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Tottenham: Four Key Matches That Defined Their Season

By Keith Lisenbee

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur celebrate after scoring goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 2, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur celebrate after scoring goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 2, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images) /
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2. November 23, 2019, Jose Mourinho’s first match in charge

The end of the Pochettino era and the start of the Jose Mourinho era was agonizingly swift.

A weak end of the previous league season, dressing room dissent, a troublesome start in all competitions in the current season led to the Argentine coach being sacked during the November international break.

His ascent to the heights of world football coaching was gradual. His fall from grace was drastically brutal. The stunning hiring of Jose Mourinho also shook the football world. The accomplished and in some circles infamous 56-year-old Portuguese manager was hired just days before Spurs were to face London rivals West Ham United.

Going into the match, Tottenham sat in a disappointing 14th place in the table. They were six points from the relegation zone, and teams like Crystal Palace, Burnley, and Bournemouth were ahead of them.

Despite having limited time to prepare the club, Mourinho injected a much-needed spark. Tottenham played with more motivation and jumped ahead of the Hammers 2-0, with goals by Son and Lucas Moura in the 35th and 42nd minutes, respectively.

Harry Kane added an additional goal in the 48th minute to put Spurs up by three. However, one of the team’s glaring weaknesses, stopping opponents from converting goal opportunities, reared it’s head again.

Michail Antonio scored in open play in the 72nd minute to give the Hammers some hope. The xG on the shot was 0.10. Late in stoppage time, Angelo Ogbonna converted from a corner, an xG of 0.07, to make the score 3-2 in favor of Spurs, which is how it ended.

The good news as the Mourinho age began was the fact Tottenham showed they could clinically finish with three goals from an xG of 2.21. The bad news was they could not stop even a weaker club from clinically finishing scoring chances as the Hammers had two goals from an xG of 0.66.

Tottenham put all their chips in with hiring a rock star manager whose hits were nearly a decade old. Would it pay off?

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