The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Monday, November 23

Hi, all!

Please tell me you’re all up to date on what happened in the MLS playoff match between Orlando and New York City FC. If not, I’m sure someone will catch you up in here because it’s something you absolutely need to know.

Ramble of the Day

A very random development this season for Tottenham is the emergence of José Mourinho’s Instagram account, which has fairly earned plenty of attention. I am beyond thrilled that those in the club’s environment have responded accordingly to this attention. Different media members have covered Mourinho’s Instagram activity appropriately, but we got what we deserved last week: a masterclass from Mourinho himself.

I tend to think that some of Mourinho’s posts would not work if he wasn’t a famous person, but considering he is, his Instagram tips seem quite good. The picture of him eating popcorn on a plane, for example, isn’t the most interesting journey, but Mourinho being fairly famous means it works for him. (I wish we might’ve gotten a little bit more of a review of Legend, starring Tom Hardy, but that may have been off topic.)

His second tip, engaging his audience, is really where Mourinho succeeds. He’s made his name as a captivating figure in football — even if you don’t like him, you always seem to know what he’s up to, and maybe it’s because frequently enough, you’re seeking the information. He’s done that with his Instagram on an incredibly innocent level. Instead of the chaos you wait for in reports from the training ground or post-match interviews, he uses his Instagram to project a far more normal vibe that is somehow fairly interesting. He has jokes! He makes comments about young people being addicted to technology! He makes his friends (or colleagues) take pictures of him!

The thing that really sticks to me about Mourinho’s Instagram, though, are that he has his own brand of quirky. My personal favorite Mourinho Instagram post was his after the loss to Royal Antwerp, which to me said everything. I remembered a snippet from the Mauricio Pochettino book Brave New World while looking at this picture — Pochettino wrote about how he gave players the silent treatment after losing to AS Monaco in the Champions League in 2016, and Mourinho admitted to doing the same in the video above.

Mourinho seems his most human version of himself while describing this photo, but I have to be completely honest. There’s another aspect to why I love this photo, and it’s that an assistant coach is pitching in and documenting Mourinho, as if he’s a hired documentarian or photographer for an influencer. It’s a perfect photo, so the person (or people) are doing terrific work, and Mourinho’s doing social media much better than everyone else in football who posts boring captions, win or lose.

The Instagram account just adds another layer to Mourinho’s personality — a more tame and understandable layer. It’s still zany enough for the oversized personality Mourinho has, just on a day to day basis. He accomplished what he set out to do.

tl;dr: José Mourinho’s Instagram tips are pretty good, and it just adds another layer to his oversized personality.

Stay informed, read this: Sylvia Obell interviews actress Zendaya on becoming the youngest woman to win the Emmy for lead actress in a drama series and support from other Black women for Essence magazine’s 50th anniversary cover story

Links of the Day

Brazil’s Marta and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Ramy Bensebaini tested positive for COVID-19.

Haiti FA president Yves Jean-Bart was banned for life by FIFA after investigating claims he sexually assaulted girls in the national team program.

Newcastle’s Mike Ashley is seeking an arbitration hearing with the Premier League about the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s failed takeover of the club.

Ireland manager Stephen Kenny will not be disciplined for showing his team an anti-English video ahead of a match against England.

A longer read: Ed Aarons interviews Wrexham director Spencer Harris on the inside story of the club’s takeover by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney for The Guardian