‘It worries me’: Sky pundit ‘shocked’ at potential reason Spurs hired Jose Mourinho

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Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has expressed his shock at how Tottenham Hotspur have been defensively lacklustre in recent weeks and questioned whether Jose Mourinho has been brought in to “excite” the Spurs fans rathen than just win games.

On Sunday, Tottenham played out another high-scoring game, falling to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Wolves in North London, the third five-goal thriller in Spurs’ last five games in all competitions along with 3-2 wins over Aston Villa in the Premier League and Southampton in the FA Cup.

Over the years, Mourinho has made a name for himself as a defensively sound manager, with Merson saying he “is good enough to set a team up not to let in goals like they have been letting in goals” and describing the Portuguese as someone who “would rather win 2-0 than win 4-1”.

However, in 23 games overseen by Mourinho, Tottenham have conceded 33 times, and Merson couldn’t help but be baffled at how open Spurs have been at the back.

“It just feels that Jose Mourinho can’t wait for this season to end so he can start again,” he told Sky Sports. “How many times in the Premier League era have you seen a Mourinho team involved in these goal fests? One thing I’d expect is for his side to be solid.

“I’m shocked the way they are playing, they are so open and all over the place. This manager is good enough to set a team up not to let in goals like they have been letting in goals.

“This man wins football matches, it doesn’t matter how he wins them. He would rather win 2-0 than win 4-1! It worries me that he has to go out and excite the Spurs fans; if he’s been brought in to excite the fans and not just win football matches, then he’s in trouble.

“I’ve seen Mourinho with lesser players than that keep clean sheets. He won’t be enjoying watching this open game. He prides himself on keeping clean sheets. Nobody wins everything without keeping clean sheets.”

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Tottenham certainly appear a team going through the motions at present, and besides the front line having been hamstrung by the absence of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, the defence remains a problem as it has been all season.

Mourinho has experimented with several defensive combinations since his Spurs arrival, with three at the back deployed on occasion, plus various centre-back combinations with Toby Alderweireld alongside Japhet Tanganga, Jan Vertonghen or Davinson Sanchez.

The concept that Mourinho has been tasked with entertaining the fans, however, doesn’t seem accurate – it seems more a case of the Portuguese having inherited a team which is in need of surgery at the back – something he will hopefully be able to do in the summer.