Tottenham Hotspur: Five key challenges for Jose Mourinho

The 'Special One' might find his job at the North London club a bit different than he is accustomed to.

The November 2019 International break ended with a surprising frenzy as Tottenham Hotspur dropped two successive bombshells. First, they decided to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino - the man responsible for the most glorious period of Tottenham’s history, at least post World War II. Then, they decided to stir the entire world of football into madness by casually announcing the box office appointment of Jose Mourinho. Mauricio Pochettino, with his five-and-a-half-years long project, made Tottenham punch significantly above their weight. Last season, he took them to the Champions League final when they didn't sign any player. The mere scenario described Poch’s legacy at the club as stability preceded silverware. Tottenham have been on a poor run of form despite signing the required players and now Jose Mourinho will need to turn the situation around quickly. Here are some of the challenges he will face: [KH_ADWORDS type="3" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

5. Replicating the Champions League run

Mauricio Pochettino oversaw a dream UCL campaign where Tottenham somehow managed to scrape through the group stages. They caught Borussia Dortmund unawares at home in the Round of 16 and then played two of the most incredible Champions League games in recent memory against Manchester City and Ajax. They lost the final to Liverpool but making it there with this squad was a huge blip on Pochettino’s radar and will live long in the memory of the fans. Mourinho hasn't been successful in Europe in a long while. But he had a disastrous European record in his last appointment with Manchester United. It remains to be seen how he performs on the continental stage with the squad at his disposal this season.

4. Addressing the away form of Tottenham

Tottenham have been very disappointing away from home and need a quick fix soon in the Premier League. Mourinho’s hiatus away from football and the pressure of delivering on a weekly basis may have given him a renewed perspective on Premier League clubs. It could turn out to be key in tricky fixtures away from home and register important points.

3. Financial constraints

The chairman of Tottenham, Daniel Levy, is a shrewd businessman who keeps a tight purse and likes to run his club in a very stringent manner. He is known to provide limited trade budget and the 18-month transfer drought was a testament. Managers are prompted to make the best out of existing resources. This could prove to be a challenge for Jose who has the reputation of spending large to implement his play. Although his spells at Porto and Inter are an example of how he can adapt to constraints and still deliver. It will be interesting to see whether the current Mourinho can pull something like that off once again.

2. Involving the academy into the mix

Jose Mourinho is not known to develop raw and young players from the academy and implement them into his squad. This could well prove to be a hindrance at a club like Tottenham. They either rely heavily on their academy or poach young talents early on in their careers and develop them. Influential scouting was a defining characteristic of Pochettino’s time with the club. Players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Erik Lamela, Juan Foyth, Davinson Sanchez either came up through the ranks or were identified as prodigies early on in their careers, purchased inexpensively and had their talents developed under their manager. Mourinho has stressed on the importance of focusing more on youth development after his announcement at Tottenham. “I really like this squad and looking to the young players – there is not one manager in the world that doesn’t like to play young players and to help young players to develop. There is not one. “The problem is that sometimes you get into clubs where the work that is below you is not good enough to produce these players so I look to our history and you see that the academy is always giving the talents that the first team needs. And, of course, I also look forward to work with that profile.” [KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News | ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

1. Bringing the dressing room back together

It is no secret that Mauricio Pochettino had lost the dressing room in the weeks before his sacking and had hinted at that in public. This disharmony was one of the major reasons behind the poor run of form for the club. Tottenham failed to move on many of their deadwood and held on to players who weren't keen on staying(like Christian Eriksen) and it created tensions in the side. Pochettino failed to resolve these issues and his preferential treatment to some of the players backfired. Poch had spoken about the need to work on a squad overhaul but ultimately the results led to his departure. Jose Mourinho’s first job at Tottenham would be to bring the roster under the same umbrella and make them work together. He has the personality to command, the respect in the dressing room and the man-management skills to know how to get his way with players.