Jose Mourinho must be feeling smugger than ever after watching Tottenham dismantle Real Madrid
Special One has had his critics but free-flowing Spurs definitely vindicated Mourinho’s approach against them as they made the European Champions look ordinary
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NO-ONE does smug quite as well as Jose Mourinho.
But even by his standards, the Special One would struggle to come up with a good enough “who’s right now” look after witnessing Tottenham’s display last night.
Spurs, as we all saw, put European champions Real Madrid to the sword. Outplayed them, outmanoeuvred them, out-battled them.
Systematically destroyed a side which hadn’t lost a Champions League group stage game for five years.
The same Spurs side which Mourinho had outwitted on Saturday – with a performance that may have earned him the points, but earned him countless more pelters.
Too defensive, they cried. He doesn’t understand the Manchester United philosophy, moaned others.
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In their eyes it’s all well and good to win, but you have to do so with a swashbuckling, devil-may-care, all-out attacking ethos.
Well all of a sudden that particular argument has as many holes as a Liverpool defence.
'REAL TEAM' Tottenham beating Real Madrid is the night they finally grew up seven years after Gareth Bale humiliated Maicon
Talking of which, didn’t we see exactly what this Spurs side can do to you if you DO try and face them with a flourish?
Jurgen Klopp never misses a chance to tell us all how he would never play the Jose way.
The German insists he would never be allowed to use the tactics which have served Mourinho so well.
Maybe that’s why – given Fifa’s decision to recognise their 1999 Intercontinental Cup win as making them world champions – Sir Alex Ferguson has won more trophies in retirement than Klopp has at Anfield.
It certainly didn’t do Liverpool much good when they were humiliated by Tottenham, who picked them off at will recently.
And it definitely vindicated Mourinho’s approach against Spurs. An approach which stifled a team many, with some justification, claim to be second only to Manchester City in terms of being easy on the eye.
When Real were rolling over all before them, the thought of going toe to toe with the Spaniards would have been seen as soccer suicide.
Likewise, in the days when Barcelona had their backers as the greatest club side the sport had ever seen, trying to beat them with gung-ho football would have been deemed madness.
Yes, United fans have always demanded that success is accompanied by style. But there is also a dose of realism in there as well.
After the barren years, the silverware is what matters most at the moment. The entertainment can come after.
For Mourinho that has always been the case. Record books only show the trophies and the honours, not the manner in which they were won.
There will be times when he does send out a United line-up which cuts someone to ribbons, and there will be times they will rattle in a hatful.
But they will only be at the right times. Only when the opposition allows it. Spurs wasn’t one of those occasions.
Seeing Florentino Perez puffing out his cheeks and shaking his head in the Wembley stands last night, which approach do you think the Real president would have preferred?