The Mourinho Thread

[BlueLyon 9,359]

We should seriously consider Mirallas, Sissoko and Schneiderlin to add to our bench because they can make some difference. Salah, Schurrle, Mikel are good when we are winning, but they dont turn the game around.

Having Mirallas or Sissoko on bench would be much better.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

We should seriously consider Mirallas, Sissoko and Schneiderlin to add to our bench because they can make some difference. Salah, Schurrle, Mikel are good when we are winning, but they dont turn the game around.

Having Mirallas or Sissoko on bench would be much better.

Good suggestions. I'm a fan of all 3. But even signing any of them in January will be very difficult.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Sort it out, Jose. We believe you can.

[Namika 922]

People criticized him when we played deeper than usual against City/United, today showed why we did it. Our CB partnership doesn't allow us to play high against a big team away from home, Cahill backs too much and Terry have to follow him and when this happens, there's too much space between the midfield and the defense. Same happened against Atletico last year when we pushed higher up the pitch, a good team will always punish us.

The sooner Zouma get in the line-up, the better it will be.

[iseah100 5,612]

Love the man to death, I'll defend him no matter what. Hope he drops Cahill and Ivanovic.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

People criticized him when we played deeper than usual against City/United, today showed why we did it. Our CB partnership doesn't allow us to play high against a big team away from home, Cahill backs too much and Terry have to follow him and when this happens, there's too much space between the midfield and the defense. Same happened against Atletico last year when we pushed higher up the pitch, a good team will always punish us.

The sooner Zouma get in the line-up, the better it will be.

Though you have a point, you're over-simplyfiying it too much. We didn't defend that deeply at all vs United until the last 20 mins of the game. It was a fairly open game. And against Liverpool. Neither a high or low defensive line, just a standard one. Most of the goals Spurs scored were from individual defensive mistakes.

[Jase 43,479]

Seems like we are finally paying the price for the lack of rotation in the last 1-2 months, especially in matches that we could rest players (e.g. the Sporting Lisbon match). People may point out the fact that the likes of Schurrle, Salah, Mikel, Luis etc have not been convincing when given the chance to play, which is true but as lionsden pointed out in the previous page, one cannot expect them to just be on form after one game like turning on/off the tap water. The players need consistent run of games or at least play matches that are close to one another, not one here and another one 5-6 games later or even just the last 10 minutes. You can't expect players to build up their rhythm, confidence and form by doing that. Mourinho should perhaps trust some of these squad players more and manage them better.

[The Chels 2,502]

People criticized him when we played deeper than usual against City/United, today showed why we did it. Our CB partnership doesn't allow us to play high against a big team away from home, Cahill backs too much and Terry have to follow him and when this happens, there's too much space between the midfield and the defense. Same happened against Atletico last year when we pushed higher up the pitch, a good team will always punish us.

The sooner Zouma get in the line-up, the better it will be.

Mourinho knew that going into the season though. If he wanted more mobile CBs he'd have bought them.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Our last 6 home games: W W W W W W

Our last 6 away games: W D L W D L

This is the concern.. We can't keep relying on home form. Titles are won and lost on away form.

[Laylabelle 9,396]

Yeah our away form is hit and miss.more miss of late.Even with the 'easy' away fixtures coming up can easily get caught out

[Namika 922]

Mourinho knew that going into the season though. If he wanted more mobile CBs he'd have bought them.

He wanted Benatia, no ? There are few top CB available, hopefully we can get one this summer.

[illmatic 901]

I hope this last bad stretch, has served to change his opinion regarding not need anyone else.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Want to bump what I said couple of weeks ago, about we should used 433 formation when away, every time when playing away. Every time we're using 4231 formation, there is always a chance we're gonna lose. While in 433 what you get worst are always a draw, as far I could remember.

[OhForAGreavsie 5,898]

I hope this last bad stretch, has served to change his opinion regarding not need anyone else.

He said it for sure but I find it hard to imagine he meant it. After all, Jose has seen us play.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

Our last 6 home games: W W W W W W

Our last 6 away games: W D L W D L

This is the concern.. We can't keep relying on home form. Titles are won and lost on away form.

I dont mean to be "that guy", but the last 8/9 Premier League champions all led the league in point tally from home games.

Im not OVERLY concerned just yet, because our next chunk of away games (after swansea and Villa) are the Leicesters, WBAs, Hull Citys, and QPRs. If we KILL IT at home, and truly make Stamford Bridge a fortress, things will work themselves out.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

Want to bump what I said couple of weeks ago, about we should used 433 formation when away, every time when playing away. Every time we're using 4231 formation, there is always a chance we're gonna lose. While in 433 what you get worst are always a draw, as far I could remember.

Thats what we thought but we havent had that opprotunity because Ramires has been dealing with injuries for practically the whole season. When he was on today, he was dispossed quite a bit, and was struggling to keep the ball at times but he was still able to make some driving runs, and be that runner for Cesc to pick out. He really should feature more assuming now he's healthy.

[Henrique 9,133]

I think we are paying the price for believing in 2 myths:

*our team was superb, and only one good striker was needed.

*our defense is the best in the world.

Since last season I've been saying this: our weak point is the defense. Mourinho is fooling himself when he says Terry is as good as 2005. Azi is easily our best at the four back. Its unbelievable how Ivanovic became the untouchable right back. He was never that good going forward, but this season even his defending is average. About Cahill, I always said people saw him as an amazing CB because of David Luiz factor. He is average and always will be.

I think its also funny to remember people saying Matic was a god in the midfield, or that was the reason why we were set to win the trophy last season. For me he is a correct player, definitely better than Mikel, but being better than Mikel doesn't make you a super DM. I think he is very limited, going forward and defending.

To be honest I don't see us winning the trophy. City is a better team in every aspect. Their squad depth is unbelievable. I think we lost an amazing opportunity when we lost 4 points against Manchester teams. At this moment we could be 5 points ahead of City. Now we definitely lost our momentum.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I think we are paying the price for believing in 2 myths:

*our team was superb, and only one good striker was needed.

*our defense is the best in the world.

Since last season I've been saying this: our weak point is the defense. Mourinho is fooling himself when he says Terry is as good as 2005. Azi is easily our best at the four back. Its unbelievable how Ivanovic became the untouchable right back. He was never that good going forward, but this season even his defending is average. About Cahill, I always said people saw him as an amazing CB because of David Luiz factor. He is average and always will be.

I think its also funny to remember people saying Matic was a god in the midfield, or that was the reason why we were set to win the trophy last season. For me he is a correct player, definitely better than Mikel, but being better than Mikel doesn't make you a super DM. I think he is very limited, going forward and defending.

To be honest I don't see us winning the trophy. City is a better team in every aspect. Their squad depth is unbelievable. I think we lost an amazing opportunity when we lost 4 points against Manchester teams. At this moment we could be 5 points ahead of City. Now we definitely lost our momentum.

It's too early to make any conclusion, don't we? Even when we lead 8 points from City, they always believe it is still far, far away from over. And they're right. We're still have the same point with them, definitely not the right time to throw the towel already.