Jose Mourinho ‘paid price for negative football’ but timing of Tottenham sacking questioned by Danny Murphy as he’s axed on week of League Cup final

Tottenham’s decision to sack Jose Mourinho has been backed, but former star Danny Murphy has questioned the ‘bizarre timing’ of the manager’s exit.

Spurs confirmed Mourinho’s stunning departure on Monday morning, with Ryan Mason put in temporary charge, less than a week before their Carabao Cup final clash against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.

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Jose Mourinho and his Tottenham coaching staff were relieved of their duties on Monday

While the news came as a surprise on the same morning when the new European Super League plans are the talk of world football, realistically few would have been shocked by the Special One’s exit.

Supporters have been unhappy with their team’s negative style of play this season, which has taken them to seventh in the Premier League table, and many have been calling for Mourinho’s head for months.

There was a sense victory in the Carabao Cup, delivering the north London club’s first trophy win for 13 years, would have seen the decorated Portuguese coach continue in his role, though.

And Murphy believes Spurs have made the move now to avoid that happening, after chairman Daniel Levy admitted in a statement ‘things have not worked out as we envisaged’.

However, he was surprised by the timing of Mourinho’s departure and worries how the lack of stability will affect Tottenham for the rest of the season.

“The timing is bizarre,” former Spurs midfielder Murphy told talkSPORT host Jim White.

talkSPORT

Danny Murphy says Tottenham were right to give Mourinho the boot as he reacted to the news live on talkSPORT

“You can talk about the style of play and how well they should have done with the squad they’ve got, but ultimately they’re a week away from the final they can win, which means a trophy and they have still got a chance to make the top four.

“So the timing of it is bizarre, for me. At any club I’ve been at where they’ve changed manager, it takes a week or two to bring stability.

“I don’t think supporters would be up in arms going, ‘oh he’s won us the League Cup, keep him, keep him. keep him’, but I am really surprised by the timing of it.

“They’ll have a plan, I don’t think Daniel Levy and the hierarchy will make a decision like that and will not know what to do, they’ll be a plan in place.

“But a week before a final… Jose Mourinho, for all his criticism, he knows how to win finals and he knows how to set up a team to win knockout games, and now he’s not going to get the chance.

AFP

Mourinho, who is known for his defensive prowess, has struggled to get the best out of his defenders at Tottenham and has often laid the blame on his players

“Some players will feel better about it, they’ll be a spring in the step of the players he didn’t get on with, but they’ll be a few with their heads down.

“It’s certainly no guarantee there’s going to be a positive effect on him going.

“It’s a really strange time to do it… but the style of football has been his downfall, not his attitude and what he’s said to the press.

“I don’t think his attitude has been anywhere near as bad as it has been in the past, the biggest problem Mourinho has had is the amount of times the team has been set up too negatively and played on the back foot.

“I think, though they had enough ammunition to get rid of him whether he won the League Cup or not because the style of play is so negative.

“That’s what the fans have been watching and they haven’t been happy for a long time.”

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