Quick Thoughts: Mourinho, divisive as always.

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

Much is being made over Mourinho’s comments last night. Some have been receptive and others have been, putting it mildly, less responsive. I’m just going to go ahead and give my two cents on the matter, and more specifically, address the criticisms aimed at his potential arrival.

When Mourinho joined Madrid they were at a bad stage. Sure they had Ronaldo and Kaka in their ranks but as a team they remained in the shadows.

Poor in Europe and nowhere near Barca, Mourinho changed things somewhat. At first people questioned his pragmatic way of playing but he got the results and took the La Liga & Copa Del Rey from Barca at their peak (a feat which Madrista's undoubtedly celebrated). Of course he’s had his low points but he kept Madrid at a high level and helped usher in the years of recent Spanish dominance. It’s worth noting however; his low points have largely come due to ridiculous criticisms from the press and huge egos within his squad. The latter being quite remarkable bearing in mind every squad he managed seem to adore him.

More was expected of a Mourinho side (the most expensive side in Madrid's history, not solely down to his spending) but I feel this is less to do with Mourinho's failures and should be a testament to Barca's phenomenal success. Love them or hate them there is a reason why Barca are argued as the greatest club team in history. More importantly though, Mourinho somewhat centralised the massive disequilebrum in Barca’s favour. Of course the bar set in being Madrid manager is high, but bearing in mind their state before his arrival, the fans disappointment at their current state is arrogant entitlement. Yes all Madrid fans want la decima and it's very easy to point the finger at the manager rather than the players. But anyone who watched yesterday's game saw Madrid’s players were responsible for their own downfall.

If there is one criticism that has substance it is certainly double edged for his credentials as Chelsea manager. Mourinho went into Spain amping up tensions between Madrid and Barca. The siege mentality he aimed for did surface in some games but ultimately divided the squad. The Spanish national teams success and friendships between the two teams was the underline cause, but the whole concept of an “us against the world” “shaking up the current order” which fits perfectly for underdogs like Porto, Chelsea and Inter this ‘inferiority complex’ seems inappropriate for Madrid. It backfired massively and alienated much of the Spanish media from the outset (I don’t want Madrid expected hiring such a controversial manager). Nonetheless, he did show his managerial astuteness next season and softened his approach achieving some great successes. At Chelsea however his natural approach has proven to work and looks a perfect solution to our problems. In our current state their is nobody better than Mourinho to bring us back to the forefront of English football. Nobody.

The criticism levelled at Mourinho's style is also one to be questioned. Barca is a team primarily made up of their la masia products, whereas Madrid were a team that needed to be moulded. Their style may pale in comparison to Barca's tika taka, but for many others, Madrid's fast paced counter-attacking directness is a preferable style. It should be noted his Madrid side broke all the goal scoring records and points record in their la liga success.308 goals in 3 seasons? Not bad for supposedly bad football. The only possible problems I can forsee with Mourinho is youth policy and the fact the returning managers aren’t usually as successful as they were initially. In terms of youth policy we’ll have to trust him. We’ll probably phase out all of our players on the fringes ala Malouda, Benayoun, Marin and maybe Torres (he won’t be safe anymore). Some youngsters on loan may also be sold but if this is truly where Mourinho wants to stay from now on, I see him nurturing our talent more. This isn’t another short-term project and besides, we have to remember Mourinho is a masterful tactician who isn’t stupid enough to ship out the likes of De Bruyne and Lukaku (who he was after at Madrid) and unnecessarily turn to our established players.

Mourinho has left every country he’s managed breaking all the records. All of his teams were European forces. Successes with Inter and Porto speak for themselves, along with three consecutive semi finals with Madrid. From being unseeded in the UCL and failing to progress past the quarter finals for 5 years in a row, many Madrid fans today seem to forget where they were before Mourinho came in.

Bottom line, Mourinho brings a lot to the plate and is utliamtley stronger having gone through these experiences. Don't let some of the political media in Spain fool you. Even Mourinho's had enough of it. The easiest way to look at it: Imagine him at any of our English rivals club? Let's all be happy about this, remember he is the special one!

[Strike 7,217]

Good read. Agree with most points

[Muzchap 8,966]

Yup - great post

Plenty of Mourinho detractors out there - I found it interesting that Casillas's woman works for TV and leaked a lot of information... No wonder Mourinho dropped him... Dont need that shit...

As for his team selections of late - if the dressing room is that fractured (Ego's about being dropped to be believed) - then he's going to pick people he can rely on, not necessarily the 'best' players...

I hope he does return... It will be interesting to see if he can get a reaction from our team and make us dominant once more...

[Rmpr 8,977]

I have two concerns about Mourinho...

