What now for Jose Mourinho?

Mourinho has built his success on a foundation of clarity of thought and a courage of conviction. A career based on absolutes now faces its most uncertain period yet

Former Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho was hired to win Tottenham Hotspur's first trophy in 13 years, but with just days remaining before their only chance to do that this season, his time is up.

Chairman Daniel Levy had seen enough having travelled to Goodison Park on Friday night to see for himself how far his appointment of the Portuguese 17 months ago had gone awry.

That the trigger was finally pulled just six days before the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City tells you everything: Spurs believe they have a better chance of winning silverware without Mourinho than they did with him.

A deeply fortunate 2-2 draw - inspired by Harry Kane, who else - proved to be Mourinho's final match in charge with the curtain coming down on his latest spell in Premier League management on Monday morning.

Levy thanked him being a "true professional" who had shown "enormous resilience" to guide the club through the pandemic.

But despite that, like so many jobs before it, it ended with nothing to show and a club in need of a rebuild from his rubble.

While the announcement came just 12 hours after confirmation that Tottenham were to be one of the 12 founder members of the new European Super League, there should be no mistake. This has nothing to do with the future and everything to do with the past and a string of results that just weren't good enough.

Mourinho ended up winning just 51 per cent of his games in charge of Spurs. Only with Leiria (45%) - his second ever job - has he posted a lower win ratio.

Spurs' 10 defeats this campaign is the most a Mourinho side has ever suffered in a single league season, while only in 2015-16 with Chelsea (0.9) and 2018-19 with United (1.5) has a Mourinho side averaged fewer points per game than this Spurs side in 2020-21 (1.6).

Mourinho leaves Tottenham seventh and five points behind fourth-placed West Ham. The Europa League exit, via a shocking 3-0 reverse against Dinamo Zagreb, still leaves a bitter taste too.

But it wasn't just results that saw him finally relieved of his duties but the performances put forward to secure them. Once one of the premier, forward-thinking managers of his generation, Mourinho instead now cuts that of a figure left behind.

While Jurgen Klopp's aggressive counter-pressing and Pep Guardiola's total football have propelled both Liverpool and Manchester City to new heights and rich success, Mourinho's defence first approach appears born from another era and not one many others care to revisit.

Former Spurs midfielder Jamie Redknapp said in December Mourinho was "asking for trouble" with such a reserved style, while ex-striker Darren Bent labelled the tactics "outdated"

While players of a decade ago responded to Mourinho's abrasive approach, the new, modern version appears in need of a more delicate touch.

As with so many of Mourinho's spells of late talk of a break down in relationship with the dressing room was never too far away and while the likes of Kane, one of the few players to maintain his level under the Portuguese, have spoken in positive terms of working with him, the suggestion is the atmosphere behind the scenes will now be a much better one now that he's gone.

So what next? The Premier League looked behind him when he left Manchester United in December 2018 only for him to re-emerge at another top club 12 months later.

A similar reappearance seems harder to imagine this time around, however. English football appears to have moved on from Mourinho. Mourinho must decide where he moves on from it to go.

Mourinho "the Special One" built his success on a foundation of clarity of thought and a courage of conviction.

A career based on absolutes now faces its most uncertain period yet.