The Chels

This argument is thrown about a lot. Assuming it is true why does Jose hate criticism so much that he'll do anything to deflect attention including putting the entire blame on one of the players (Hazard v Atletico, Schurrle v City) or even the fans?

Lol I do apologise for constantly turning this into a Mourinho v Simeone thread but I feel the need to address suggestions that Simeone is as conservative (or as vulnerable to conceding) as Mourinho in the big games and that Mourinho's CL SF record is just bad luck. I don't doubt you do and nobody is asking Mourinho to be all gung-ho about it. Just a little more courage, a little more adventure and a little less fear would go a long way in these ties.

That's exactly my point. He encouraged his team to go for a second and even a third. Mourinho would not have done that and we all know it. Sorry I meant the second leg at home against Barca and you're right about this season - without Costa and Luis, their two biggest attacking threats, they have lacked the attacking qualities they showed last season but apart from that 3-1 against Barcelona they haven't been dominated by either of the two giants unlike us vs. City and Liverpool. After building his team (with much less money, mind) Simeone's side were unreal in the big games last year. They've been forced to rebuild this year and are not as good attacking-wise but defensively they're still strong. Mourinho has now built his team with substanstial financial backing and we have still not been very good in the away games against sides inferior to those Atletico have to face.

Any examples from his 8 SFs?

In the CL SF Atletico dominated and took the game to us at Stamford Bridge after half time even though they were already ahead on away goals. Would Mourinho have done that if the situation was reversed? Absolutely not. Compare our performance at the Vicente Calderon to theirs at the Bridge and the difference is immense. Also did you not watch Atletico's last encounter with Real Madrid (completely dominated the 2nd half) or their second leg against Barca in the CL last season where they could have scored 2-3 goals in the first half. Simeone, like Mourinho, doesn't particularly like having possession in the big games but a big difference is that he doesn't give up on attacking after taking the lead.

Are you a Mourinho fan or Chelsea fan? Also that would never happen because he'd play for a draw at Stamford Bridge every time

He's one of Jose's untouchables even though he's very average and an inferior FB to both Azpi and Luis. Have you never noticed his awful positioning, pressing, ability to maintain concentration, attacking combination play (bar the odd occassion) and defending?

Really? Not winning any trophy for 3 seasons (excluding the Spanish Community Shield) with that Real Madrid team and this Chelsea side is failure. Easy to make excuses but that's the truth. Wouldn't be surprised by that at all.

Portuguese, joined in summer 2013 and complete overrates Ivanovic? Didn't know Mourinho was on TalkChelsea.

That is true. The only coaches who you could really argue are currently better than Jose (Guardiola & Simeone) don't look like coming here anytime soon so we'd just be replacing Mourinho with an inferior manager. That said if we do go trophyless again it would likely confirm suspicions that he isn't as 'special' as he once was.

No team is perfect. Jose has spent a lot of money on some top class players since he's come back and while we do still have some glaring weaknesses, a team with the likes of Courtois, Matic, Hazard, Fabregas and Costa should definitely be winning silverware. We only have one competitor in the league and have the ability to go 8 points clear of them for the second time in the season with a win next week. We are also 2 games away from the Capital One Cup trophy. If we don't win anything for the second season running then it will be a huge fail.

If him signing means Ivanovic stops acting as a winger or is replaced at RB by Azpi (wishful thinking) then I guess it wouldn't be too bad.

Azpi, Zouma, Terry, Luis. Three very proactive and fast defenders. If only.

6th time lucky then with Cuadrado, someone to finally nail down the RW position? I have my reservations.

He is not going about it very sensibly. If he said something like 'I want the fans to be our 12th man and make it difficult for Liverpool' then it would be greeted with a much better response than 'it's an empty stadium' and 'if only we could got 25% of Anfield's noise'. I can't imagine what he says to the players he doesn't particularly like if this is how he treats the fans who always chant his name.

Is that the same one who recommended Marin, Moses, Willian, Schurrle and Salah?

Turan. But if we can't get a significant upgrade on Willian then it's best not to get anyone at all (especially not for £27m) because we'll just end up having to upgrade on them too. Where do I apply? With our RW they have clearly failed us these past few years.

We need more than just an upgrade on Schurrle/Salah if we have genuine amibitions to fight in all 4 competitions and reach the CL final. We need a significant upgrade on Willian and that's not what we're getting here. I remember wanting the Guarin deal to collapse so much because he is very average. Thankfully that did and we got a much better player in instead. I'm hoping for the same here!

He's got his excuse ready. If we lose it's because their home fans were louder. Nothing to do with the tactics whatsoever...

Everyone is judging him on limited knowledge and footage I agree so maybe I am being harsh but he just looks so average in all the videos and compilations. They're supposed to make players look brilliant and if he doesn't look good in them then I wonder how bad his performances are without all the bad bits edited out. In answer to your last question WhoScored say one of his weaknesses is holding onto the ball. His first goal... A tap in from the penalty spot but hits it straight at Cech. Very lucky that went in.

Hazard and Silva are technically brilliant footballers and also very intelligent. In contrast Cuadrado seems to be technically decent and I'm not sure if he has a football brain - judging by how he tries to dribble past everyone and how often he loses the ball needlessly then probably not.

Arda is probably Atletico's best attacking player and plays in virtually all their games, including the big ones. He was being rested against Real. He can defend diligently, is very intelligent and is technically superb. I'm not sure he'd want to leave but money can turn anyone's head.

It's not the fans' job lol. I doubt the board and Mourinho were too busy celebrating. They must have thought RW wasn't a position where we needed to upgrade.

Yes which is why I would never want Di Maria here for that much. I would take Turan for £30m over Cuadrado for £27m. I wonder what his release clause is though. I definitely think we should wait till the summer - you never know what players will become available.

Watched quite a few actually and he seems to be one of those players who thinks he can dribble past everyone and his entire end product being crossing it into the box. We should aim for a gamechanger not another Willian. If we can't find one now then we should wait till the summer because a better player will probably become available. You'd also be able to find plenty of him looking brilliant. Can't find any of those for Cuadrado.