One is the fact I am not so sure he will indeed use our youth as many blindly believe he will and the other is the preference he gives for transfers of players whom have the same agent as his.

I am not saying he is not our best option or that I dont want him here, I am just saying that this worries me at some point!

[Heisenberg 1,824]

José Mourinho is undoubtedly the perfect manager for us, like Sir Alex said, "is he weak in something ? "

[JDY 1,290]

When Mourinho joined Madrid they were at a bad stage. Sure they had Ronaldo and Kaka in their ranks but as a team they remained in the shadows.

Poor in Europe and nowhere near Barca

Of course the bar set in being Madrid manager is high, but bearing in mind their state before his arrival

many Madrid fans today seem to forget where they were before Mourinho came in.

You make it sound like it was all doom and gloom before Mourinho's arrival. I agree that they were poor in Europe, but they had just achieved record points with Pellegrini, and pushed arguably the best version of Barcelona all the way in the title race.

With Mourinho available I imagine it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Agree with all other points though

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

You make it sound like it was all doom and gloom before Mourinho's arrival. I agree that they were poor in Europe, but they had just achieved record points with Pellegrini, and pushed arguably the best version of Barcelona all the way in the title race.

With Mourinho available I imagine it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Agree with all other points though

La liga is practically a two horse race and though they've never vanished domestically, they were deeper in Barca's shadows in that arena before Mourinho came (but I do see the point). Mourinho went on to beat those records anyway but all Madrid fans would tell you that success in Europe and the le decima is the ultimate goal. Achieving 3 consecutive semi finals from going 5 years without passing the quarter finals stage and being unseeded, is a big jump. In this sense he really turned their fortunes around drastically from where they were prior to his arrival.

[Henrique 9,133]

Mods, we already have one topic about Mourinho, I dont think we need 2 different topics to discuss about Mourinho.

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

Much is being made over Mourinho’s comments last night. Some have been receptive and others have been, putting it mildly, less responsive. I’m just going to go ahead and give my two cents on the matter, and more specifically, address the criticisms aimed at his potential arrival.

When Mourinho joined Madrid they were at a bad stage. Sure they had Ronaldo and Kaka in their ranks but as a team they remained in the shadows.

Poor in Europe and nowhere near Barca, Mourinho changed things somewhat. At first people questioned his pragmatic way of playing but he got the results and took the La Liga & Copa Del Rey from Barca at their peak (a feat which Madrista's undoubtedly celebrated). Of course he’s had his low points but he kept Madrid at a high level and helped usher in the years of recent Spanish dominance. It’s worth noting however; his low points have largely come due to ridiculous criticisms from the press and huge egos within his squad. The latter being quite remarkable bearing in mind every squad he managed seem to adore him.

More was expected of a Mourinho side (the most expensive side in Madrid's history, not solely down to his spending) but I feel this is less to do with Mourinho's failures and should be a testament to Barca's phenomenal success. Love them or hate them there is a reason why Barca are argued as the greatest club team in history. More importantly though, Mourinho somewhat centralised the massive disequilebrum in Barca’s favour. Of course the bar set in being Madrid manager is high, but bearing in mind their state before his arrival, the fans disappointment at their current state is arrogant entitlement. Yes all Madrid fans want la decima and it's very easy to point the finger at the manager rather than the players. But anyone who watched yesterday's game saw Madrid’s players were responsible for their own downfall.

If there is one criticism that has substance it is certainly double edged for his credentials as Chelsea manager. Mourinho went into Spain amping up tensions between Madrid and Barca. The siege mentality he aimed for did surface in some games but ultimately divided the squad. The Spanish national teams success and friendships between the two teams was the underline cause, but the whole concept of an “us against the world” “shaking up the current order” which fits perfectly for underdogs like Porto, Chelsea and Inter this ‘inferiority complex’ seems inappropriate for Madrid. It backfired massively and alienated much of the Spanish media from the outset (I don’t want Madrid expected hiring such a controversial manager). Nonetheless, he did show his managerial astuteness next season and softened his approach achieving some great successes. At Chelsea however his natural approach has proven to work and looks a perfect solution to our problems. In our current state their is nobody better than Mourinho to bring us back to the forefront of English football. Nobody.

The criticism levelled at Mourinho's style is also one to be questioned. Barca is a team primarily made up of their la masia products, whereas Madrid were a team that needed to be moulded. Their style may pale in comparison to Barca's tika taka, but for many others, Madrid's fast paced counter-attacking directness is a preferable style. It should be noted his Madrid side broke all the goal scoring records and points record in their la liga success.308 goals in 3 seasons? Not bad for supposedly bad football. The only possible problems I can forsee with Mourinho is youth policy and the fact the returning managers aren’t usually as successful as they were initially. In terms of youth policy we’ll have to trust him. We’ll probably phase out all of our players on the fringes ala Malouda, Benayoun, Marin and maybe Torres (he won’t be safe anymore). Some youngsters on loan may also be sold but if this is truly where Mourinho wants to stay from now on, I see him nurturing our talent more. This isn’t another short-term project and besides, we have to remember Mourinho is a masterful tactician who isn’t stupid enough to ship out the likes of De Bruyne and Lukaku (who he was after at Madrid) and unnecessarily turn to our established players.

