Jose Mourinho may not have said anything out loud, but he harbours hopes of Tottenham Hotspur winning the next Emirates FA Cup competition, the Carabao Cup tournament, and maybe ending up Europa League champions too.
When Mourinho became manager of Tottenham Hotspur back in November 2019, Spurs were still in two major Cup competitions – the Champions League, and the Emirates FA Cup.
Rated the 6th best manager in the English Premier League, a standing based mainly on silverware by dint of winning one FA Cup, four Carabao Cups, and one Europa League Cup, not to mention the two Champions League Cups he won with Porto and Inter Milan; hopes were high that he could steer Spurs towards one of the two Cups that Tottenham were still competing for last season.
It was not to be. He inherited a squad that had lost belief in itself, and then his two main strikers, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min sustained long-term injuries. As a result, they were knocked out of the Champions League competition by RB Leipzig and were taken out of the FA Cup by Norwich.
So, a poor season for both him and the club, bearing in mind they also missed out on a fourth-place finish in the Premiership.
Realistically, Spurs are not going to win the Premiership title this season, although their last few match results have been very promising. The problem is that Tottenham are not consistent enough. It is something that Mourinho will hope to address, but it is likely to take a couple of seasons to get there. They do however have a good cup competition record, and with their new signings, some silverware could very well be on the cards.
In the last FA Cup competition, statistics showed Spurs to be 6th best at avoiding an upset. However, at the end of the day, they were knocked out of the last 16 by Norwich City. It was most definitely an upset, and one they didn’t avoid despite the stats. This season could very well be different.
In terms of the soccer fans’ ratings, Mourinho is placed 9th best in the world. It is because of his past record and the fact that he is a master tactician, and this, along his vastly improved squad, is what could guide Spurs to FA Cup glory and more.
Squad improvements started in the last winter transfer window with the arrival of Giovani Lo Celso from Real Betis, and Steven Bergwijn from PSV Eindhoven. The summer transfer window arrivals have been even better.
The return to the fold of Gareth Bale stole the headlines, but there were plenty of other excellent acquisitions too. They included probably the best attacking left-back in Europe, Sergio Reguilon – like Bale, also from Real Madrid; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton, Joe Hart from Burnley, Matt Doherty from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Carlos Vinicius from Spanish club Benfica.
Additional good news is that Delle Ali, who was strongly being tipped to join PSG, is still in the Lilywhites squad. With such a strong squad, Mourinho’s managerial and tactical skills, plus his desire for silverware, Spurs may well win not take not only the FA Cup, but the Europa and Carabao Cups too.
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