Jose Mourinho’s bid to shift perceptions boosted by Tottenham’s landmark win over Leicester

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Mauricio Pochettino spent his final 12 months at Tottenham obsessed by the difference between perception and reality.

For Pochettino, the perception of the club from the outside – the media narrative, the view of fans and opponents – was nothing like the everyday reality he was living. The Argentine made the observation so frequently, he began to apologise for repeating himself.

In the end, results in Pochettino's final six months in charge shifted the perception of Spurs as a squad still on the rise to one in drastic need of an overhaul, and it is this view that his successor Jose Mourinho has been fighting ever since his appointment in November.

Mourinho is simultaneously battling another creeping perception that, for him, is far more pernicious: that he is a managerial dinosaur, whose tactics do not cut it in the modern game.

These perceptions matter, so Tottenham's impressive end to the season – which continued with a 3-0 win over Leicester on Sunday – feels about more than simply securing a Europa League spot.

In outmanoeuvring progressive younger managers in Mikel Arteta and Brendan Rodgers in a week, Mourinho has begun to shift a few perceptions about his own approach and, if Spurs succeed in making it four wins on the bounce at Crystal Palace, they will have changed the entire trajectory of the club ahead of a crucial summer.

Photo: PA
PA

Hamstrung by stadium debts and the ongoing affects of the pandemic, Spurs are preparing to spend the transfer window competing in a fiercely competitive market for free agents, loans and players in the final year of their contracts.

Without the lure of Champions League football or big wages, selling a vision of the club has never been so important for Mourinho and his chairman Daniel Levy.

Win at Palace on the final day, and Mourinho can spend the summer pointing to five victories from the final six matches – title-challenging form – and sell Spurs to prospective new signings and disgruntled current players as a club on the up again, ready to disrupt the established powers with their contrarian brand of football.

Mourinho has repeatedly dismissed this season, believing the damage was already done when he succeeded Pochettino, and a strong end to the campaign will also allow him to start next term on the front foot, and sell it as a genuinely fresh and exciting opportunity, rather than another year hampered by familiar problems.

Last night felt like a landmark performance for Mourinho's Spurs, as they perfectly executed the manager's plan for the depleted Foxes.

Mourinho also owed the victory to the brilliance of Harry Kane, who looked back to his sparkling best as he made it 16 goals in 14 appearances against Leicester.

Kane set up Heung-min Son for the opener – which went down as a James Justin own goal – before finishing a lightning counterattack and adding a brilliant third with a trademark curling finish, all before half-time.

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