The Mourinho Thread

[OhForAGreavsie 6,128]

Why would it be full strength team though?

This is the league cup, not FA cup. This is also December where we have far bigger games coming up, this is a great chance to rest some people imo.

Apart from defence where we don't have a plethora of options, I only expect Willian and one of Matic/Cesc to start if Rammy can't play.

Understand your point of course but surely one of the things of which we are all rightly proud is that our club is in it to win it, no matter what it is. We are not Arsenal. I'll be very surprised if this is not the strongest line up possible.

By the way my understanding of Jose's comments, during his Hull press conference on Friday, is that Cesc will definitely start.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

It wouldn't hurt to have more rest considering we have a spell coming up when we play on the 26th, 28th and again on the 1st.

You can't tell me the (unnecessary) minutes played here, won't end up having an impact then.

I would like to win this cup if possible, but we need to use our squad depth at this moment. If our bench players can't beat Derby, then I wonder how we're going to get through December playing the same 11 every game.

The harm obviously is risking getting knocked out of the league cup when we have a good chance of winning it.

It's a risk gain analysis and here the risk of exhausting the players is rather low consider the circumstances I already stated and the gain is high because I do believe we will need our first XI to ensure going through.

Derby are at home, in front of their fans, for their biggest match of the season in a cup game where anything can happen. They will look to sit deep and frustrate us and hit on the counter. It's not that our bench is not better than the Derby team it's the way that the game will likely pan out that we will likely need the likes of Hazard and Fabregas and Matic...etc. to break them down.

This game should be treated the same as an away game at Burnley or Leicester or Hull in the EPL.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,128]

It wouldn't hurt to have more rest considering we have a spell coming up when we play on the 26th, 28th and again on the 1st.

You can't tell me the (unnecessary) minutes played here, won't end up having an impact then.

I would like to win this cup if possible, but we need to use our squad depth at this moment. If our bench players can't beat Derby, then I wonder how we're going to get through December playing the same 11 every game.

Why can we not tell ourselves that? This idea has become received wisdom but is it in fact so? Is there any actual evidence which suggests that the clubs who rotate most are those which are most successful? I'm not sure there is.

[Sheva. 5,373]

The harm obviously is risking getting knocked out of the league cup when we have a good chance of winning it.

It's a risk gain analysis and here the risk of exhausting the players is rather low consider the circumstances I already stated and the gain is high because I do believe we will need our first XI to ensure going through.

Derby are at home, in front of their fans, for their biggest match of the season in a cup game where anything can happen. They will look to sit deep and frustrate us and hit on the counter. It's not that our bench is not better than the Derby team it's the way that the game will likely pan out that we will likely need the likes of Hazard and Fabregas and Matic...etc. to break them down.

This game should be treated the same as an away game at Burnley or Leicester or Hull in the EPL.

OK then. Question though, we have 4 games left this month (another one first day of Jan.), do you expect Hazard, Matic, Cesc to play all these games and consistently play at a high level? I think there will likely be an off performance like against Sunderland, and with 3 of the PL games away from home, that could spell trouble.

Why can we not tell ourselves that? This idea has become received wisdom but is it in fact so? Is there any actual evidence which suggests that the clubs who rotate most are those which are most successful? I'm not sure there is.

I believe clubs with good squad depth end up being the most successful. Of course it's not a fact, but it can't possibly be a bad thing to be able to rest your stars whenever necessary.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

OK then. Question though, we have 4 games left this month (another one first day of Jan.), do you expect Hazard, Matic, Cesc to play all these games and consistently play at a high level? I think there will likely be an off performance like against Sunderland, and with 3 of the PL games away from home, that could spell trouble.

I don't expect the whole XI to play all of them. Jose said after the Sporting match that no one will play more than 5 of the remaining 6 matches till new year. In reality I expect one or two to play all of them. I fully expect to see a couple of changes from one game to the next, but not we got 6 days till the next match.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I'm against playing kids in Derby match, but actually we should play our backup for Derby match mixed with our strongest XI. Yes, there is a nice gap of days between Derby and Stoke game, but any rest could make a positive impact in this busy period.

We will play 5 games between today until 1st January.

Away to Derby

Away to Stoke

Home vs West Ham

Away to Soton

Away to Tottenham

If people asked me when you think it is 'okay' to rotate some after seeing those fixtures? I would say away to Derby and home vs West Ham.

Edit : Weird, for a moment I thought I'm sure I posted in Pre Match thread.

[mikeholiday 209]

So much criticism on Jose about not playing the kids more often. Maybe it's true he doesn't care and it's all about winning for him. Can you blame him? Knowing how demanding Mr. Abramovich is?

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

So much criticism on Jose about not playing the kids more often. Maybe it's true he doesn't care and it's all about winning for him. Can you blame him? Knowing how demanding Mr. Abramovich is?

As it has been said countless times now. He will play the kids more next season if we win PL or CL or both this season, as the trophyless pressure is off. At the moment, don't get your hope high too much.

[EMK 7]

The harm obviously is risking getting knocked out of the league cup when we have a good chance of winning it.

It's a risk gain analysis and here the risk of exhausting the players is rather low consider the circumstances I already stated and the gain is high because I do believe we will need our first XI to ensure going through.

Derby are at home, in front of their fans, for their biggest match of the season in a cup game where anything can happen. They will look to sit deep and frustrate us and hit on the counter. It's not that our bench is not better than the Derby team it's the way that the game will likely pan out that we will likely need the likes of Hazard and Fabregas and Matic...etc. to break them down.

This game should be treated the same as an away game at Burnley or Leicester or Hull in the EPL.

