Barbara

I'm using your post, but I could have quoted many others. Mourinho said himself early in December, before the Arsenal game (I don't remember in which post-match conference, I guess against Sunderland in the COC or against Stoke) that he felt like he needed to change the style and go a little more defensive and pragmatic because the team wasn't ready for the kind of football he wanted them to play otherwise it'd jeopardize the goals in the season and he was saying constantly the main goal this season was qualifying to next UCL (as well as qualifying to round of 16 in the UCL, I just don't remember if this specific interview was before or after we confirmed our place in round of 16). So why are people acting surprised now (don't mean you)? He said it BEFORE he did it and he justified it and a few of us have been reminding everyone about it for a few weeks now. But people are so ready to blame someone, to disregard the manager that changed us a lot this season. We weren't lucky winners (or losers) through the competitions we played. We reached UCL semifinal deservingly getting passed Gala and PSG and we lost deservingly too when a team was better than us. We won the double of the two possible EPL champions and we played better than them in half those matches. we were competitive against the other 'big sides', but our inability to break down defenses led us to drop points against smaller sides. That's also a problem Mourinho, Hazard and others addressed and I'm positive they're aware something needs to be done. Mourinho wanted us to play a more attractive or at least offensive style, we weren't ready for that, he took a couple of steps back and set up in a way we would reach the seasons' objectives that have been broadcast by him since the season started which I mentioned above. But there's also another thing he's been saying for a long time now and we are entitled to ask for results not only based on his words, but also because it means we gave him time to settle and assess the real situation: he's been saying next season we'll fight for the titles, we'll be favorites, we'll be big horses, etc... Mourinho said that and therefore we can come here this time next season and question him if he doesn't reach it (even then we need to be sober enough to know that sometimes you just lose for a small detail, some races are tight). If we present the same football a year from now, he's failed to his own words. If we still struggle against smaller sides, he's failed his own words too. But if we make progress and become real contenders for EPL and UCL (even if for some tragedy we don't win), then it's mission accomplished and titles will come (I'm positive they'll already come next season). So he announced to the whole world what were the club's goals this season, when he realized he had to stop the work to move to the style he wanted otherwise those objectives would be jeopardized he again announced to the whole world he was taking a step back (what's the point of continuing the evolution of having a more attractive football if we miss our spot in the UCL and can only be able to show such style in Europa League? Arsenal just didn't miss their UCL spot because Everton chocked hard). And lastly, he's been putting a lot of pressure on himself and in the team admitting and taking the role of protagonist next season. He's saying his team will be one of the top dogs next season. His communication has been clear and fine and I think he's been very fair in the objectives he set for the team this season and the next as those objectives seem coherent,realistic and attainable.

Bale getting a free role at Madrid? Now I've got enough of your bullshit. That's a lie as many other wrong assumptions that you've written in the past couple of days. If you want to blame it all at Mourinho do it, but at least get your facts straight. And watch football before saying stuff you clearly don't know and don't pretend you've watched Madrid x Bayern. You can fool the ones who didn't but it's a capital mistake to think you can get away with it in a football forum...

what does this generation that is used to Football Manager actually knows about the difference between building a team and buying a squad? Of course, not all people who play it are like that, but the enormous amount of people using a squad value to justify things just prove they don't know the first thing about football...

What a bitter end of season (not even bittersweet, plain bitter instead). Instead of feeling proud - even if disappointed by the way things panned out in the EPL losses and the UCL elimination - we're taking sides between our most important player (at least in theory) and our manager. I read somewhere the whole interview translated (many, many, many pages back in this thread there's the entire thing in French in video and printed) and at least the version I read Eden implied something about playing alone - which is ALWAYS a bad statement to do because I think it's very disregarding towards your teammates. I don't think it was a jab at Mourinho's tactics, but I think it's unfair to the rest of the team - IF that was the original statement at all, my French is too rusty for me to try to figure it out myself). While I don't appreciate Mourinho for pointing out Eden made a mistake because seems like he's showcasing him alone (and we had a lot of problems that match), I won't make a fuzz about it. The same way I didn't about the 'my wife' comments, or the 'Chelsea don't play football - which should be translated with the ball' things. The media is trying to make a circus out of it and it's sad our own fans are buying it. Hazard made a few mistakes in the match, so did many others, including in the goals. I do think the first Atletico goal was a capital one and why we lost, I do think Schurrle or Willian would have done better if they were at Hazard's position because they've been doing exactly that in the last few matches, including against Liverpool and the first leg in Madrid. So the kid made a mistake. Get over it, Terry also made one in the PSG first leg, so did Cech, Luiz, etc... Mistakes are part of football and we don't need to crucify the boy and I don't think Mourinho was crucifying him either. I do think though he could have handled it better. Mourinho bit the bait the media planted to him. They want to make a mess in out dressing room and I do hope Mourinho learned from the Spanish media gate. While the journos there are disgusting, Mourinho isn't a saint himself and although the main reason things got out of hand in Madrid was because of player power, he handled the media poorly. So at the end of the day we lost a UCL SF in a frustrating way. We were outplayed, we had a shot when it was 1x0 for us, but we weren't good enough in the end. It's time to regroup and get over, but instead the media - at least in this forum and I hope that's not how it is inside the club - is successful in creating an unnecessary crisis. 30 teams were eliminated in the UCL. We were the last ones. It happens. Next year I have no doubts we'll be fighting for it again. No need to point fingers to our manager - who made mistakes; or to any of our players - who also made mistakes, when in the end collectively we just weren't good enough. A bad atmosphere only makes this elimination worse than it really is and creates a lot of unnecessary issues.

