Since it's almost over, I'm going to add my two pence (which I've probably done a number of times but anyway...).
First things first, maybe because I'm a foreigner, but Mourinho's personality (or, more likely, his persona) never came into consideration for me. On the other hand, I do believe managers deserve a bit more sympathy. When you think about it, it's not so easy to give up on a winning formula. His low block system served him well at the start of the season. We went top of the league that way. When things go awry, it's only natural to think that it's an accident or the players' fault. It worked before so it's just a blip. I think, if you look at yourself, you'll realise it's a problem we all have: we tend to stick to what works for us.
It's certainly a problem most managers have anyway. That's because changing isn't a guarantee of success. It's an even more difficult decision to take when your job is on the line. It didn't work but Mourinho had the balls to try and do that, and I give him credit for it.
However, I believe football has passed him by now. From what I've read, he relies on giving a lot of freedom to more talented players and adapting to the opposition. Unfortunately, football is all about patterns and combinations now. It's all about imposing your system to the opposition and a set system is something he doesn't really have. Worse still, his way of doing things makes it almost mandatory to play your best players as much as possible, in order for them to develop a good understanding. It worked well for a couple of months but the number of games caught up with us, despite the fact that we were relatively lucky with injuries. It also makes it very difficult to integrate new players in the team, they have to be extra talented, like Bale, to make it work.
Having said all that, I can't help but feel that some of us are taking a twisted pleasure in seeing a manager they don't like failing. It's certainly understandable, but I don't think it's a good thing at all. In world football, Mourinho's reputation remains much, much bigger than Spurs'. I'm afraid being the only club where he didn't win anything will shed a very poor light on us. I know that if I were a top manager, I'd think twice before joining a club where he failed so miserably. I'd add that, after van Gaal's and Mourinho's tenures at ManU, they were back to being linked Moyes-like managers. Pochettino was the highest-profile manager they've been linked with recently and while he's considered an up and coming manager, he's won peanuts.
THe only silver lining to this cloud is that the power and money are so concentrated at the top of the game that it's no longer a managers' game. Flick and Zidane had next to zero experience as managers when they won Europe's first prize. You have to be a donkey like Kovac to miss the boat once you've inherited one of the best squads in the world. Of course, managers still make a difference if you're an also-ran but there was no substitute for a massive investment considering where we set our sights.
I'd be very surprised if we ever won anything with that squad of players, no matter how talented some of them are. It's a shame but the same things have happened repeatedly over the past few years. Soon enough, in a couple of years, we'll begin a new cycle with a different bunch of players. Let's just hope this one will be more successful.
