Jose Mourinho's assistant manager Joao Sacramento was unpopular with the Tottenham Hotspur players prior to their sacking, according to The Athletic

Why? 

The in-depth report reveals that the 32-year-old struggled to connect with many of Spurs' players, with sources suggesting he lacked the emotional intelligence to deal with a Premier League-level dressing room. 

Indeed, rival coaches are understood to have tried to exploit his lack of experience, with one claiming Sacramento had little authority over the players, largely shouting instructions to an uninterested group from the touchline. 

Who exactly is he? 

Upon Mourinho's appointment at Spurs in November 2019, Sky Sports revealed that the 30-year-old first met the self-proclaimed 'Special One' while he was a student at the University of South Wales. 

Prior to joining Tottenham, he worked with both Marcelo Bielsa and Christophe Galtier at Lille after breaking through on Claudio Ranieri's backroom team at AS Monaco. 

What did Sacramento say about his time at Spurs? 

"Well I'm very happy," he said of his role at Tottenham just a few weeks into the project (as quoted by football.london).

"When you come to Spurs you don't need too much time to understand how big this club is, especially when you see the amazing facilities, the stadium and the quality of the squad."

What was he meant to have provided? 

In the Sky Sports piece mentioned earlier, they noted his ability to transfer 'analysis to training' and how well he could devise 'bespoke exercises and recreate in-game scenarios'. Clearly, this is a highly-rated young coach. 

Given his relatively young status too, Sacramento was reportedly supposed to update some of Mourinho's methods and provide a better link to the players, though clearly that looks to have failed rather miserably.