Opinion: It’s time for vital Tottenham man to step up and stop hiding after recent rotten luck

We’re not going to deny that Jose Mourinho has had some awful luck since he took to the job as the Tottenham Hotspur manager. The Portuguese tactician is a brilliant manager, but he needs to change his ways when it comes to his excuses in the media for his team’s performances.

However, Mourinho, who’s paid a massive wage by all accounts (Forbes), has been guilty of hiding behind the injuries that have amassed at the club. The ex-Real Madrid and Chelsea gaffer has had many a blow to his playing squad, but that should not be an excuse for someone with his pedigree and pay packet.

A manager is hired to deliver on the pitch, regardless of the circumstances. No one is expecting the football without Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son to be as good as the football without them, but losing two strikers and then mentioning it in every press conference isn’t a good look for Jose.

There are other ways that the Lilywhites can play. We’ve been told countless times that Troy Parrott isn’t ready to step up, yet there’s still Lucas Moura and Dele Alli who can be deputised as false nines or strikers playing on the shoulder of the last man, and the attacking talent in the Spurs midfield is more than enough to get the most out of one of those two when playing up front.

Instead, though, we’ve seen turgid, attritional football. Long balls being pumped up long to wingers who are hardly intimidating in stature, and a constant off-pitch moaning that there are no forwards to work with. Well, there’s only one man paid to find solutions, and it seems Mourinho is happy to cower and wait.

This could obviously be a ploy to force Daniel Levy’s hand in the summer, yet for some reason this just feels like the latest bewildering phase of Mourinho’s career, as his ‘the humble one’ persona has quickly diminished and we’re now looking at the cold, stressful face of a man who looks out of his depth, hiding behind injuries and refusing to look for a new way to play.