Oh, so he has had an injury for 9 months and opted along with Chelsea medical staff not to play all matches we played this season because of bloody WC? Get your facts straight. He said he'd play if the manager needed him - reason why he was in the bench, available if Mourinho wanted. But Mourinho didn't want to risk to have yet another not 100% fit player in the pitch. Of course he has to worry about the WC in his own country while he's Brazil - one of the most important NTs in the world - when he could be worsening an injury, in addition to not being fit. I don't give a fuck about the WC, I don't care if he plays or not, but what you said MAKES NO SENSE and I respect any player that INJURED makes a decision, although in this case it was clearly made by Mourinho, not Oscar. that was specifically at the haranc (or whatever) guy. He's been a nuisance with the Eden worship. It's hard to be around him when you can't say anything and he calls you all names in the dictionary.

better fans than some here I love this man and I think that while he's a bit too pragmatic at times, I fully trust him to turn things around. With a second season under his belt, knowing exactly which kind of players he has and the ones he needs, we'll do much better. And doing much better definitely improves our football, adds options, but if with all the clear issues we had - tactically and technically - we're in the race for the EPL title til the end and we reached UCL semifinals, what you expect to happen next? I have good expectations. I think next season we'll be a few steps ahead in the evolution of this team. Look what he did with Real Madrid in his second season there. I expect more of the same here, but he will never have the dressing room issues he had there here because the only territorial players in the team that have some power simply LOVE Mourinho because he's an integral part of their success, they're grateful and graceful. We won't have that ridiculous power game here and I think there's only one way to go with Mou staying here for a few seasons: up, up and up.

such a beautiful picture I came across My love and passion for this club will never die, win or lose. I get the chills when I see a pic like this and it makes my whole life plan of moving to London in 2016 just because of Chelsea way too far away. Maybe I should try the project earlier

you can see him wiping his tears just when he's walking out of the pitch in the game official broadcast. ESPN Brazil had a couple of reporters covering the match in the pitch and they were near our bench and said he was crying as he sat there. If you watch a replay anywhere you'll see him cleaning up the tears, but the bench image nobody has as far as I can say

I think those bad years will push Mourinho. He will do it himself. He's obviously a guy that doesn't settle for mediocre results and I don't think he spares himself any criticism - at least not when he's evaluating his own work. A couple of seasons without trophies isn't the end of the world, but it should be a wakeup call for someone of his caliber. Well, I think he needs to do some thinking when the season ends. He aged a few years last season in RM and it feels like he lost some of the passion for the sport. I'm sure he came across those tactless tweets about people wishing on his death instead of Tito's and Mourinho is a very sensitive man. Then there's the Diego Torres book, the way Madrid fans treated him, the way he's always bombarded with everything. Yeah, he provokes a lot of things, but a lot of them are pretty gratuitous. Maybe he's tired and needs some peace and then start things over in pre-season. I guess he expected to find some peace here, but while English media isn't as bad as Spanish (it doesn't get as bad as that), it's much worse than when he was here and I think he probably didn't expect it like that. I think some reality checks are coming his way and I hope it makes him stronger. I love this genius of football. If his tactics are becoming obsolete or too one-dimensional I trust him to find it within himself to overcome those hurdles. There's no other manager I want here but him. Maybe he'll never become to us what Fergie is to ManUtd - the guy had a great identification with the club (just like Jose has), but he was at ManUtd at the peak of his career as a manager and he has been able to reinvent himself and Manchester tactics at least a handful times in those 27 years. If Mourinho can prove to be able to do the same, and adapt, I think he may be to us what Sir Alex was to them. But nothing, absolutely nothing that comes in the next few seasons will change how I feel about Mourinho and Mourinho as a Chelsea manager. He has my respect, love, trust and hope. He always will. I hope both he and team grow together and we become what he envisions us to be with him.

exactly my point. Jose played Oscar week in week out when he was playing bad. Playing bad wasn't good reason enough for him to drop him which makes his sudden absence be because of rest, injury or bad attitude. Oscar was rarely dropped from one match. Most times he was injured or being rested when he was really bad physically. I think we aren't disagreeing, so I guess it's settled.

they reported him crying in the the bench, but I saw him wiping his tears when coming out, thanks. He's been showing so much soul and passion for us, always giving his 110%. I'm very proud and happy about having him.

