Jose Mourinho's tactical blueprint at Tottenham: What we've learned and what's to come

ANALYSIS: Jose Mourinho has led Tottenham to back-to-back wins, which have hinted at the side's quality but showed there is work to do

Jose Mourinho could not have asked for a more perfect start, warts and all.

Not only has he won his first two games with unexpectedly complex tactics, exemplifying both his defensive instincts and his under-rated attacking side, but by conceding four goals Tottenham have shown they needed an organiser like Mourinho.

Two clean sheets and it would have looked like a simple manager bounce; like Spurs didn’t need to pivot so drastically away from Pochettino’s tactical philosophy.

Instead, the late collapse at the London Stadium – ‘old emotions’ creeping in, according to Mourinho – and the wobbly start against Olympiacos have underlined the need for a disciplinarian.

But Mourinho can give Tottenham much more than that.

Yes, things might implode in year three, and yes, certain Pochettino favourites – particularly young players - might be ostracised, but there is every reason to believe Mourinho is a very good fit for this squad.

Mourinho’s tactics are unfairly portrayed as purely negative, mainly because his tendency to park the bus in top-tier matches skews our perception.

These games are more widely watched and live longer in the memory, but they make up a very small proportion of his actual output.

That his Real Madrid team scored over 100 league goals in three consecutive La Liga seasons gets forgotten in favour of Inter-Milan’s infamous rear-guard action against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.

That his Chelsea team in 2013-14 played scintillating football through Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard gets forgotten in favour of dreary Man Utd 0-0s against Liverpool and Manchester City.

Mourinho does prioritise an organised defence and risk-averse football, but this is fused with assertive counter-attacking from a forward line given genuine creative freedom.

Splitting into two distinct groups, his starting 11 have simplified defensive or attacking roles – and those in the latter are instructed to get the ball forward as quickly as possible.

There was plenty of evidence of this from Mourinho’s first two games in charge.

At West Ham, Spurs lined up in an unusual 3-2-5 formation when in possession with nominal left-back Ben Davies forming part of a back three as Serge Aurier joined a front line of (right to left) Lucas Moura, Harry Kane Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son.

Harry Winks and Eric Dier remained side-by-side as a double pivot in front of the back line, to create a solid 3-2 that stunted the Hammers whenever they tried to break.

In this way Mourinho demarcated two groups; five purely defensive players and five purely attacking, this second unit clearly instructed to give free reign to their creative urges.

Kane, Alli, and Son repeatedly made runs on the shoulder of the last defender, playing with an urgency that was absent in the final days of Pochettino, while Winks and Davies in particular looked for sharp forward passes into the front five.

Alli’s movement – sometimes running beyond Kane, often dropping into the No.10 space – was the clearest example of Spurs’ new freedom.

This was the old Alli, given licence to do as he pleased in possession just like Deco, Wesley Sneijder, and Mesut Ozil in previous Mourinho teams.

Tottenham lined up in the same way against Olympiacos but the Greek side’s narrow formation did a much better job of exploiting the home side’s weaknesses.

By squeezing out space in midfield they cut off the passing lines to Alli and Lucas, and by countering at speed they exposed the flat-footed defending of Winks and Dier.

Subbing Dier for Christian Eriksen was pure Mourinho, and it worked brilliantly, although his second substitution in the 61st minute with the score at 2-2 was ultimately more decisive.

Moving to a 4-2-3-1, Moussa Sissoko replaced Lucas and Spurs managed to shut down the counter-attacks for good.

That final 30 minutes leaves us unsure of how Mourinho will approach Saturday’s game against Bournemouth, yet the first 180 minutes of his reign have certainly disproved the theory he is negative.

Spurs will be more cautious in their defensive work and risk-averse in their passing, with pragmatic in-game decisions reflecting that shift, but Mourinho will attack with speed and purpose.

Which, moving forward, bodes well for a set of players surprisingly well-suited to Mourinho tactics.

In defence, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen should be able to forge a classic Mourinho partnership – although he’s probably already looking for new full-backs.

In midfield, Christian Eriksen fits the bill for the more creative box-to-box midfielder Mourinho tends to sit alongside two more disciplined defensive midfielders, with Dier (a former target at United) and Tanguy Ndombele likely to diligently follow the new manager’s instructions.

Kane’s work-rate and hold-up play obviously makes him an ideal Mourinho striker and Son’s energy is likewise tailor-made, while Lucas was also a long-time target of the Portuguese at previous clubs.

The foundations are already in place, then, and yet undoubtedly there will be bumps in the road ahead.

It will take some time before Mourinho’s defensive coaching takes hold and throughout a busy December work on the training ground will be minimal, plus no money in January means he’ll have to keep playing the likes of Aurier and Danny Rose; error-prone, they lack the positional discipline for a Mourinho team.

Then again, the sudden waves of fear that characterised the end and beginning of the West Ham and Olympiacos games respectively will soon dissipate as wins stack up, with a kind fixture list making that a likely eventuality.

Bournemouth (h), Man Utd (a), and Burnley (h) should give Mourinho five wins from five with the added bonus of a win at Old Trafford that refutes the claim he cannot be entertaining.

Attacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team is the most pragmatic way to play them, and Mourinho is nothing if not pragmatic.

Win their next three and Spurs will probably be as little as 4-6 points off the top four.

From there, it will be a lot easier to convince Eriksen and Alderweireld to sign new deals and get the club behind Mourinho’s vision for the future.

What’s more, Spurs are just the right size, as Premier League underdogs, to respond well to his siege-mentality approach.

It’s far too soon to declare Mourinho’ Spurs will be closer to his free-wheeling Real team than the tedious two-and-a-half years at United, but early signs are most definitely positive; not many big clubs have assertive attacking players who are also willing to work hard for the team.

This is exactly what Mourinho needs to fuse a solid defensive foundation with piercing counter-attacking football.

It’s a long way from Pochettino, but it could be just as entertaining – and even more successful.