Jose Mourinho did it with Tanguy Ndombele. Now can he do the same with Dele Alli and even Gareth Bale and save Tottenham's season?
The club sit amidst an identity crisis. What seemed like a title challenge two months ago is meandering into a season of atrophy.
While Mourinho tactics, some way distant from Danny Blanchflower's glory game, might work with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min fit and firing, they are less palatable with Carlos Vinicius up front and the team falling alarmingly away from the top four.
It was the prospect of failing to make the Champions League that sealed Mauricio Pochettino's fate, and Mourinho's appointment was intended to reduce the uncertainty of a top-four finish as well as amplifying the club's global appeal.