Tottenham icon Chris Waddle has backed Jose Mourinho to turn the club’s fortunes around after a troubling spell that has seen Spurs exit the FA Cup and throw their top-four hopes into doubt.
Speaking to The Racing Post, the former England international voiced his supporter behind the Portuguese manager as the man to dig Tottenham out of danger, with Waddle bringing up that Mourinho is yet to shape the squad into the way he wants it to be and that it is still early days for fans to be judging the ex-Manchester United boss.
Tottenham have had a torrid time in recent weeks with the north London club this week being dumped out of the FA Cup on penalties by Norwich City as well as losing ground in the race for Champions League football as Spurs fell to a 2-3 defeat to Wolves last weekend, yet for Waddle, he believes that fans should be patient with Mourinho, who has a lot of work to do if he is to turn the club’s fortunes around.
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The former Newcastle United winger said: “Managing Tottenham is the biggest challenge Jose Mourinho has ever faced – but I still think it’s too early to judge him. He inherited from Mauricio Pochettino a squad who were struggling in the Premier League and clearly in need of a revamp,” with Waddle later adding: “He has to get through this season and rebuild in the summer, and I reckon you’ll see a proper Mourinho side turning out in August.
“Mourinho hasn’t won two Champions Leagues and countless trophies throughout Europe’s big leagues without knowing what makes a good team and he will know exactly what is required to transform Tottenham.”
Spurs’ current run is nothing short of poor and something supporters would have expected better in, but Waddle’s words speak volume as to how much a good chunk of fans are overreacting about Mourinho and the current state of Tottenham,
The Portuguese manager was brought in to put Spurs back on the right path after losing their way under Mauricio Pochettino, and this process will take time and patience, something modern football fans seem to have little of nowadays, and the Tottenham board and Daniel Levy will likely be on board with Waddle’s words of encouragement going into the future.