Tottenham legend blasts calls for Mourinho’s sacking

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle has labelled links to Jose Mourinho’s sacking at Spurs as “ridiculous” as the club prepares for a cup final in April.

Spurs are currently on a run of just three wins in their last 13 games and have fallen to ninth place on the Premier League table having led the league as recently as the beginning of December.

The Portuguese manager has failed to get the best out of a host of his summer recruits and has battled inconsistency throughout the team, but Hoddle believes talks on his future at Spurs are far too early.

“He has been brought in to bring silverware, he is in a cup final,” he told the Evening Standard.

“How can you sack somebody who has got a cup final in April? It is ridiculous. That is the reason why he has been brought in.”

Mourinho has won trophies at every club he has been to, and recently affirmed his coaching methods as “second to nobody in the world” despite Tottenham’s poor run of form.

The former Chelsea and Manchester United boss spent upwards of €110 million in the summer on the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty, with the new recruits so far largely failing to deliver consistently.

Mourinho’s decision to not strengthen Spurs’ attack in January could prove a costly one with Carlos Vinicius and Lucas Moura not providing any sort of support to Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min.

Kane and Son have scored 26 of the 37 Tottenham goals in the Premier League and also have 17 assists between them, while the rest of the team has 15 combined.

But overall, Hoddle believes Mourinho’s experience and standing in the game warrants him more time to turn things around as the Spurs chase their first trophy since the 2008 League Cup.

“Consistency and maybe other things have got to change over time, but I think he has earned the right with what he has done in his career to be given more time,” he said.

“A couple of wins and the confidence can come back.”

Mourinho’s men are preparing for their Europa League round of 32 second leg encounter with Austrian side Wolfsberger after a comprehensive 4-1 win away from home in the first leg last week.

After that, Tottenham face three of the bottom seven in the league in Crystal Palace, Burnley and Fulham, and Mourinho will surely see that run as an opportunity to gather some much needed momentum as they eye a return to the Champions League.