I disagree, I think our squad players should be good enough to beat them. One other thing is that we need everybody sharp for the festive season.

If we are scared to give them a chance against Derby then they aren't Chelsea quality. Players Like Salah and Shurrle can't play games once every month if can't give them a chance in the League Cup then ehat the purpose of having them?

[Term-X 7,892]

So much criticism on Jose about not playing the kids more often. Maybe it's true he doesn't care and it's all about winning for him. Can you blame him? Knowing how demanding Mr. Abramovich is?

Not so sure about that, especially after all the investment in the youth setup, and our last CL game was meaningless.

I also found it strange how Jose spoke about how Loftus-Cheek owes him a bottle of wine now; 'he was joking', but it speaks volumes for how the natural integration of youth into the side is non-existent.

[OneMoSalah 9,122]

Not so sure about that, especially after all the investment in the youth setup, and our last CL game was meaningless.

I also found it strange how Jose spoke about how Loftus-Cheek owes him a bottle of wine now; 'he was joking', but it speaks volumes for how the natural integration of youth into the side is non-existent.

It is but I think also the structure of English football doesn't help managers as much as it could, teams in Spain, Holland, Germany have B teams which play in a lower league which is at a higher level of football than say U21 football and give their players more competitive football and makes the step to the first team a bit more easier. Obviously Jose obviously isn't the best manager in terms of introducing youth either but there aren't very many managers in England that actually introduce youth as much as say Pep did at Barca or van Gaal did at Bayern.

[TheOneChan95 225]

I think this season is far too crucial to be playing too many youngsters. We need that "winners mentality" and get the players to treat each game seriously. If we win at least the PL I think we would have some leeway to play more youngsters next season. Currently I think Brana has a higher chance of playing upfront than Solanke.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I think this season is far too crucial to be playing too many youngsters. We need that "winners mentality" and get the players to treat each game seriously. If we win at least the PL I think we would have some leeway to play more youngsters next season. Currently I think Brana has a higher chance of playing upfront than Solanke.

If that was true, we would've seen such results in 2006/07. It's a cop-out to say "this season is far too crucial", it's harder to retain a trophy than it is to win it on the one-off. I mentioned it yesterday, but do you recall this?

[Victor Von Doom 258]

How come Jose always get what he is wishing for?

[OhForAGreavsie 6,128]

If that was true, we would've seen such results in 2006/07. It's a cop-out to say "this season is far too crucial", it's harder to retain a trophy than it is to win it on the one-off. I mentioned it yesterday, but do you recall this?

I also remember Eddie McCreadie deciding to go with the kids...

and getting relegated.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

If that was true, we would've seen such results in 2006/07. It's a cop-out to say "this season is far too crucial", it's harder to retain a trophy than it is to win it on the one-off. I mentioned it yesterday, but do you recall this?

Yet to be proven wrong though, isn't it?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Yet to be proven wrong though, isn't it?

Well it was, when Fergie did it with the youngsters including Beckham, Neville x2, Butt etc.

The point is, it's not about using all the kids at once. It's that, there's no point in saying "once we've won [insert trophy]". That sort of timeline is a simple cop-out because it's always the excuse for the season after. Using youth is a risk, but it's worth taking sometimes.

[Madmax 9,219]

Well it was, when Fergie did it with the youngsters including Beckham, Neville x2, Butt etc.

The point is, it's not about using all the kids at once. It's that, there's no point in saying "once we've won [insert trophy]". That sort of timeline is a simple cop-out because it's always the excuse for the season after. Using youth is a risk, but it's worth taking sometimes.

Exactly. There'll always be one excuse or another.

Cop-out bingo :

'need to win trophies'

'need to sustain winning culture'

'we should respect all competitions'

'not playing well enough at loans'

'playing well on loan but playing at Chelsea is different'

'if they're good they'll make it somehow'

[lionsden 4,689]

Well it was, when Fergie did it with the youngsters including Beckham, Neville x2, Butt etc.

The point is, it's not about using all the kids at once. It's that, there's no point in saying "once we've won [insert trophy]". That sort of timeline is a simple cop-out because it's always the excuse for the season after. Using youth is a risk, but it's worth taking sometimes.

exactly I doubt our trophy target will be derailed or sabotaged if we gave Boga and RLC the role Salah and Mikel currently occupy in the squad.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

I'm gonna be honest - I love that we're "ganging up" on Mourinho right now as opposed to just believing in him. His decision to leave out RLC for 82 minutes was laughable at best. His statement of putting out the best team vs Derby is the same. A match vs a championship team - surely we could afford to play just 1 youth surrounded by 10 first teamers, right?

However, that brilliant article by Neville put things into perspective to me. At the absolute worst, we have a top 3 academy in England. It took a while for the club to get to this point. If you look at Mourinho's record, he doesn't integrate youth into his squad. Please don't feed me the BS of "look at how many players he gave their debuts too" because that's EXACTLY the same thing that just happened to RLC. A debut without consistent playing time means fuck all.

Back to my point - this is a new strategy for Mourinho as well. He's also coming to terms with this outlook for the first time in his 14 year career. Neville was talking about how linked the youth team and the first team was, how everything's integrated, he was learning from his experiences etc. Well couldn't you say this was RLC's first major learning experience? Whether the match meant anything or not, players uproot their families just so they can play for a club in the CL. He also had his first presser alongside his manager possibly for the next 10 years. Mourinho's mindset is win at all costs - we know this and love it. It's going to take some trial and error on his part on how to go about it. It's easy for us to sit here and say "ah well he should play player A here for X minutes and player B for X minutes" but it's our league to lose this year and IMO Jose knows that.

ZOUMA.