Mourinho wrong choice for struggling north London rivals

Mauricio Pochettino and Unai Emery are men under pressure at Arsenal and Tottenham respectively but is now the time to send in the ‘Special One’? The Portuguese appears to be getting itchy feet sat on the sidelines following his sacking from Manchester United last December and reports emerged on Wednesday suggesting he would be open to taking a job at either the Emirates or Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when they become available.
Emery has climbed the ladder in the next Premier League manager to be sacked rankings after a frustrating start to the season for the Gunners, while Pochettino finds himself in a similar position with Spurs.
Mourinho is the bookmakers favourite to succeed the Argentine at Tottenham, who have failed to build upon their run to the Champions League final last season.
With their impressive new stadium now complete, the Lilywhites hierarchy want to fill their home with trophies. Pochettino has, so far, failed to end the club’s 11-year wait for silverware and his chances of adding to the honours board look slim following their exit from the EFL Cup at the hands of Colchester.
Arsenal are also keen to start picking up trophies on a regular basis again and Mourinho is certainly a man who knows how to capture titles, winning 25 major honours in his managerial career.
In his last job at Manchester United, the 56-year-old won three trophies but was ultimately shown the door having failed to turn the Red Devils into serious title contenders. Given all the problems still ongoing at Old Trafford, hindsight suggests Mourinho wasn’t the only reason United fell behind Liverpool and Manchester City.
However, there was a sense he had used all the tricks in his book by the time he left United and that his methods that proved so successful at Chelsea, Porto and Inter Milan had become outdated.
A look at the stats would suggest Mourinho was a success at United though, leaving with a 58.3 per cent win ratio in all competitions, ranking him just behind Sir Alex Ferguson.
If he’s not winning things, his negative brand of football is going to be hard to stomach for fans and would be a major departure from what is usually served up on either side of the north London divide.
Arsenal have been in need of a major change for years having failed to cut out the defensive issues that have dogged them since the Emirates Stadium opened 13 years ago. At Tottenham, they don’t have the winning mentality to get them over the line in big matches.
Both those issues could be solved by Mourinho, were either club to find the cash needed to tempt him back to the capital. He would want a massive transfer war chest to change the directions of both teams but neither Arsenal or Spurs would appear to have that kind of money at their disposal.
One thing is a guarantee, it would be a massive gamble were either to move for Mourinho and doesn’t seem the right fit at this juncture.
The Portuguese is a plaster which will stop the bleeding temporarily but not get to the source of the problem. That is what both Arsenal and Tottenham need, a manager who can give their teams a fresh start but also have one eye on the future.
Arsenal have some great kids who have just graduated from their academy and are starting to break into the first team – the likes of Joe Willock and Bukayo Saka – and they need nurturing. The Gunners are a mess and aren’t trending in the right direction under Emery, whereas Tottenham just seem in need of freshening up having become stale with Pochettino at the helm.
Neither Arsenal nor Tottenham are the perfect project for Mourinho, a man who has become synonymous with spending money to get results and providing short-term fixes. Both clubs are advised to steer clear.