Jose Mourinho’s dilemma ahead of the Aston Villa clash is whether he sticks with the same players that have been letting him down or whether he goes bold and drops those that have not been performing and costing Tottenham results.
Solving Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Troubles
Mourinho Running Out of Time
Mourinho was brought into Spurs by chairman Daniel Levy to replace Mauricio Pochettino because he is a winner.
He has already guided the club to the Carabao Cup final giving the club a chance to win its first piece of silverware since 2008.
Recent results have placed the Portuguese manager under enormous pressure and there is little doubt that he is now fighting to save his job at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Ahead of the trip to Aston Villa, he has a choice to make on his team selection. Does he allow the players to redeem themselves or does he freeze them out?
Young Players Breaking Through: Dane Scarlett
Oliver Skipp is a player that Mourinho and the Tottenham staff admire and has excelled on loan at Championship side Norwich City this season and will surely be a key player in the future for Spurs.
One player that remains at the club is youngster Dane Scarlett and maybe he will get his chance to show what he can do in a Spurs shirt against Villa. It was Mourinho that gave him his debut in the Premier League and even it was for just a few minutes, the Spurs boss was keen to give him that taste of first-team action, telling Tottenham’s official website;
“I wanted to be the one to put him on in a Premier League match. Because I know that he will be somebody in a few years.”
It may be that some raw and uninhibited talent is what Spurs need right now.
Senior Players Failing to Perform
The aftermath from Hugo Lloris’ no holds barred post-match interview following the ignominious defeat to Dinamo Zagreb has seen no other players come out to offer any sort of apology for the “disgrace” of a performance.
Players that Mourinho would have hoped would stand up and be counted just did not turn up in Croatia or in North London derby defeat.
Even Harry Kane looked lethargic and had little impact in either game. Lloris referred to a lack of togetherness in the squad that had been there in the past but now seems to be long gone. Tottenham have a squad that has changed little in nearly seven years and it appears that many have run their course at the North London club.
Is Jose Mourinho’s Dilemma One That Can Be Solved?
Tensions between players and Mourinho’s reported ‘silent treatment’ of his players are all aspects that point to a club in crisis and Mourinho cannot afford another defeat or poor performance when his troops face Aston Villa.
A win and positive performance might buy him some time but his real dilemma is whether he thinks in the long term he can turn a team of underachieving players into winners.
On present form, Tottenham look like a club lurching from one crisis to another and anything other than a win against Villa may be the final nail in what is quickly looking like a thankless task for a manager with a thankless set of players.
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