I don't get your point, dear. I'm talking about why he hasn't taken part of any of the last three matches. I'm not talking about performance. I'm just saying there's no reason we shouldn't believe both him and Mourinho about his injury. If they say he's injured, then I believe he is. What I said further is that his lack of quality has nothing to do with that as he's been playing bad for a while and the injury is brand new. I think you misunderstood me because not for a sec I implied this injury is why he's underperforming. It can't be as he's been bad for a few months now.

the thread some members were dying to post again and yell at the four winds how much a failure mourinho, this club and these players are. I stand by my words. It's been successful enough, we surpassed a bit my expectations, but we did let down in a bad way imo. The way we lost to the minor sides in the EPL and how we couldn't give a proper answer today just show this team still needs a lot of maturing to do and work some character as well. Mourinho isn't completely exempt from fault, but I think he took the most from this squad, even a little bit more than I thought he could.

He hasn't been playing well. But Mourinho said he was injured before the match and in the press conference and he said it just after the match. Why would we question them? I don't think his bad performances were because of this injury as he made it clear this injury happened last week, but if he's injured, then he is. José kept playing him week in week out even in his worst moments for us, for him to drop a player he trusts and bets so much it's understandable injuries may be involved or bad attitude which we all know Oscar doesn't have.

and we're still the pride of London and lately the pride of England in Europe too.

CAPTAIN, LEADER, LEGEND I wish we had pictures of Willian crying too. ESPN Brazil reporters were near our bench and commentated during the match that when he was subbed he started crying hard. Poor thing

I haven't watched many Atletico's matches this season - I barely watched Real Madrid's, let alone Atletico's, but based on those two matches, unless we want to excel in the cuntiness, I don't see all the fuzz about Diego Costa. Atletico played like a Premier League team most time imo, physical, trying to break in the counter and I must say he hasn't me impressed to the point of breaking the bank for him. Maybe it's just those two matches he didn't play at his best (which is telling about a player his age), but if we bring him I'm not sure we'll fix our attack issue tbh.

kisses and hugs, Ron

Kissing the badge, crying when subbed - clearly not because of his own situation, but the team's, playing with his heart and soul, assisting the assist with a never-give-up play. As people love to mention that bloody price tag I'd say it seems like we spent a lot of money in a guy who seems like a True Blue and if that's the case, very well invested money. Also football wise I think he'll bring a lot of joy for us in the next seasons. He loves this club - he's said this many times in Portuguese interviews, some of which I translated in this thread and he's been showing some passion to our shirt like only our legends do. I'm really happy with this addition.

http://espn.uol.com.br/video/407374_oscar-revela-motivo-de-ausencia-nas-ultimas-tres-partidas-do-chelsea?timestamp=1398894530225 "I had a thigh injury between those matches (first leg) and I told him I could come to the match if he needed me, but the injury was getting worse and he knew that I wasn't fit. Against Liverpool I had no conditions and he was aware of that and that's why I didn't even go to the match and today I wasn't fit yet although I did my best to be, but I was still feeling a bit of pain in the thigh" Then he speaks greatly of Atletico saying they fully deserved it. He's such a class act, I'm so proud of this boy. He also said that the medical team spared him a bit not wanting to risk his WC participation, by worsening the injury. At the end he also said he's probably out of the next match, but that they'll try their best to still win the league, even if they depend on others' results.

Mourinho said before the match Oscar was recovering physically and nto 100% fit and just repeated in the post-match presser that he was injured. I do agree with everything you said.

do you guys think maybe the defense missed Cech and his leadership? I don't think Schwarzer was bad, but it seems like there was no other leader there in addition to Terry. I feel like Cahill and our movement sometimes wasn't as it is with Cech there guiding them through. I don't know, maybe I'm spouting nonsense, but I'm not sure we haven't missed Petr.

I'm very proud of the boys and José I think we did our best, but it's clearly not enough. We couldn't cope with a physical team that had a better attack than us and we just weren't good enough. I'm sad, of course, but far from heartbroken. The players gave their blood there, Willian cried when he was subbed, Terry cried when the match ended. They fought, they tried, but we're just short. Hazard was lacking any rhythm and couldn't do his thing, Torres made an effort but it wasn't enough. Courtois had a great display - and the post was in our way (but then again so was in theirs). I think it's fair to say the better team in the pitch won. I have no doubts we'll come stronger next season. I have no doubts those players will mature a lot and I have absolutely no doubts next season we'll celebrate again. For now we have a few hard lessons to learn, an attack to improve and some players to mature. Keep The Blue Flag Flying High. We are CHELSEA!!!!!!!!!!!

I think we had two very unluck moments in those headers. I'm not talking about performance, but goals that could have gone in...

Willian left the pitch crying... well, that's what being Chelsea is. We got no luck here, but I'm so proud of all those boys.