Everything changes and there is no way back but we have to adapt, claims Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho has endured a tough time at Tottenham so far
|Jose Mourinho has admitted that the football world around him will keep changing but his side needs to find a way to adapt and fight for what they believe in. The Tottenham boss has endured an up and down season since arriving in North London but Spurs are in contention for European football.
Little has gone right for Tottenham since they reached the Champions League final with Mauricio Pochettino sacked two months into the current season. However, his replacement in Jose Mourinho has managed to push the North Londoners back up the table with Spurs now sitting in ninth place but only four points of European football. While a place in the Champions League is within their reach, the club will have to work hard to get there ahead of rivals Arsenal, Manchester United and a few other teams.
However, Tottenham’s performances since the restart has been less than perfect which has seen Mourinho question the mentality of his players. But things are clearly changing with there now some semblance of a fighting spirit now visible at Tottenham and Mourinho admitted that in an ever-changing football world, his side needs to adapt and fight for what they believe in. He also added that they need to keep up with the times and can’t just play safe while hoping for the best.
"The world changes, society changes, young people change. Everything changes and there is no way back. But we have to adapt to the new world. We have to adapt to the new football that, I keep saying, is not on the pitch, it's the new football outside the pitch. We need to adapt to it, but when we believe strongly in something, we cannot give up and just play the safe side of it, just by saying that these are new times. When you really believe in something, you have to fight for it," Mourinho told Sky Sports.
The North Londoners face Arsenal in their next game with both sides undergoing a managerial change this season as the Gunners replaced Unai Emery with Mikel Arteta. Like Tottenham, the Emirates Stadium side have also been on a slow climb back up the table and Mourinho admitted that their rivals are undergoing a “similar process” like them. He also added that managers chopping and changing to find the right formula is a "normal process for a team in this situation".
"I think it's a similar process to us. A coach that comes mid-season, trying to do things now that help the team to get a position in the table but that he can also transfer to the next season. So when they change system, when they go with four at the back or five, when they go with two in the middle or three, when they go with [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang as a nine or on the left, I think it's a normal process of a team in this situation."
"Lately, they have found a way of playing that has given them very good results and I think this is the kind of feeling that a manager likes to have, because then probably the manager says, 'Okay, this is working and it's something that I must keep for the future.' I think you have to look to the future and that's what we are all doing,” he added.