Mourinho has left every country he’s managed breaking all the records. All of his teams were European forces. Successes with Inter and Porto speak for themselves, along with three consecutive semi finals with Madrid. From being unseeded in the UCL and failing to progress past the quarter finals for 5 years in a row, many Madrid fans today seem to forget where they were before Mourinho came in.

Bottom line, Mourinho brings a lot to the plate and is utliamtley stronger having gone through these experiences. Don't let some of the political media in Spain fool you. Even Mourinho's had enough of it. The easiest way to look at it: Imagine him at any of our English rivals club? Let's all be happy about this, remember he is the special one!

I wonder how many people have changed their minds and support his arrival now.

[Fernando 6,464]

Good points.

I will like to say, that what makes a good forum is the ability to form good argument and analysis. For either side.

I never really like that people bash somebody else opinion just because is not the most popular. If the person brings some solid argument, then great, and then lets just use intellectual debate to counter it.

Good work. :blue scalf:

[Fernando 6,464]

I have two concerns about Mourinho...

One is the fact I am not so sure he will indeed use our youth as many blindly believe he will and the other is the preference he gives for transfers of players whom have the same agent as his.

I am not saying he is not our best option or that I dont want him here, I am just saying that this worries me at some point!

I will say it can and cannot be of concern.

We can look at Madrid where Mourinho has used a younger player like Varane to replace an old timer like Pepe.

It would be like Mourinho droping Terry for, a young prodigy like Kalas....if he was that good!

But that at least shows me some hint of hope that Mourinho can work with younger players.

Especially in a high stress environment like Madrid.

If Roman relaxes the environment and encourages more youth, then I'm sure Mourinho will utilize the resources. But they have to be good with potential like Varane.

As far the other concern, I wouldn't know too much about it, so can't comment.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Good read but please dont praise barca la masia that much. They had fantastic generation of Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Messi but most recent sucess is Busquets that realy worked for them. Cecs, Pique and Alba were fully developed at Arsenal, Manu and Valencia which tells a lot about their 'knowing' of good players. They might be kids of la masia, but barca has little to none importance of why Cesc or Alba are great players nowdays...

Of curent players, Tello, Montoya, Cuenca or Bartra look nothing better than our youngsters. The only one I think that will be Barca starter sooner or later is Deulofeu.

The best player of last five years, developed from both Barca or Real is Mata.

People say how great barca school is well they had brlliant generation just like Ajax had in past. Now like every other club, barca need to spend big to get back to best. Why not pick from their school if they create 'jewells'every year? Why look after thiago silva or neymar? I mean they have Bartra and Deulofeu...

[communicate 2,703]

Good read but please dont praise barca la masia that much. They had fantastic generation of Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Messi but most recent sucess is Busquets that realy worked for them. Cecs, Pique and Alba were fully developed at Arsenal, Manu and Valencia which tells a lot about their 'knowing' of good players. They might be kids of la masia, but barca has little to none importance of why Cesc or Alba are great players nowdays...

Of curent players, Tello, Montoya, Cuenca or Bartra look nothing better than our youngsters. The only one I think that will be Barca starter sooner or later is Deulofeu.

The best player of last five years, developed from both Barca or Real is Mata.

People say how great barca school is well they had brlliant generation just like Ajax had in past. Now like every other club, barca need to spend big to get back to best. Why not pick from their school if they create 'jewells'every year? Why look after thiago silva or neymar? I mean they have Bartra and Deulofeu...

I don't think the idea of youth system is to produce first team/superstar every generation. La masia may not produce another messi but cuenca, tello, bartra, montonya all of them are serviceable player and thiago and gerard d look like can be great players. That is the idea of having youth system

[BlueLyon 9,359]

I don't think the idea of youth system is to produce first team/superstar every generation. La masia may not produce another messi but cuenca, tello, bartra, montonya all of them are serviceable player and thiago and gerard d look like can be great players. That is the idea of having youth system

Bayern has Kross, Lahm, Muller, Schweini and now Can and Hojberg but I dont find half of the praise on their youth school. I want to sa that media is speaking so highly about Barca youth school, while others like Bayern or Bvb are much less mentioned. When barca was ruling all media jumped on that bandwagon and praised them way too much.