We’re about to find out if Jose Mourinho really has changed. Tottenham progressed into the Europa League round of 16 with such a comfortable win against AC Wolfsberger on Wednesday.

that it’s easy to feel the bigger battle took place a day earlier in Mourinho’s prematch news conference.

These are challenging times for the Tottenham Hotspur manager, but those who know him best describe a capricious individual prone to violent emotional mood swings.

You know we’ve reached a dangerous stage of the cycle when the blame game starts.

Postmatch interviews have not been easy for Mourinho because Spurs keep losing. Although they endured a difficult spell UFABET before England’s first coronavirus lockdown last March, Tuesday’s news conference was at times like watching Mourinho battle with his own shadow. In claiming he has greater composure than the Mourinho of 2004, the 58-year-old made a remarkable admission.

“Thank God I am not the manager I was,” he said. “Thank God, because if there is no evolution in us… I also want to believe you think you are a better journalist than you were 10 years ago or so.

“So, thank God. But I agree with you, probably I would not be as calm and confident and in control of my emotions because during my career I had sometimes problems not in relation to results.

“I cannot say I’m happy but I would say I’m not unhappy. I wake up in the morning, I want to come back to work. I arrive in the building, I feel the motivation in everyone. I love to train. People are loving training and everybody is working as hard as is possible with so many matches. And we are positive.