Filipe Luís

[Blue Armour 4,278]

NO thanks ,, JT still ahead of Iva on knowledge and leadership .. AND POSITIONING

And don't forget, Ivanovic also has a tendency to keep backing off from attackers...ala Gary Cahill. Don't want to put Ivanovic in a central position anytime soon.

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

Found a journalist's (unsurprising) answer. They just say that he doesn't give serious answers and only talks about what he wants.

https://soundcloud.com/the-game-podcast/manchester-city-and-chelsea-suffer-from-bad-planning(13 mins in talking about lack of rotation)

I don't agree with them. I don't know what they're talking about, I watched pretty much all Mourinho press conferences, I don't know how much, 80 ? And it's the same pattern. There are 3 stupid questions to begin from the same person, Mourinho is already upset with this shit, then someone asks another stupid, obvious, sensational-seeking question, trying to bait Mourinho into this and then MAYBE is a normal question or two, but very rarely that is the really interesting one anyway. I'd like if all those sensationalism journalists were quiet and those who has a real questions to ask get the first nod. The real journalists should come forward right at the beginning of the press conference not hiding until tabloids-type finish their job. But maybe those journalists with real questions also have a fun and they feel that they're doing their job anyway where they have a prepared main theme.

In Spain, even when Mou was giving headlines, there still were proper, genuine questions about tactics and style of play. After all, I almost whole knowledge about Mourinho type of coaching and thinking have from his press conferences and interviews in Spain.

But I see that those "intelligent" English ones already have made excuse why they don't ask proper questions. I don't buy it at all.

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

Azpi also protects JT, he always covers for him while Luis' loves to bomb forward to help the attack. Gary Neville alluded to it a few months ago, look at how narrow Azpi plays when defending. I generally rate Luis, he adds so much to our left hand side but i can understand why Jose is cautious.

I know i may get some flak for this and he has been our best defender this season but i think as a team we'll look more better and cohesive once we buy a faster CB to partner Zouma, obviously it's easier said than done but it's just my opinion. We'll be far more proactive and able to press properly instead of sitting deep and worrying about players getting in behind Terry.

Does JT is really that slower than, let's say, 5 years ago when that was Ashley Cole who bombed forward ?

I'm sure that Filipe played with JT in the squad at least a couple of times already, so Mourinho rather don't think that's suicidal, because he wouldn't pull that thing more than once.

I simply think that Mourinho is faithful to his trusted leutanants, especially Ivanovic. I really don't think that's a fair if Azpilicueta was dropped, because he plays at the same high level, wtih absolutely ridicoulus intensity. The only thing is to drop Ivanovic, since Azpilicueta doesn't give a reason to do that, and Mourinho clearly doesn't consider this. He basically hit the nail of the head with the whole thing when he put the blame on Schurrle for City equaliser, when that was Ivanovic fault because he switched off.

But you brought interesting thing to discuss. I'm sick of one thing from Jose in particular and that is when he wants to protect his side and nullify the opponent, he doesn't do that by system. Instead he does that by bringing extra protection from the certain player. Simeone, Ancelotti or Klopp or any other big manager, when they want to secure side and constarin opponent, they does that by style of play, by move of his players in that area to help, through constant shifting of midfielders. But Mourinho almost exclusively does that by bringing extra player on to take care of that matter. He did that against Filipe Luis for example by bringing Azpilicueta to midfield. Are we sure it couldn't have been done by simply instruct his side to move there, instruct his midfielders to overload that area ? Instead we are devoid of one extra player from attack. The same happened in the last game against Spurs, when Zouma was for a single reason, to only nullify Eriksen. That's why we can talk that Mourinho is super-ultra careful with his approach.

I was more certain that not that Filipe will get the nod in this game against Southampton, but only on the Sunday I realised that Clyne is fully fit, and guess why Azpilicueta played ? Because he had to take care of Clyne and Filipe was "too risky" for that.

