After firing Mauricio Pochettino, was Spurs’ chosen replacement the right man for the job? Jose Mourinho has been met with mixed criticism, with fans not sure how they feel about his tactics and ideas.

Tottenham’s form hasn’t been great, winning 4 of their last 10 games, and if it continues at this rate, they will have to settle for a place in the Europa league. What has changed since that Champions League Runner-up finish season? This term’s deterioration could be the result of many things.

Tottenham arguably parted ways with Pochettino too soon. Results had slipped but if he could take Spurs to a Champions League final, he could have easily regained their form and eventually finished with a place in the top 4. Mourinho was expected to come in and win cups but his entrance has been underwhelming – Tottenham are already out of the FA Cup and Champions League.

So why hasn’t he lived up to his billing?

One big mistake came in the winter transfer window, when Tottenham acquired Steven Bergwijn and Gedson Fernandes. Spurs should have targeted a striker just in case Harry Kane or Heung-min Son got injured, because it has been seen in previous seasons that once one of their attackers fall to injury, they struggle to score.

This is even more apparent right now as Kane, Son and even Bergwijn are all now sidelined. Tellingly, Tottenham’s goal difference is sufficiently lower than teams in the top 4.

Injuries are in fact a main reason for Tottenham’s below average season. Fellow absentee Moussa Sissoko is a major part of their midfield – it’s like a brick has been taken out of the wall, and Spurs are now noticing how fundamental he is.

Tottenham lack squad depth, but this is more due to Daniel Levy being not willing to spend to improve the team than any mistake on Mourinho’s part. Spurs didn’t sign anyone in the 2017/18 season and have always been low spenders – this could be a reason why they have been underachieving lately.

Money must be invested in a team for them to win and prosper. An example of this is Manchester City. They spent £285 million in the 2017/18 season alone, which saw them finish up with the Premier League title. It seems like one of the only ways to win is to spend large sums of money to bring in star players.

Football is starting to become a game of finance, where the teams with the richest owners succeed. Khaldoon Al Mubarak became Manchester City’s chairman in 2008 and since then they have won two Premier Leagues, two FA cups and five League Cups.

Levy recently declared in an interview that spending has “little correlation” to winning. After this statement fans have questioned whether their chairman is out of touch, and fear that it’s more evidence of limited spending in the future.

If Tottenham want to win, they need to focus on getting a new chairman rather than a new manager. With an chairman willing to spend enough money to bring in players who would change the momentum of the team, they would have a very good chance of winning a Premier League title.

But Mourinho doesn’t get on with all the players, and soon they might stop wanting to play for him. He openly criticised Tanguy Ndombele after the Tottenham-Burnley game, stating “a player with his potential has to give us more than he is giving us, especially when you see how Lucas, Lo Celso and those players are playing. I was expecting more in the first half from him.”

Criticism like this may turn the changing room against him as he is singling out one of their new players who is still adapting to the fast-paced Premier League. Situations like this decrease morale and leave players playing under pressure. Ndombele is a talented player but his Spurs spell could be ruined if he’s not handled properly.

However, Mourinho deserves time to prove he is still a world class manager by leading Tottenham to a Champions League place, made easier this year because of Manchester City’s ban. Whether Levy will ever provide the tools he truly needs though, remains to be seen.