Report: Tottenham want Nagelsmann to replace Mourinho

Julian Nagelsmann is said to be the man lined up to replace Jose Mourinho as Tottenham boss, as their season has unravelled very quickly.

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Spurs have lost five of their last six games in the Premier League and although they are in the latter stages of the UEFA Europa League and the League Cup final, Mourinho knows his team is underperforming.

His recent comments about he and his coaching staff being the best in the Premier League suggested he knows he’s on the hot seat. This is textbook Mourinho posturing.

This latest report, from The Daily Telegraph, states that Tottenham want RB Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann to be their next boss and Daniel Levy would certainly be keen to get them back on track and challenging for a UEFA Champions League spot after the move to their new stadium.

Mourinho was asked about his relationship with Levy ahead of Spurs’ upcoming Europa League game and this is what he said.

“My relationship is the same since day one, which is one of respect and open communication. There is no contradiction between us because we both feel the same. I believe we all feel the same feelings. Nobody is happy, nobody is depressed and everybody feels we are going to do better,” Mourinho said.

But will Mourinho be the man in charge to lead Spurs on that upward trajectory he predicts?

Nagelsmann, 33, is widely-regarded as the best young manager in Europe and he’s worked wonders at Hoffenheim and Leipzig and has always said he wants to coach in England in the future.

Following from the success of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and a bright start for Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, it appears the Premier League big boys will continue to look to Germany for their coaches.

Would Nagelsmann to Tottenham make sense?

It would be a return to the Tottenham philosophy and playing style, as Nagelsmann prefers high-intensity, attacking soccer and is a disciple of Ralf Ragnick (just like Klopp, Tuchel, Ralph Hasenhuttl and many others).

Under Mourinho right now, Spurs are a reactive, defensive and counter-attacking team and although that worked well early in the season, teams have figured them out. Big time.

Does Mourinho have a Plan B? Or will he be removed as boss after his first full season in charge at Spurs?

“Thank god I’m not the manager I was. Probably, I wouldn’t be as calm, confident and in control of my emotions. Sometimes during my career I had problems not in relation to results. As you know, I didn’t have many bad runs,” Mourinho said.

“Day-by-day problems happened many times and I reacted previously in a much more emotional way. Maybe age and experience makes you realise that we are better equipped to cope with negative moments. I am calm, I am in control of my emotions. My nature doesn’t change. If I lose a game, of course I am not happy, but maturity helps. I feel very confident and I believe we are going to improve and I will be in Tottenham history for the good reasons and not the bad reasons.”

Perhaps the only thing that can save his job now is winning the League Cup or the Europa League, but even then, is he really the right man to take Tottenham back to being top four contenders?

The next logical step for Nagelsmann?

Nagelsmann, like Mauricio Pochettino, seems like a very good fit for Tottenham and Levy will be keen to not have to give Mourinho huge sums of cash to rebuild this team. He’d much rather have someone like Nagelsmann develop and improve young, hungry players.

But what about Nagelsmann? Is moving to Spurs the next logical step in his career? From Hoffenheim to Leipzig to Tottenham is a very steady and upwards progression, even if Leipzig are now regulars in the latter stages of the Champions League, something Spurs dream of.

That said, would Nagelsmann prefer to wait and see if the Bayern Munich or the Liverpool job come up? He’d be the perfect next man up for Liverpool, if and when Jurgen Klopp departs.

There’s no doubting that this would be a return to Tottenham’s model of hiring a young, hungry manager and it would be a dramatic change from Mourinho, as Levy can’t seem to decide what direction he wants to take Spurs in.

The longer that remains the case, the more reports we will see about Heung-min Son, Harry Kane and others thinking about leaving. This is a big six months or so for Levy’s project at Tottenham.

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