[ulvhedin 507]

Azpi also protects JT, he always covers for him while Luis' loves to bomb forward to help the attack. Gary Neville alluded to it a few months ago, look at how narrow Azpi plays when defending. I generally rate Luis, he adds so much to our left hand side but i can understand why Jose is cautious.

I know i may get some flak for this and he has been our best defender this season but i think as a team we'll look more better and cohesive once we buy a faster CB to partner Zouma, obviously it's easier said than done but it's just my opinion. We'll be far more proactive and able to press properly instead of sitting deep and worrying about players getting in behind Terry.

Yeah, but we have Azpi who covers for JT, Willian who covers for Ivanovic, Ramires/Oscar who covers for Cesc, Matic who covers for everyone - as a result we have noone to attack with, Hazard has to deal with two players all the time, only Costa is doing pressing, and our most attacking player other than Hazard and Costa is Ivanovic.

[LAM09 6,744]

Is he ever going to be our starting LB on a consistent basis?

[BlueLyon 9,359]

This guy is ahead of Marcelo in nt, yet Mou cant find proper time for him.

I dont care where he plays, I think he is very valuable player because he can play midfield or maybe even wing (not much different from Willian anyway.

The only problem is that Mou cant find how to play him.

He is hardworking, doesnt complain and looks very much like Mou type of player.

At beggining i was kinda dissapointed with him and thought why we spent 25m on him, but now Im dissapointed with Mou not playing him. Its just sad.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

He's the only Brazilian we have good enough for the XI yet he's the one with the fewest minutes.

[iseah100 5,612]

He's the only Brazilian we have good enough for the XI yet he's the one with the fewest minutes.

Irony

[manpe 10,861]

So there are already inevitable stories circling around him leaving. Is Del Horno still playing?

[BlueLion. 21,491]

If he's going to get this many minutes, he may as well leave, and we better bring back Cole.

[manpe 10,861]

Having watched yesterday's Atletico game, I was very impressed with their pressing when they were trying to grab the game by its throat. Leverkusen couldn't do anything when Atletico ran at them. And Luis, having played integral part in that system for years, would surely be a better option with this mentality programmed into him than, say, a right-footed defender camping behind just to cover for Terry when the opposition reach the proximity of our area? Have Matic cover that area more aggressively when needed, imagine Matic and Luis both applying pressure on attackers on that side of the pitch. Then you can have Ramires partnering Matic to provide further cover in the exposed areas of our third while also providing useful pacey and energetic impetus in attack. We can't really afford doing that when we have Fabregas partnering in midfield and when we also play Azpilicueta on the left, we lose one important attacking option in our game because he needs to stay behind to cover.

Playing Luis and Ramires could possibly make our game more dynamic in both ends of the field. Fabregas' and Hazard's game is also limited when their only overlapping passing options are Ivanovic and a restricted Azpilicueta (safe side-way/backward passes, no regular penetration). Luis needs a fair chance.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Having watched yesterday's Atletico game, I was very impressed with their pressing when they were trying to grab the game by its throat. Leverkusen couldn't do anything when Atletico ran at them. And Luis, having played integral part in that system for years, would surely be a better option with this mentality programmed into him than, say, a right-footed defender camping behind just to cover for Terry when the opposition reach the proximity of our area? Have Matic cover that area more aggressively when needed, imagine Matic and Luis both applying pressure on attackers on that side of the pitch. Then you can have Ramires partnering Matic to provide further cover in the exposed areas of our third while also providing useful pacey and energetic impetus in attack. We can't really afford doing that when we have Fabregas partnering in midfield and when we also play Azpilicueta on the left, we lose one important attacking option in our game because he needs to stay behind to cover.

Playing Luis and Ramires could possibly make our game more dynamic in both ends of the field. Fabregas' and Hazard's game is also limited when their only overlapping passing options are Ivanovic and a restricted Azpilicueta (safe side-way/backward passes, no regular penetration). Luis needs a fair chance.

