Angry Jose Mourinho great for English football: Neil Humphreys
Tottenham manager whines only when he thinks he can win
The Grinch returned for Christmas and it was glorious.
There he was, front and centre, growling at the camera about the best team losing and moaning about an unsporting manager.
Jose Mourinho is mad, bad and the best possible news for all - except his rivals. He only whines when he's got a sniff of winning.
Like a bloodhound chasing silver pots, he suspects they might be within reach at Tottenham Hotspur. He's hatched a plan for success.
Defend deep. Dig trenches as if it's the Christmas Truce of World War I. And then skip no-man's-land altogether by launching weighty missiles towards Son Heung-min and Harry Kane.
It almost worked against Liverpool in Spurs' 2-1 defeat yesterday morning (Singapore time). But the disciplined counter-attacking has already worked against Chelsea, Arsenal and both Manchester clubs. It'll work again in the coming weeks against other trophy challengers.
So Mourinho isn't angry because he lost at Anfield. He fumes because he's shaping a team of genuine contenders and needs the complete package.
A totem presence up front (Harry Kane), a nifty, incisive forward (Son), a monstrous midfield stopper (Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg), a stubborn back four and an uncompromising counter-attacking philosophy are all par for the course.
But Mourinho must wrap up the lot in an ugly bow of shackles and other blunt instruments and call it a "siege mentality". That's his real gift to us, a bitchy force of fury.
We come for the football, but stay for the fireworks. Roberto Firmino's match-winning bullet header made for a rip-roaring finale, but we'll remember Mourinho's amateur dramatics at the final whistle.
In his post-match exchange with Reds' manager Juergen Klopp, he said something about the better team losing. He harangued the nonplussed German until Klopp laughed in his face. South Korean dramas rarely do melodrama as well as this.
In his interview, Mourinho went after Klopp again, rambling on about him getting away with murder on the touchline. Honestly, their playground bickering was the highlight of the week.
Of course, purists turn away from Mourinho's tantrums, like he's unleashed a foul odour in a crowded lift and refused to own up. But the game is always at its finest when it's at its most operatic.
Roy Keane promising to see Patrick Vieira outside, Mourinho spooking Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool and Frank Lampard telling Klopp to shut up after winning only one league title all made for priceless theatre.
These incidents outlast the games that delivered them. They are memorable because they are identifiable, revealing flaws that are more relatable than the otherworldly skills on show.
None of us have planted a header in the top corner like Firmino in a match between English Premier League heavyweights, but we've all envied or loathed competitors in the workplace. We've all been Mourinho in that regard.
Or maybe he's just a bit of a laugh. Watching the return of the Mourinho meltdown is genuinely entertaining - it's certainly more fun than watching anything that Arsenal are doing.
But the siege mentality is more than soap opera. It's an integral part of Mourinho's war make-up.
He rarely bothered at Manchester United or in his final days at Chelsea. He waged war within, privately conceding that he lacked the resources to take down external foes.
MISSED CHANCES
But the Tottenham manager believes he can win now. Had Steven Bergwijn finished one of his two excellent chances at Anfield, Spurs could be sitting pretty at the summit, validating Mourinho's emphasis on calculated counter-attacking.
But there was enough on show, even in defeat, to suggest that Tottenham have assembled an edgier squad with a ruthless, cynical strategy that was arguably missing under Mauricio Pochettino.
And yet, the same obstacle remains. Klopp.
Klopp provides Mourinho with a focused target. The Spurs manager has always needed a target to truly thrive, a focal point for his siege mentality to work.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola were all grist for the Mourinho mill in previous eras. Now he has another.
The angriest man in football failed to get under Klopp's skin, but only just. Mourinho saw enough to resume the pantomime for the festive season.
It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The Grinch is back.
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