-kick but… when I am small and you are taller than me [by] 15cm there are things in football that are impossible. The only solution is when you select players and make squads you select a majority of tall players to cope with the physicality of top football. But we have to improve. We concede too many goals and it is very frustrating. If I was one of my attacking players I would be very frustrated that behind we are not able to stop it.”

This hints at a change of style, but that’s what Mourinho implied the moment he first walked through the door at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The club’s new shimmering, state-of-the-art home stands as a monument to their ambition both in terms of results and performances. Mourinho is struggling to deliver either and is facing even more questions over his place at the sport’s elite level. So much has changed and yet so much remains the same.