The appointment of Jose Mourinho at Tottenham has so far brought more questions than answers.
Will ‘The Special One’ be able to rescue Spurs so-far disastrous season? Would Mourinho break tradition in his career and give youth a chance after years of success with academy players at Tottenham? And can Eric Dier seriously benefit from the appointment of the former Manchester United manager who oh so desperately wanted him at the Red Devils as per The Independent?
The answer to two of those questions are seemingly ‘yes’, with Mourinho claiming a 3-2 win against West Ham in his debut match in charge of Spurs and partnering Dier in a midfield-pivot alongside Harry Winks, though we are yet to see what the former Real Madrid manager’s stance will be on Tottenham’s young players hoping to break into the first-team.
Indeed, promoting youth was something Mauricio Pochettino prided himself in as the likes of Winks, Kyle Walker-Peters and Ryan Mason were all handed their first-team debuts by the former Spurs boss, with Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Juan Foyth also being able to flourish in the senior squad by the Argentine.
Will Mourinho's give youth players a chance?YesNo |
Yet with Mourinho, the so-called ‘Enemy of the Academy’ as claimed by Tifo Football, there is a genuine concern that the Portuguese manager will essentially cut this healthy stream of young players from the youth academy to the first-team based on the vast amount of evidence that supports the 56-year-old’s reluctance to use prospects as reported by The Telegraph.
But tonight against Olympiakos, Mourinho has a chance to completely subvert expectations and show that he is willing to give youth a chance as he claimed to The Daily Mail last week.
With the likes of Troy Parrott and Olivier Skipp already in-and-around the first-team after being promoted by Pochettino, Mourinho could be afforded to play one or the other against the Greek side tonight in north London.
A victory will see Spurs progress to the last 16 of the Champions League, and one youngster amongst a group of senior players will be a seemingly risk-free way of Mourinho to stay true to his words as well as continue the reputation formed by Pochettino of continuing to play players straight out of the academy.