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Jose Is Back, Will He Last?
Soccer Laduma
|27 November 2019
Jose Mourinho has re-turned with a bang! Not many would have thought Tottenham Hotspur would sack Mauricio Pochettino after the Argentine led them to the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League final, and even fewer would have thought chairman Daniel Levy would replace him with Jose Mourinho.
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The latter seems to be the complete opposite of the Argentine in so many ways, but there is one thing he has consistently done throughout his career – win trophies! Spurs last won silverware in the 2007/08 campaign, and it seems the club decided it is time to throw the rest of their philosophies overboard in order to end their trophy drought. They have appointed a serial winner to do so, but does Mourinho still have what is needed?
Pochettino’s spell will not be forgotten!
Mauricio Pochettino seems to have become a victim of his own success, and his sacking shows how football has changed. Yes, he did not win a trophy during his five years in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, but he did oversee one of the best spells in the club’s history. When he was appointed head coach, he became the team’s 10th manager over a 12year span, and lasted five years in the job. In his first year, he reached the League Cup final but lost 2-0 to Chelsea, while in his second season – Leicester City’s fairytale campaign – Spurs ended in third spot in the Premier League. The following season, Spurs finished with a club-record high of 86 points – their highest-ever points tally in the Premier League and their highest finish in 52 years. Pochettino also became the first Spurs manager to win 100 Premier League games, and is also third-quickest manager to achieve this feat for a single club. In 2018/19, Pochettino led Spurs to their firstever European Cup final, but his side ended up second-best after being beaten 2-0 in the final by Liverpool.
This story is from the 27 November 2019 edition of Soccer Laduma.
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