This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

Jose Mourinho comes into Tottenham Hotspur at a time when the team is in flux.

Mauricio Pochettino was sacked on Tuesday evening and the Portuguese was appointed not 12 hours later.

It is a gamble from chairman Daniel Levy, the man who gave Pochettino over five years to build a team that was capable of challenging for the Premier League title and also reaching the Champions League final.

There are a variety of issues in Mourinho’s in-tray; he has to decide if he wants to attempt to convince Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen to stay, with their contracts expiring at the end of the season; he must make a decision over the captaincy and whether Hugo Lloris will retain it, even with his injury and previous blunders; he must decide whether investment is needed and how much; and he must decide how he wants this team,to play.

But first of all, he has to fix that absolutely wretched away form.

It was baffling, really, to watch Spurs on the road in Pochettino’s final months.

Their last win came at Craven Cottage in January, as they beat Fulham, who are now in the Championship, 2-1.

Since then, they lost six times on the road at the back-end of 2018/19 and three times in 2019/20, though they have also drawn against Manchester City and Arsenal.

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A draw or a defeat this weekend, against West Ham United, would take Spurs into their 10^th month without an away victory.

It is all the more baffling when one considers that Spurs went to Amsterdam and beat Ajax away from home and also downed Borussia Dortmund in Germany in the Champions League last season.

But it is issue number one for Mourinho. He is, of course, a specialist when it comes to playing the Hammers.

In his managerial career, he has lost to them on just two occasions from 16 outings.

Rectifying the horrible form that proved a part of Pochettino’s downfall would go a long way to building some credit in the bank with supporters.

It is, of course, easier to say than to do, but a win this weekend would not only be the perfect start, it would also banish a hoodoo that has started to stick to Spurs, like a particularly unpleasant smell.

Quite simply, Mourinho has to start off with a bang.