Two months have passed since Jose Mourinho was sacked by Tottenham and somehow the club is apparently no closer to appointing his successor.
Is it because Daniel Levy refuses to compromise? Isn’t Spurs actually as attractive a club as they first thought? Or are all their candidates allergic to dog hair and have since refused to stand in the same technical area as the Dulux dog? Who knows, but one thing we definitely know is that Spurs are in a mess.
Levy’s original plan to appoint a new manager before the end of the season has gone up in smoke and with Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Erik ten Hag, Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso all passed away from the Tottenham chairman’s wish list. starting to look desperate.
Although things may not be as bad as we think. Rumor has it, there are a couple of managers somewhere in the world that Spurs have yet to contact and they may not yet be able to appoint a new manager before the season begins.
Julen Lopetegui is a name that has never really been at the forefront of the discourse about who the club should approach despite many mentions, and it is difficult to argue with the job he has done in Sevilla in recent seasons.
Spain’s track record of winning trophies is not very impressive given some of the clubs he has managed and although a “win at any cost” manager like Mourinho clearly did not work, it is hard to believe that Lopetegui is right man for Spurs right now.
Christmas Lopetegui does not seem to be a good fit for Spurs / Fran Santiago / Getty Images
Rafael Benitez is another employee to possibly be on his way back to the Premier League, but still a move to Everton seems very unlikely given the backlash already caused by their rumored talks with the former Liverpool boss.
Can he be an option for Spurs? To put it bluntly, no. Benitez is basically a dilute Mourinho – boring, pragmatic football, but you’ll probably win a trophy or two along the way. If Mourinho was not the answer, Benitez is definitely not.
Much of the conversation about Spurs’ boss hunt has centered on the fact that the new boss must be able to take advantage of the club’s philosophy and play the ‘Tottenham road’ (which as far as we can see means they just have to look good sometimes but never win anything).
Finding a manager who can provide the right mix of so-called “attractive football” and putting trophies in the cupboard is a high order – and if such a manager existed, it would probably not end up with Spurs in all honesty – even if Belgian head coach Roberto Martinez may be one of their best options.
Roberto Martinez is currently away at Euro 2020 / Sylvain Lefevre / Getty Images
While Martinez massively flopped against Everton, he has overcome the odds of guiding Swansea and Wigan to cutlery and given the quality of the players he has coached in Belgium for almost five years, you would expect him to have developed as a coach since his bad time with Toffees.
Another name on the candidate list that has already been mentioned in this article is Ajax boss Ten Hag. Despite signing a new deal at the club, rumors that Spurs may still be trying to lure him to north London have continued to circulate.
Like Martinez, Ten Hag would really fit the bill in terms of the style of play that Levy wants to bring to the club, while he also won two league and cup doubles since moving to the Dutch giants – it’s hardly winning the Premier League with Leicester type stuff , but still impressive.
Finding this perfect manager who will bring fluids, attack football at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and guide them to multiple silverware while working on a relatively short budget will be impossible, so Spurs will have to lower their expectations.
The pursuit of either Martinez or Ten Hag would pose some problems, with the Ajax boss recently signing a new deal and Martinez currently dealing with the Red Devils at Euro 2020 and will therefore probably not be available for some time.
That being said, Spurs are not in a position to be picky if they want to allow their new boss as much time as possible to assess their squad before adding where needed, and Martinez and Ten Hag appear to be the most suitable bosses. there right now.
