Jose Mourinho can be a prisoner of his past. It invites comparisons and when Mourinho fails to touch the heights he scaled in his prime, they can be unflattering. His gift for a memorable phrase and his mastery of the barbed taunt mean Mourinho provided a memorable commentary on his glory years. His old words can be used against him.
And so it was that, when Tottenham were losing 5-4 at Everton on Wednesday, long-time Mourinhologists remembered his verdict on an earlier 5-4 Spurs defeat, to Arsenal in 2004. "This was not a football score, it was a hockey score," Chelsea's brash young manager said disparagingly.
Even in three-against three matches in training, he added: “When the score reaches 5-4, I send the players back to the dressing room, because they are not defending properly.”
Seventeen years later, Mourinho found fault with Spurs’ defending at Goodison Park. In 2004, Mourinho was speaking from a privileged position: none of his teams had ever conceded five times. Now, almost 1,000 games into his managerial career, three have. And the architect of that first evisceration awaits him on Saturday.
In 2010, Mourinho’s Real Madrid lost 5-0 to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. His response in following Clasicos was to field three defensive midfielders, including Pepe, to seek to spoil in bad-tempered affairs. In January 2015, his Chelsea lost 5-3 to Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham. His Chelsea had played attacking football for the first half of that campaign but battened down the hatches and defended their way to the title.
If nothing else, perhaps Mourinho has found a way of answering his critics. Some of Tottenham’s recent football – the 1-0 defeats to Brighton and Chelsea in particular – had been out of keeping with the club’s traditions and identity, devoid of ambition or entertainment.
To dare is to do? Not for the innately cautious Mourinho. But some of Spurs' attacking football at Goodison Park was genuinely good. Mourinho has marketed himself as the pragmatic winner and was not appointed to come eighth but if Tottenham are to be eighth, there is no doubt supporters would rather their path was action-packed.
But so to a game where Mourinho's inferiority complex tends to lead to defensiveness. As Spurs manager, he has actually won both meetings with Guardiola. The first, last February, came in improbable fashion. Manchester City had 19 shots to Spurs' three, registered an expected goals total of 3.25 to 0.42 and lost 2-0. Come November's rematch, Tottenham felt more convincing, but the shot count was still 22-4 and not in their favour.
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Everton v Spurs ratings
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They remain the last team to defeat City, who are now unbeaten in 22 games and on a record winning run of 15, but it is a moot point if his formula is repeatable. Then Mourinho's tactical ploy entailed dropping midfielders Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Moussa Sissoko back inside the full-backs to form an ersatz back six.
Flaws at the heart of the defence have materialised since then. Eric Dier has been left out for the last two games since conceding the penalty against Chelsea. Mourinho has long appeared unconvinced by Davinson Sanchez, who tripled his Tottenham goal tally at Everton but who he targeted as a weak link in the 2017 Europa League final and took off at half time at Brighton.
Toby Alderweireld was a player he wanted at Manchester United but who is in decline now. Joe Rodon has plenty of potential but erred for Liverpool’s third goal. Behind them, Hugo Lloris was culpable for Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s strike on Wednesday.
Mourinho has dropped hints he would have liked further defensive additions. But he made six summer signings – six more than Pochettino got in 2018 – even if one of them, Gareth Bale, was not on the bench at Everton, has only been given two league starts and seems an expensive sideshow. Mourinho appeared to question the Welshman’s attitude by deeming his latest injury “not obvious”; even if fit, however, he would not be starting at City.
The over-reliance on Harry Kane and Son Heung-min is in part of a consequence of Mourinho’s tactics and a preference for a workhorse – probably Steven Bergwijn – alongside them in the front three. A defensive attacker should be accompanied by a defensive mindset. Mourinho does not often concede five, but when he does, he gets more negative.
