Jose Mourinho is facing difficult period at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Portuguese is under increasing pressure after a run of appalling results have left the club in ninth place in the Premier League.

Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham United means they are cut well adrift, and although they have a game in hand, the pressure is on for Mourinho to find a way to turn the club’s form around.

Spurs are still in the Europa League – they are almost guaranteed to qualify for the next round after their 4-1 first leg win over Wolfsberger in the Round of 32 – and also have a League Cup final to look forward to against Manchester City at Wembley.

But The Athletic now reports that a number of senior players are beginning to turn on the Portuguese.

Spurs have won just one of their last six league games, with that victory coming over relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion.

The report claims that a number of players are unhappy with the methods employed by Mourinho, as he focuses on how to avoid mistakes, and how to defend, rather than how to attack.

p1ev7dm7av1fsa114614i4kve103ob.jpg

One source quoted in the article says “the plan is to defend, boot the ball up to Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, and that’s it.”

The piece also claims that there is a fear at the club of making mistakes, such is Mourinho’s focus on them, especially as games draw nearer.

The players will surely be aware, too, that they face a run of fixtures now that they would rightly be expected to take maximum points from; following their second leg against Wolfsberger, Spurs play Burnley, Fulham, and Crystal Palace.

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

Now or never.

The run of fixtures that Spurs face places the onus firmly on Mourinho to turn the ship around and ensure that the club are challenging for the top four once again.

A run of five defeats from six games is relegation form and now they are facing three clubs in the league who are firmly in the bottom half of the table.

However, they are all currently in better form than Spurs.

In their last five games, Spurs have taken three points; Burnley have taken six, Fulham have taken eight, and Palace have secured nine.

Losses to any of them may tip Mourinho over the edge but a run of three games without a win against this opposition would surely be the final act of a managerial reign that has never really got going.