West Ham vs Tottenham: Jose Mourinho is back in his element – and it’s as if he never went away
Ten months without an away win...then Mourinho lands one in his first game
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If West Ham fans hamstrung by the shambles that was the Central Line on Saturday morning could take any solace from the delay in taking their seats, it’s that they’d have missed the opening six minutes. Because they were right.
Well, half-right. The sheer weight of Jose Mourinho’s aura demands attention, even if you don’t want to part with it, least of all to him. Yet despite this being a West Ham home game, with their own matters to tend to, his was the last face on the big screen before both teams kicked off.
Four minutes in, he had his first chat with the fourth official when Harry Kane had a goal ruled out for offside. The decision was spot on – Kane was about a yard beyond the last defender. But Mourinho took the opportunity to walk to the edge of his technical area and have a word with Robert Jones, like a Sunday league defender gently pressing his studs onto the back of the opposition striker’s heel – just to let him know he was there.
The cameras certainly knew he was.
As the clock ticked over to six, there was some diligent note-taking in his seat to cap off a hat-trick of big screen appearances. Within five minutes of the second half, though, West Ham had bigger things to worry about than Mourinho’s screen time, and the man himself could afford to drop the blue steel for a beaming smile and excitable embrace of his new assistant Joao Saracmento. At 3-0, an opening win was secured and, finally, he could relax. So, too, could the fans.
Just as it was for those associated with Manchester United, there is a fear the Old Mourinho is no more. That time has left him and his tactics in the past. And especially after the stint at Old Trafford, Mourinho had to give it the big sell.
After charming Daniel Levy in midweek, now he had to work on the fans whose only reservation about his signing is what he has become rather than what he was.
What they saw was a masterclass on both sides of the touchline.
His starting XI was not full of attacking pegs in defensive holes as glibly predicted on social media. What energy was lacking under Mauricio Pochettino had been rediscovered, though that might be relative to West Ham’s ineptitude rather than an extra gear.
There were those typical flourishes we’ve come to expect from the eight-time title winner, conducting matters in a very literal way, and not just for those wearing white on the field. The finger would wag in Spurs’ direction when there was a debatable throw-in on his side. When it went his team's way, both referee and assistant were given an affirmative nod. As Tottenham were preparing for a corner in first-half injury time, he turned on his heels and sauntered down the tunnel. Job done.
As Manuel Pellegrini grew weary and began laying into the fourth official, Mourinho hovered and monitored his opposition manager’s dismay. Moments later, he’d sidle up to the same official and perk him up. Naturally, most of his gesturing towards his team was done when West Ham were in possession which often preceded a deliberate catwalk waltz to the outer limits of the turf. And each goal brought up something more from him.
Son Heung-Min’s opener drew a punch of the air and shake of the hand with his Sacramento. The second was more animated. The third, a proper release of emotion.
He’d dressed for the occasion, too, with a shirt and jumper combination under a sleek dark coat. That’s how he starts of course: an elegant debutant before things go south – as they did at Real Madrid, Chelsea (part two) and Manchester United – and he opts for club tracksuits for comfort over style. In a relationship, you might call it nesting. But in football management, it’s his way of giving up.
If there was an indication of dismay, it came with the snarl and roll of the eyes when Angela Ogbonna had bundled in a second for West Ham deep into the six minutes of additional time that eventually brought the final whistle.
There was no time for a third, but the cleansheet and sizeable opening win that looked certain just 20 minutes before had gone. It was not quite the typical Mourinho display on the field. But it certainly was off it.
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