Jose Mourinho 'has earned the right to take no s*** from Tottenham players'

Dimitar Berbatov says Tottenham and Jose Mourinho are a “perfect match”, and warned Spurs’ stars the Portuguese has “earned the right to take no s***”.

Mourinho was confirmed as the new Spurs manager on Wednesday morning, 12 hours after the club announced the surprise sacking of Mauricio Pochettino.

The Argentine was axed less than six months after leading the club to their first ever Champions League final, following a run of just three wins in 12 games in the Premier League this season.

Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp last night blamed the players for costing Pochettino his job, but Berbatov says they will have to be on their best behaviour under Mourinho.

“With his resume and the amount of trophies he has won in the Champions League, Premier League and wherever he goes, he as earned the right to take no s***,” Berbatov told Betfair.

“If you show him respect he will give you respect back, and he deserves that because he has proven himself by winning so much.

“The players will want to show him how they can play and they will be thinking that they need to prove themselves to him.

“In every club you have that player hierarchy, you know that you are good, maybe you are the captain of the team and you know you are going to play, but at the same time that doesn't give you the right to just lay back and play off your name, you need to work hard and this will be the case with Mourinho.”

Mourinho seems a surprising fit on the face of it, given chairman Daniel Levy’s general reluctance to spend in the transfer market and the club’s philosophy of trusting young players.

However, Berbatov believes that Mourinho is ready to move on from his difficult spell at Manchester United, and feels north London is the right place for him to do it.

“Mourinho has had a good rest,” Berbatov added. “He was watching teams playing, commentating, he will have drawn lessons and conclusions from his last job at Man United and now it's a fresh start for him.

“He's taking over a great team with great players and he's in London, the city that he loves, so for me, I think it's the perfect match. Spurs is a team that wants to grow, develop and achieve things and I think it's a good place for him.”