‘Relationships broke down’ – Ledley King opens up on Mourinho’s final days at Spurs 

Ledley King has admitted that Jose Mourinho’s relationships with some of the players in the Tottenham dressing room had broken down towards the end of his time at the club.

Tottenham looked set to mount a title challenge midway into last season, with the backline looking extremely solid until December.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse, with some poor defensive errors costing the side, with the club falling outside the top six places before the Portuguese coach was sacked in April.

Mourinho chopped and changed his backline frequently in his final few months at the club and was not shy of criticising his players publicly, even insisting at one point that he could not resolve Tottenham’s defensive problems.

King, who was part of Mourinho’s coaching staff, admitted that the constant changes in the backline did not help the players’ confidence.

He also revealed that it was very difficult for the 58-year-old to turn things around once his relationships with some of the players broke down.

King told the Kelly and Wrighty Show (17/10/21): “We struggled to find a settled back four, at times. There was a lot of rotation in the team.

“I think the players started to lose confidence, especially the defenders, which was kind of a cycle. 

“Coming into the team making mistakes, then coming out of the team. Then the next one would come in and make a mistake. It was a difficult situation for them.

“But ultimately, the team was placed to have a very good season, the further along we got, some of the relationships broke down within the players and the manager. Once that happens, then it’s very difficult.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It was evident towards the end that Mourinho’s relationship with many of the players had broken down. The players seemed like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders and did not seem to be enjoying their football in Jose’s final couple of months at the club.

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