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Gods' Dice

Yesterday, I watched Amazon's All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur - a sports documentary that gives us more than a glimpse of life within a Premier League Club and I have to admit that it is a much needed project*. 99% of fans, me included, hold opinions on teams we follow, don't follow, football in general and let rip every chance we get. Our views have been shaped by what we see, i.e. the performances and results, and what we read, i.e. media stories. All or Nothing blows most of what we think we know out of the water. 

Let me get this out of the way - sure, the documentary has been 'edited' but that's only to be expected, considering anything you watch, barring live videos, is chopped and changed to fit within a flow. Even so, there's a lot to understand. From the impact of player injuries (Kane, Son) to the complicated, dog-eat-dog world of the transfer market (Eriksen, Bergwijn), there were a number of interesting revelations for the person on the street. And then, there's José Mourinho.

I did not enjoy his time at Manchester United. In general, he comes across and has been portrayed as a gloomy, sour curmudgeon who makes his teams play boring football. But, with the benefit of hindsight and this documentary, I will put my hand up and say that United's slide towards wretchedness (they were 2nd in a season, remember) can't have been all on him. Thinking back to that dressing room, the players he inherited and bought, their attitudes and form, the irrepressible form of City and their coach, the spending power difference between the two teams (let's not forget ManU's debt situation) and even the difference in attitude between United's owners and that of other clubs. It does seem like Mourinho was set up; that it was a bridge too far, too late (could have been hired straight after SAF retired). 

Though the uglier bits may have been edited out, with Spurs you do get to see his excellent man management, working with what he's got and facing the many seen and unseen issues with some aplomb. To quote his predecessor, Pochettino "In football, 2 + 2 is never equal to 4". We get to see what that means as the episodes progress. Serial winners who have managed Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Manchester United and Porto don't get the job via a lucky draw. And, while he may not win much with Spurs, he certainly wants to. José Mourinho makes this documentary work.

In fact, watching it also made me appreciate ManU's actual result even more. Sure, Leicester cocked it up in an almighty fashion and yes, it's the same points total as last year, but Ole got that team to win in the second half of the season. Getting Bruno Fernandes certainly had a large part to play in the end but heck, it could have all gone to shit if he'd been injured, his form had dropped off or it turned out that he wasn't so great after all. Let's not forget the other players (Martial, Rashford) also improved and scored more than 20 goals each. Phew indeed and well done Ole. Right now, he may not seem to have the tactical nous of Klopp, Pep, José or heck, even Nuno. But, lord in heaven, his team beat all the top sides barring Liverpool and even there, it was a close run thing at Old Trafford. Maybe he is on to something after all. In any case, it's nothing to scoff at.  

So, if you are a football fan, likely slating your team, manager (except Klopp who is ridiculously likeable) and everyone else week in and week out, thinking even you could do better, well, watch All or Nothing and you might change your mind. At the very least, you will come to realise that the actual game you watch is only the tip of a very shaky iceberg indeed. Well done Spurs for giving us a chance to see that.

*Sure, the first season featured Man City. Thanks but no thanks.

Song for the moment: All or None - Pearl Jam

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