The footballing world was in shock last night as Tottenham booted out their manager, Mauricio Pochettino. Yes, okay, they’re 14th in the league as it stands, but this is the man who got them to the Champions League final only a few months ago. In his place, they appointed serial winner Jose Mourinho. “The Special One” has faced quite a bit of controversy in his last two jobs in the league, having lost the dressing room in his second spell at Chelsea, before doing the same thing with Manchester United. So, have they done the right thing?

I don’t think so. I am aware that their form has been very questionable at the start of the season, and I know there is a lot of pressure on managers these days, but this is ridiculous. Poch has been consistently excellent for the past few years, and even though they haven’t won a trophy yet, they were challenging for the top 4, and came very close to winning the biggest prize in club football last season.

The Argentine was the man who changed Spurs into that team. Before he came, they were average, competing with the likes of Everton and West Ham. When Mauricio took over, he took them one step further. He had them causing the rest of the top six some serious problems, and they came close to winning the league in 2015/16, in the year that Leicester City became champions. And, to my despair, he led them to finishing above Arsenal in recent years.

To fire someone with such obvious quality after a few games of poor form is ridiculous. It’s a statement of intent, but it will backfire. The players and fans loved him, and he was an excellent tactician.

Then you look at his replacement, Mourinho. Despite considerable European and domestic success, I feel as though he has lost his touch to an extent. At Chelsea, in his second period at the club, it became clear that the players had turned against him, and despite sacking him midway through the footballing year, the club slumped to a 10th place finish.

At United, he was arguably even worse. I’m not going to discuss United’s form in that period, because unlike Chelsea, they haven’t actually improved since he left. What I noticed most about that time was how he treated his players. Luke Shaw is a prime example. One of the best young left backs in the world, he was constantly criticised, bullied even, by his manager, the person who is supposed to support him and propel him to become the best player he can be. The same happened with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, but fortunately they have recovered their confidence under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Spurs have to be very wary of this. With young, vulnerable, yet supremely talented players such as Ryan Sessegnon, Tanguy Ndombele and even Harry Kane to an extent, Mourinho could quite easily do the same to them. Even as an Arsenal fan, I hope that does not happen, because it would be a travesty for them to lose their talent, especially as Spurs are a club that pride themselves on giving opportunities to young, home grown players.

This might not happen, of course. He could be an excellent manager, lead them to domestic and European glory, and become a club legend. It’s a big risk, but if it doesn’t pay off, it could leave them in a far worse state than they’re already in.