Former Tottenham goalkeeper, Brad Friedel has said that Tottenham Hotspur would be mistaken to sack Jose Mourinho as the Portuguese coach is still the man to help the side compete for the biggest trophies.
A few weeks ago, there were reports suggesting that Mourinho’s job at Spurs was under threat, with the North Londoners said to be eyeing Julian Nagelsmann as a potential replacement.
Those rumours went silent after Spurs came back into form and managed to win five games in a row.
However, a loss in the North London Derby and an embarrassing 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb has put pressure right back on the Tottenham boss.
Friedel has urged Spurs to show patience in the 58-year-old, insisting that the Lilywhites have a difficult task in trying to compete with teams with more financial muscle.
The former American international told CardsChat (as relayed by Football.London): “I think Mourinho’s the right man for Tottenham.
“Mauricio Pochettino’s style and Jose Mourinho’s style of play are two different things.
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“So, Mourinho would need time to know which players are going to be able to play in his style and there is a long line of players who have been groomed by Mauricio Pochettino in his style, that’s number one.
“Number two is that you’re at a club that doesn’t have even the fifth biggest budget in the Premier League. So, you’re going to consistently have to try and get 100% out of every single player to be able to compete, to possibly be able to win the League.
“Your transfer budget and your salary budget are not amongst the top. It’s not all about money, but when you’re talking about Man City and Liverpool being able to go for certain players, I’m not sure if Tottenham will be in that arena for those kind of transfer fees.
“So, could they go buy Mbappe? If they wanted to, I’m not saying they need to because they have Harry Kane, but I’m not so sure.
“So, is Jose the right man? Jose is an incredible coach, he’s been one of the very, very best of all time. But he also needs some of the very best players to be able to win the league.
“I think Daniel Levy and the board do an unbelievable job at Tottenham, look at the training ground, look at the stadium, exciting players on the pitch and they do it all not budgeting at the top, and they make money.
“The club is in a very healthy position, I think it’s a little bit unfair to talk about all the time ‘is Jose Mourinho the right guy if they don’t life a trophy?’
“You also have to budget in certain ways to win the trophies in the Premier League I’m afraid.”
There has also been plenty of speculation over Hugo Lloris’ future in recent weeks but Friedel insisted that his former Spurs teammate is still more than good enough to play at the top level.
The former Tottenham man, who was usurped by Lloris as the club’s number one in the 2012/13 season, insisted that Spurs will be hard-pressed to find a goalkeeper better than the Frenchman.
Speaking about Lloris, Freidel said: “Hugo Lloris still has the quality to be Tottenham’s number one.
“Sometimes you have to understand that the grass is not always greener and when you have experience seasoned professional football players that can deal with the ups and the downs it’s important.
“Hugo is a good guy, a good leader, he’s a humble guy, does his work every day.
“I would imagine that all of his physical stats are still top drawer, if his physical stats start dropping a little bit or mentally he doesn’t want to play, then that is something different and they can address that.
“But from what I see, I don’t know where you would go buy another goalkeeper that would be better.
“Again, looking at budget numbers as well, where are you going to find a better goalkeeper? France’s number one, at Tottenham under the budget figures that they have and that they bought Hugo for.
“I still think he’s Tottenham’s number one and I don’t see a need to change that.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Despite some of the errors Lloris has made this season, I believe most Spurs fans would agree that the Frenchman is still good enough to be the club’s number one. However, I do not expect Mourinho to be Spurs boss next season if we lose the Carabao Cup final and finish outside the top four.
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