While in theory, you're corect, the problem with it is Ramirez can't pass a ball to save his life. This severely limits him and us. In 90% of the games we play, in games we dominate possession, Ramires is more of a hindrance than a help. Add to the fact Ramires' defensive contribution is average at best (some will disagree, but that's how I see it)

It's no surprise we went on our unbeaten spell without Ramires being a factor.

[manpe 10,861]

While in theory, you're corect, the problem with it is Ramirez can't pass a ball to save his life. This severely limits him and us. In 90% of the games we play, in games we dominate possession, Ramires is more of a hindrance than a help. Add to the fact Ramires' defensive contribution is average at best (some will disagree, but that's how I see it)

It's no surprise we went on our unbeaten spell without Ramires being a factor.

He can pass, but he's inconsistent in it. It's not his main strength in attack. It's not like Oscar is out of this world in that regard either. Maybe our ball retention would be a bit worse, but I think we would recover possession more often and have more impetus in attack. Ramires is no scrub when it comes to attacking the box and even combining with other players when opportunity arises. He can be very unpredictable and mobile on a good day. And more importantly, in regard to defense, I think his pace would be of great help to help our defenders with average pace. Luis would have a similar effect imo, as he's more aggressive in his movement off the ball than Azpilicueta is. Furthermore, trusting Ramires more with the dirty work could possibly improve Willian's attack, as he wouldn't have to worry so much about tracking back. He could be freed to press further up the field, which increases our chances of regaining possession further upfield and hit back on quick counters where Ramires would be a great asset, which is the whole point of proactive pressing.

Fabregas as the advanced playmaker would act as the main outlet when in possession to find Willian, Hazard, Costa, Ramires, Luis and Azpi/Bran with quick releases behind the lines and into spaces. At the moment our attacking options are much slimmer thanks to having too many players who either don't go up aggressively enough or come towards the ball not the goal, as it is their natural instinct. Ramires doesn't do that, he acts as a distant marauding outlet, not as a playmaker, who we have enough of already.

I don't know, my tactical opinions lack credit, but in my mind it makes sense. At least to try it out from time to time.

[Atholy 1,293]

Why not think outside the box and put Filipe Luis on the LB. Put Azpi in front of him in the LM.

Hazard to play as an attacking LF with Costa in striker position. Azpi can cover de defensive work Hazard has to do... so the latter can focus 75% of his energy on attacking, and not on defending!!!

----------Courtois----------

Iva----Zouma----JT---Luis

------Matic--------Azpi------

------------Cesc--------------

Willian----------------Hazard

------------Costa-------------

[Oscar 441]

This guy is ahead of Marcelo in nt, yet Mou cant find proper time for him.

I dont care where he plays, I think he is very valuable player because he can play midfield or maybe even wing (not much different from Willian anyway.

The only problem is that Mou cant find how to play him.

He is hardworking, doesnt complain and looks very much like Mou type of player.

At beggining i was kinda dissapointed with him and thought why we spent 25m on him, but now Im dissapointed with Mou not playing him. Its just sad.

Luis isn't ahead of Marcelo on the nt.

[Oscar 441]

Would fit well with the other 19 clubs...

Probably would start ahead of shaw, gibbs/monreal, rose, moreno, and kolorav.

[dmode 113]

What a player. Can't believe he was on the bench for this long

[The Skipper 20,593]

Can I just say that he was excellent today IMO.

Two massive highlights for me was that first time volley pass he made across field and then also how he took the ball, close to our own box and dribbled past around 3 players. The latter was excellent considering we were trying to protect a lead and hold possession.

There was nothing he could do for the first goal, the cross was that good. Very difficult to defend against.

He made a few positional errors but that's what's going to happen when he charges forward as much as he does and when he doesn't play as often as he should.

Honestly, Ivanovic should be dropped for him. Move Azpi to the right hand side and we'll be a much more balanced team.

Lovely, lovely footballer. Can't believe he doesn't start for us.