‘Bale’s a serial winner & Mourinho’s a born winner’ – Spurs can sustain title challenge, says Robinson

Tottenham must be considered serious Premier League title contenders this season as “Gareth Bale is a serial winner and Jose Mourinho is a born winner”, says Paul Robinson.

Spurs have risen to the top of the table on the back of a productive start to their 2020-21 campaign.

A change in the dugout was made 12 months ago with the intention of pushing the club into contention for major honours.

Mourinho was appointed as successor to Mauricio Pochettino after collecting an enviable haul of trophies across spells at the likes of Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

The Portuguese has been given the backing he requires to make Tottenham competitive once again, with former fan favourite Bale returning to north London from Real Madrid on a season-long loan.

Robinson believes title-challenging pieces are being fit together by Mourinho and Co, with expectation and excitement building again at a success-starved club.

The former Tottenham goalkeeper told Ladbrokes: “This is the best Spurs squad I’ve seen in a number of years. They’re competing on all fronts which I think is something Jose wants to keep doing. I do genuinely think they can mount a serious title challenge due to the fact that they’ve got proven winners in the dressing room.

“Gareth Bale is a serial winner, Jose’s a born winner, we know that. Hugo Lloris is a World Cup winner; they’ve got the ability and the staying power to challenge for the title.”

The presence of Mourinho is considered to be the major contributing factor to Tottenham chasing down major honours this season, with Robinson admitting the 57-year-old will be judged on efforts in his first full campaign as Spurs boss.

The ex-England international added ahead of a north London derby date with Arsenal on Sunday: “I think you judge Jose on this season. We’re always quick in the media and as pundits to judge people over a short amount of time – Mikel Arteta is feeling that now at Arsenal over such a short period of time.

“Jose was brought in for a reason. Pochettino took the team to a certain level and he nearly won something, but nearly wasn’t good enough. The chairman wants to win something. Jose was given the tools, he’s been backed in the transfer market which is fantastic to see, so you can now judge him as Spurs’ manager.

“He’s actually turning a lot of people who questioned his appointment back in his favour. You can see he’s got the twinkle back in his eye. The Jose at Spurs is the Jose who was at Chelsea, not the one that was at Manchester United. The one who was winning big trophies and had the players on his side and winning a lot of friends. It seems like we’ve got that Jose again.

“I was initially surprised when Mourinho came in, more so at the sacking of Pochettino. I was surprised because of how far Mauricio had taken the club on, but it wasn’t just his form at the start of last season that got him the sack.

“It was the form at the end of the previous season as well. There was a run of performances that weren’t good enough and it’s where he potentially lost the dressing room. It was a brave decision to lose Pochettino, and you’ve got to give Daniel Levy a lot of credit for doing it and bringing Jose in.

“He’d had the opportunity at that time to bring a world-class manager, a born winner, into his club and he went and did it. Yes it was a big decision but he deserves a lot of credit for making it, and for backing Jose.”