2019 is a poignant year for Tottenham. It’s the year they reached the Champions League final and rather shockingly, the same year Mauricio Pochettino was given the boot.
For all of the outstanding work Pochettino did in north London, turning the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane into genuine stars, he left the Lilywhites behind having not won a trophy.
So, what did Levy do? He went and hired one of the most successful managers of the 21st century; Jose Mourinho.
jose-mourinho-tottenham-hotspur
The self-proclaimed Special One has been there and got the t-shirt as far as English football is concerned. He’s a multiple Premier League winner, and a multiple FA Cup winner. He’s even won the Champions League.
Surely he was going to help Spurs earn the trophy they were craving? Think again. It all ended in tears.
Mourinho lasted just 86 games with a points-per-match record of 1.77, the third worst of his career. That rather said it all.
Mourinho’s first transfers at Spurs
Entering in November of 2019, it wasn’t until January 2020 that the great Portuguese coach got the chance to welcome his own players to the capital.
It wasn’t the most rip-roaring start to proceedings, bringing Giovani Lo Celso and Steven Bergwijn to the club. The duo only just left Spurs in the summer but did so having not played very much football.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Steven Bergwijn celebrates
The summer of 2020 was a tad more promising though. Despite a world ravaged by the global pandemic, he welcomed two faces to the club from Real Madrid.
Mourinho was the one to entice Gareth Bale back to English football, welcoming the Welshman back on a loan deal. Bale was rather forced out of Madrid despite several years of wonderful service, scoring in a Champions League final and winning three LaLiga crowns.
Gareth-Bale-Spurs-stats (2)
He wasn’t the only player arriving from the Spanish capital, however. Left-back Sergio Reguilon joined and initially started very well in Spurs colours.
Indeed, analyst Raj Chohan admitted that the Spaniard was “unstoppable” at points, notably after a first-class assist for Bale’s goal against Brighton in a 2-1 win.
Arsenal and Tottenham are said to be battling it out to sign a midfielder ahead of next summer as both teams look to improve on disappointing starts tot he season. The Gunners are way off the title pace, nine points behind leaders Liverpool as things stand.
As for Spurs, they are just three points off the top four, but they are struggling to maintain any kind of consistency, and it feels as though pressure is already building on Ange Postecoglou in his second season in charge. Time will tell what impact those starts of the season will have on Arsenal and Tottenham’s seasons, but both clubs will be targeting better starts come next summer.
Recruitment will be key to that, and according to one report, the North London clubs are battling it out for an attractive talent. According to Christian Falk, Eintracht Frankfurt star Huge Larsson is a player both clubs are vying to sign.
