Jose Mourinho may have determined that he “could not trust” his Tottenham team when inheriting the reins but will discover quickly that fans will not settle for “negativity in every home game”, says Jermaine Jenas.
Spurs’ latest outing saw them embody the dogged determination that their Portuguese coach is famed for.
Mourinho set his side up against Manchester City to contain and frustrate old adversary Pep Guardiola, with the hosts prepared to sit in at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and wait for mistakes.
That game plan was played out to perfection, with the Blues shooting themselves in the foot.
Missed chances aplenty, including an unsuccessful penalty from Ilkay Gundogan, came back to haunt City, who also had Oleksandr Zinchenko sent off.
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Spurs made their Premier League foes pay for their shortcomings, as Steven Bergwijn and Heung-min Son secured a 2-0 win, but Mourinho has been warned that more will be expected from his team once a new coaching regime has its feet under the table.
Ex-Tottenham midfielder Jenas told BBC Sport: “I don't blame Jose for playing the way he did against City, because of the way results went when he first took charge of Spurs.
“He knew he had goals in his team so he went out and just let them play, and they had some crazy results in the first few weeks when they were winning by all sorts of scores.
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“That was never going to last. I could feel it coming where, in his mind, he went 'enough is enough'. He could not trust his team to go out and score goals, especially when Harry Kane got injured, so instead he started setting them up not to be beaten. That was clearly Tottenham's approach against City on Sunday.
“Look at Japhet Tanganga at left-back, for example. He was basically told 'you are not going anywhere today', so he had to stay back all game.
“It paid off for Mourinho in the end, but Spurs fans will not allow that kind of negativity in every home game.
“So he still needs to work on his side's style of play, but of course getting a result this way still has plenty of positives.
“Mourinho has been talking a lot about how his players lack confidence, which he probably did not expect when he arrived at the club.
“Well, getting through games like this one will give the players lots of belief, and we saw some other important signs too.
“Mourinho has sorted out Christian Eriksen's situation, by selling him to Inter, while Jan Vertonghen, another player whose future is uncertain because he is out of the contract at the end of the season, was on the bench.
“I looked out on the pitch and there was not a Spurs player out there whose focus I would be concerned about any more. Everyone was playing for the shirt, and giving everything.”
Victory over City has lifted Tottenham back into fifth place in the Premier League table, four points adrift of London rivals Chelsea and the final Champions League qualification spot.