Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are premier league rivals. The two teams have recently seen themselves as co-challengers for the top six positions in the league.
Historically, the two clubs could not be wider apart in terms of trophy collections, champions league pedigree, fanbase and local accolades.
However, the two clubs have recently shared a love story involving their managerial appointments making for a fascinating read.
The timeline
27th May 2014 – Mauricio Pochettino appointed as Tottenham Hotspur’s manager
After a cycle of 9 managers since 2001, Pochettino was appointed as Tim Sherwood’s replacement in the 2014/2015 season. Where he finished 5th in that term. After which he took them to a third place finish in the 2015/2016 season. Achieving their highest league finish. Thus, taking them back into the UEFA Champions League after a 5 year absence. The romance was just beginning.
12th May 2016- Mauricio Pochettino signs new 5 year deal
Spurs continued their romance with Pochettino finishing second in the 2016/2017 season. And third in the 2017/2018 season. During which they were eliminated in the first round of UEFA Champions League knockout stages despite tight purse strings within the club heirarchy.
27th May 2016 – Jose Mourinho appointed Manchester United Manager on a three year deal
Mourinho’s history in the premier league begun with Chelsea in the 2004/2005 season. Where he went on to win the league and repeat the feat in 2005/2006. After which he left for other european clubs including Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
He returned to Chelsea in 2013/2014 season. After a successful 2014/2015 season, he left Chelsea by mutual consent in December 2015. After which he was appointed as United’s manager in May 2016 following the departure of Louis Van Gaal.
In 2016/2017 season, he guided United to a Community Shield, league cup and Europa League triumph.
25th January 2018- Jose Mourinho signs extension to 2020
A promising start to the 2017/2018 campaign which saw United win their first four league games eventually developed into a frustrating season with fans disillusioned by playing style.
A famous 12 minute rant by the manager following a disastrous Champions League exit to Sevilla and a whopping 19 point gap between United and eventual champions city.
Things were beginning to unravel behind the scenes. However Jose put pen to paper during the winter transfer window which also saw the arrival of Alexis Sanchez and deeparture of Mkhitaryan.
24th May 2018 – Mauricio Pochettino signs a new 5 year deal
In a memorable 2018/19 season, Tottenham achieved a major feat by appearing in their first UEFA Champions League final defeating heavy favourites Man City and tournament dazzling youngsters Ajax in a scintillating semi-final which saw them qualify in the most dramatic of circumstances.
After losing the first leg at home by 1 goal to nil and conceding twice away from home in the first half, Tottenham scored 3 second half goals with the clincher by Lucas coming in stoppage time to progress on away goals to their first UCL final. Pochettino of course could not hold back his tears.
source: metro.co.uk 
source: skysports
They lost the final to Liverpool in Madrid. The future was bright after they had moved to their state of the art stadium.
18th December 2018 – Jose Mourinho sacked by Manchester United
After winning seven games in the first 17 in the 2018/19 season and 19 points behind leaders Mancity, United parted ways with Jose Mourinho. Jose’s time at United has been littered with player fallouts, lame excuses, irrecognisable ‘park the bus’ playing style, humiliating draws and defeats and unsatisfactory recruitment regimes.
He did not get the players he wanted as a result of the CEO’s ineptitude and reluctance to release cash.
Pochettino was considered as a successor but Ole got the job. Where a temporary appointment became permanent after an exemplary and record breaking audition.
Jose remained out of managerial work and enrolled as Sky Sports pundit before which he teared up infront of a camera exclaiming that “I miss football”.
19th November, 2019 – Mauricio Pochettino sacked by Tottenham Hotspur
In the 2019/20 season, Tottenham began by winning 3 out of their first 12 games drawing 5 and losing 4 sitting in 14th place.
The sharp decline in performance coupled with unsatisfactory recruitment and want away key players brought Poch’s romance to a halt. The union failed in November 2019 and Poch was sacked.
Speculations continue as to the real reason such a fine manager who made do with limited finances and a tight budget to develop some of the finest players in the league like Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Dele Alli, Son etc was shown the exit door at such an early stage of the season. The verdict by many is “he lost the dressing room”.
This is what Gary Lineker and Harry Kane had to say
20th November 2019 – Jose Mourinho is appointed as Tottenham Hotspur manager.
Yes, it happened, a manager United coveted as a replacement for Jose Mourinho was now replaced by Jose Mourinho.
It remains to be seen how things will unfold from here. So many questions still remain unanswered. United fans don’t know what to think;
- Was he good all along?
- Why do they want him?
- Why did they sack the guy we wanted?
People still think Tottenham is making a big mistake. But hey, that’s how the story goes. The ex boyfriend you hate could work for someone else, or not. Would you go in for that person’s ex? The ex you wanted sometime ago but couldn’t get. Will it work? Well let’s see.
Jose returns to Old Traffored on December 4th with his new Tottenham team to take on his old Manchester United team. Juicy huh? And you thought football was boring.
