Tottenham to target Julian Nagelsmann as dressing room grows 'increasingly unhappy' with Jose Mourinho
By Tom Gott
Tottenham Hotspur will make RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann their top target if they choose to part ways with under-fire boss Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho, whose return of 81 points from his first 50 games with Spurs is the lowest of any of his clubs, is under increasing pressure at the club after overseeing a run of six defeats in their last eight games in all competitions.
It's thought that Spurs are prepared to give Mourinho until the end of the season to try and turn things around, and a large part of their logic behind that could stem from the fact that Nagelsmann is unprepared to move mid-season.
The Telegraph state that Spurs have their sights firmly set on the RB Leipzig boss, who is thought to be open to a move to the Premier League at the end of the current campaign.
Spurs are hesitant to pull the trigger on Mourinho just yet but could end up making their final decision over the next 12 days, during which club officials expect positive results against Wolfsberger, Burnley, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
Club chairman Daniel Levy is still supportive of Mourinho, but according to The Athletic, that sentiment isn't shared by many in the dressing room.
Multiple dressing room sources are said to have confirmed that players are increasingly unhappy with Mourinho's methods - the very methods he described as 'the best in the world' recently - with a number of attacking players concerned by the overwhelming focus on defence.
Mourinho has put in so little work on attacking that players are still claimed to be calling on moves taught to them by former boss Mauricio Pochettino, whose type of coaching several players are now regretting complaining about.
Sessions revolve largely around how to nullify their next opponent and not how to outplay them, and it has left some players feeling nervous about making mistakes. It is described as a 'tactical overload', with some in the squad growing bored by Mourinho's focus on minor details.
The mood in the dressing room appears to be souring with each passing week, and now that results are on a miserable decline as well, Mourinho has a lot of work to do if he is to remain Spurs head coach beyond this season.