John Duggan writes that the All or Nothing film is a worthwhile insight into Jose Mourinho, who is facing an 'All or Nothing' point in his career
Dele Alli is the first big casualty of the Jose Mourinho era at Tottenham Hotspur.
It's unthinkable really. Alli had the world at his feet just a few years ago. Now, at 24 years of age, the England international faces an uncertain future. Alli was the player Liverpool let slip through their fingers, that Alex Ferguson admired, who won the PFA Young Player of the Year two years in a row. 18 goals and 9 assists in the 2016-7 season, when Spurs finished second in the Premier League. And that assist for Lucas Moura's winner in the Champions League semi-final.
Where did it all go wrong?
Jose Mourinho's arrival at Tottenham last November signalled a fork in the road for Alli. This is now clear from the fly on the wall Amazon documentary 'All or Nothing', that pulled back the curtain on Tottenham's 2019-20 season. The documentary covered Mauricio Pochettino's sacking, but in truth, it's mainly about Mourinho and how the serial trophy winner, his share price as a manager somewhat diminished, went about reshaping Spurs in his own image.
That's an ongoing process as we embark on a new campaign, and platitudes about his worth aside, Alli is set for the exit door. He didn't feature in the squad for the recent Premier League games against Southampton and Newcastle and the midweek League Cup win over Chelsea.
This is where the documentary comes in.
From the get-go, Alli was on Mourinho's radar, branded 'lazy' by the Portuguese, who, in a conversation with club Chairman Daniel Levy, questioned the player's work rate in training.
Mourinho is subject to judgement from many in the football community that he is yesterday's man, no longer the charismatic insurgent who won Champions Leagues with Porto and Inter Milan and broke the Manchester United - Arsenal duopoly in the Premier League with Chelsea.
Spells at Real Madrid and United were less successful.
So Mourinho knows he needs to conjure some magic again career-wise, before he becomes a 'has been' and fit for the international after-dinner circuit.
Without giving the game away too much when it comes to 'All or Nothing', there are a few fascinating nuggets.
The world has been turned on it's head
Spurs are a club that have romantic fans and a history of playing stylish football. There was a moment when a young Brazilian child, on a tour of the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium, was surprised by Lucas Moura. The kid gave him a hug. Not only was it heartwarming to witness the simple happiness of a child, it showed how much COVID-19 has changed everything. We took crowds and going to matches and stadium tours for granted. Last December, when Heung Min Son scored the goal of the season against Burnley, our current state was unimaginable. We have adjusted, as humans do, but one almost wants to put their hand through the screen when watching match day footage and touch normality.
The siege mentality is Mourinho's default
Brian O'Driscoll has this great turn of phrase about rugby teams needing a bit of 'nastiness' and Jose wants Spurs to play on the edge. You can see it in the promotion of Eric Dier and Giovani Lo Celso and the recent signing of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. It could explain why Mourinho didn't gel as well at establishments such as Old Trafford and the Bernabeu. There has to be an enemy, real or imagined. Combat is welcome and it's almost reminiscent of Brian Clough. The jury is out as to whether that will work in the Jurgen Klopp and Hansi Flick coaching era. An FA Cup win and Champions League qualification for Spurs under Mourinho would be nice, but a Cup win doesn't surpass what Pochettino achieved. Mourinho saw Pochettino's Spurs as too nice, and that argument could be supported by a lack of silverware. However, League Cups are nothing to sing about and Pochettino guided the club to their best league position since 1963 and a first ever European Cup final. Being a bunch of c**** as Mourinho demands only gets you so far.
Football is as ruthless as we think it is
There won't be many tears for multi-millionaire footballers, but it's an insecure and unforgiving business. The keyword there is business. We know that from Roy Keane's departure from Manchester United, for example. In the documentary, Christian Eriksen talks eloquently about players as commodities and there is a touch of 'Boxer' in the novel Animal Farm about it all. When you are performing, you are king. When your face doesn't fit, it's a lonely place. Ask Danny Rose.
Mourinho comes across as a good man
He would, wouldn't he, in a polished, club approved documentary. A conversation between Mourinho and Alli towards the start of the series was a brilliant piece of man-management that unfortunately does not appear to have had the desired effect. Mourinho carefully delivered constructive criticism to Alli about being the best he can be. When watching, one is thinking - 'Jose is right here, a footballer's career is very short, and talent cannot be squandered'. Alli seems to have received the chances Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah did not when encountering Mourinho. Jose's team talks in the dressing room are positive and one can sense the oven being turned up ever so slightly as time goes on. He gets a bad press, but Mourinho is seen to be honest, charming and on his best behaviour, all commensurate with Matt Doherty's comments about him this week. You don't win over 20 trophies by being a poor motivator. Success, like life, doesn't always go up in straight lines. Life is grey.
Daniel Levy is much more hands-on than one would think
Levy has a reputation for being a tough businessman, but it's quite a relaxed and informal environment that's sold to the viewer. Levy regularly chats to Jose and the players while eating at the canteen, and board meetings are in casual attire. He's much more ubiquitous than I believed and he's hands-on with the decisions. It's a much more lateral management structure than I would have envisioned. That doesn't mean it's not cutthroat, but it's good to see a lack of over the top corporate culture displayed.
The documentary doesn't answer the question as to where Spurs are headed
Any filmmaker must play the hand they are dealt, and this is a slick piece of content with high production values. The epic music and theatrical Tom Hardy narration does jar with an FA Cup defeat to Norwich and a sixth-place finish in the Premier League table. The subject matter is not Maradona. There's little talk about other clubs, nor was the ill-thought out and soon to be reversed furlough of club staff worthy of a mention.
Superstar Gareth Bale, Sergio Reguilon, Matt Doherty and Hojbjerg have all moved to North London, so Mourinho has been given the latitude to do things his way and try and chase success and silverware. This will all now be conducted behind the scenes, as Mourinho has banned questions about the documentary, which he is 'bored' of fielding. Perhaps he realises that he's in a race for results now, at what could be his last big chance at club management. Working for an organisation that doesn't have comparable wage bills to the mega elite and is a country mile away from a Premier League title is as big a challenge as 57-year-old Mourinho has had in a storied career. If he does turn them into a powerhouse, the one time 'Special One' will be starring again in a live film of his own making.
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