‘The players have changed’ – Ex-Chelsea player believes Mourinho has to adapt

Former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho has claimed that Jose Mourinho’s recent struggles are down to the fact that players’ personalities have changed over the years.

Few people know Mourinho’s methods as well as Carvalho with the centre-half having been part of successful teams under the 57-year-old at Porto, Chelsea and Real Madrid.

While that was an extremely successful time in Mourinho’s career, he has failed to recreate the same success since.

While he did win the title in his second spell at Chelsea his return to Stamford Bridge ended in quite an unceremonious fashion. His spell at Manchester United is also looked at as a failure despite winning the Europa League and the League Cup (Forbes).

Mourinho’s short stint in North London has been mixed to date with the Spurs boss having to deal with plenty of criticism, particularly for his style of play (ESPN FC).

Carvalho, who now serves as Andre Villas-Boas’ assistant at Marseille suggested that his former manager is having to adapt since players are not willing to buy into his old methods anymore.

When asked if Mourinho had lost his mojo, the former Portugal international told The Daily Mail: “Urm… no, I don’t think he’s lost his qualities’ says Carvalho, who also played under Mourinho at Real Madrid for three years.

“I think now the football is very different. The players have changed and they have more power. The players change how they act and Mourinho now has to accept that’s the way it is.

“Sometimes, the problem comes from the way in which the players don’t accept who he is – he is like that because he wants to achieve and wants to win trophies.

“You have to accept the way Mourinho works. So, I think he knows his own way and he has been successful every year. I think it’s more a question of time in the beginning… and then he will get results.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I do not think Mourinho’s man-management is the main problem. While it is true that players are different from how they were a decade or two ago, the Portuguese coach is a master manipulator who still knows how to push most people’s buttons.

However, the question marks are now regarding whether his tactical approach still works. The jury is still out on whether the Spurs boss can get his teams to achieve the required consistency to win a title in an era where the 100-point mark seems to be the standard.

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