Former Tottenham full-back Serge Aurier believes that Jose Mourinho failed at Spurs because his assistant, Joao Sacramento, lost the dressing room and that his downfall started there. The Portuguese coach spent less than 18 months at the club, with him eventually sacked in 2021.

A lot was expected from Tottenham after they sacked Mauricio Pochettino and brought in Jose Mourinho but things didn’t quite go to plan. While the Portuguese coach turned the team around during the second half of the 2019/20 season and the first half of the 2020/21 season, things turned sour after the turn of the year. Despite Spurs reaching the Carabao Cup final, results were going downhill and reports indicated that Mourinho had lost the dressing room.

So much so, that the 59-year-old was eventually sacked by the club and replaced, in the interim, by rookie coach Ryan Mason. However, in light of that, Serge Aurier believes that while Mourinho still is a “great coach”, the full-back admitted that he lost the dressing room because of his assistant Joao Sacramento. The now Villarreal star also added that the breakdown in communication started there and it all snowballed from there onwards.

“Football is different compared to 10 years ago. [Mourinho] is still a great coach, but there are things that have evolved. Sometimes players need more love and attention. I’m not speaking for Jose, I’m speaking for his assistant,” Aurier said, reported Goal.

“Joao is a tough guy and he didn’t have a good relationship with the dressing room, that’s why everything deteriorated. There was a lack of good communication. It was one of [Sacramento’s] first experiences in a first-team and he lacked calm with the players. He needed to be more concerned about the person behind the player.

“Sometimes when you don’t play a lot of sh*ts goes through your head, and you need someone to calm you down and help you, to give you good vibes, not to send you negative messages. And I think it all started there.”