Jose Mourinho may be football’s foremost Machiavellian of his generation so perhaps it is no surprise he spent some of his early weeks at Tottenham railing against his new charges’ apparent pleasantness.
He joked that when he faced Spurs with his previous clubs that none of them insulted him in the tunnel and lamented: “It is a team that is too nice.” There are few greater crimes in Mourinho’s world, and he finds new ways of urging them to be more hostile on the field.
Perhaps tactical nuances make less compelling television or maybe Amazon Prime arrowed in on Mourinho's attempts to alter Spurs' mentality in the All Or Nothing documentary. So there are expletives and exhortations to be more merciless. Football is distilled down to who wants it more.
Mourinho, with his charismatic quotability, is made for the camera, the star of his own show. He is aware of the perception “that I never smile, that I am ruthless.” He has often been at his best when his comments are laced with a sense of mischief and, laughing, he added: “The truth is there is some truth in it.”
Actually, it shows Mourinho smiling, winding up Dele Alli, savouring the bond with the players that used to be his strength and which he lost at Chelsea and Manchester United.
The master of psychology is looking for which buttons to press: surprised to hear that Moussa Sissoko has great influence in the dressing room, noting that Jan Vertonghen is a “warrior”, seeking to strike up a relationship with Harry Kane.
And yet Mourinho has always been defined by the results and the recurring theme is the quest to qualify for the Champions League. He interpreted his first two wins in the context of the table. After beating Bournemouth in November, he noted Spurs were only six points off the top four. It marked an immediate uplift.
Yet examine the final standings – and the last six episodes will show more about Mourinho’s journey from 14th to sixth – and Tottenham finished seven points behind Chelsea. In short, they were a point further away from the top four.
The ends have always justified the means for Mourinho, and Tottenham ended up in a position that was both an improvement and unsatisfactory.
The Mourinho gamble has not succeeded. His chairman, Daniel Levy, loses some of his mystique with some bland pronouncements but is also seen describing the Portuguese as one of the world’s top two managers – he does not state if Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or someone else is the other – and Spurs’ season did not endorse that view.
It was not All Or Nothing, as much as a campaign that ended with something of dubious benefit, in a Europa League place.
He is used to better but Mourinho is shown as a managerial addict. “I belong to the game,” he said. Out of work, he explained: “I was empty, I needed my place.” It is that refusal to let go, perhaps, that took him back to Tottenham.
It is part of a battle to prove his relevance. “I have to show the players the manager I am,” he said. “The future is more important than the past.” For Mourinho, though, surely the past, with his increasingly distant Champions League wins, is more significant. The game may have moved on but man-management and motivation remain part of his strategy.
But his tongue was always part of his weapons. His bluntness makes for entertainment, not least when he addresses Serge Aurier. “Serge, I am afraid of you as a marker because you are capable of doing a [bad] penalty because of VAR,” said Mourinho. In an instant, he spoke for Spurs fans everywhere.
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