The Mourinho Thread

[xPetrCechx 13,571]

The guy trod on his ankle? Lol

look at the last southampton attack i think, with pele.

[The Skipper 20,609]

No need to apologise. You're one of the few people on here that doesn't get emotional so I know we can have an adult conversation.

The second half looked like our typical huffing and puffing against a team that sits back when they have dropped physically.

To further elaborate on my earlier point:

We definitely made some changes tactically in the second half. In the first we were very deep, a lot more compact, and weren't committing men forward, especially after our goal (we had a decent 5 minute spell before that). In the second it definitely changed. Mourinho got more players to commit forward and we played with a much higher line and started pressing a lot more and played more physically - so I would say we caused Soton to retreat to their initial game plan; they definitely came to the Bridge looking to sit and counter but because we offered them so much freedom in the first half, Koeman allowed his players to revert to the more traditional way Soton play - which is trying to dictate the tempo. As soon as Mourinho realised that we shouldn't be as compact or patient and that we should play with a much higher tempo and line, we automatically took control of the game as we should've from the start.

Remember, Southampton haven't played for 12 days iirc - that's a lot of preparation time. They weren't physically exhausted or anything - Koeman's tactics are just very, very flexible. It's the reason why they're joint best defensively with us in the PL this year. They can change their transitions in a moment, a very well coached team. As soon as Koeman realised that we were piling on the pressure he got his team to retreat into a low block and hoped that the pace of Mane and Long would catch us out, but credit to Azpi, JT (who I thought was great in the 2nd half, underrated performance. Made a lot of key interceptions) and Ramires (who came on and performed the Matic role excellently), who didn't give those two a sniff. Courtois was also a lot more proactive off his line because we pushed up higher, I'm sure this was an instruction from Jose (naturally, of course).

Credit must go to Mourinho for actually trying to revert back to our more cavalier approach from earlier in the season, we haven't seen that from the team in ages. His subs indicated that we were going for the win as well. I really liked his Ramires -> Matic sub - haven't seen a risky sub like that from Mourinho in ages. Of course credit to the players who responded magnificently as well and tried to win the game.

[didierforever 7,349]

There's been talk of a new contract but I hope it's just talk at this moment. Even if we do go on to win the league he shouldn't be given a new contract. What's the rush? He supposedly loves the club and will only leave if Chelsea sack him / don't renew his contract. I personally don't want him to be given more time until we play better football and are more competitive in Europe - an easy run to the Champions League semi last season only to be comprehensively outclassed by a team with less than half the budget wasn't competitive before anybody mentions it.

Barca and RM lost a 38 match league to that team and as far as I can remember they have owned their next door neighbours -multiple times to the extent of a 4-0 drubbing and they beat barca at nou camp to win the league. Jose shoyld probable commir suicide cos he lost to a team of that calibre.

[Spike 12,049]

And I admit it is his fault to overly rely on cesc. Also, can u honeslty tell us a plan-b? I don't think we have one. And that is mainly due to our lack of quality and there is no doubt there is a lack of quality and to a certain extent even some lack of depth. As much as I love rambo, he shoukd not be cesc's replacement. Oscar and willian should not be first team starters (atleast not both together). This squad is still a work in progress and I am sure jose would have realised a lot of pur short comings this season. But to say that our "attacking talent" should be steam rolling all defences is nonsense cos our attacking talent is actually very limited. You want a comparison with other teams of this league then lets have it. Lets assume all teams play 4-2-31

City - aguero, silva, nasri, navas. Except for navas I would take all the rest 3 over ours.

Pool - sturridge, sterling, coutinho, lallana. Sterling and coutinho would walk into our team at this moment.

Arsenal- giroud, sanchez, ozil, cazorla. Sanchez and cazorla would walk into this team.

United - rooney, ADM, mata, young. Despite his poor form, adm is still class.

Spurs- only eriksen though I can't see how chadli is any worse.

So our supposed attacking prowess is pretty much on level with the rest of the clubs. Our x factor has been cesc who has been dire recently. And jose needs to sort this before the next season.

Ps - the bradford match was a one off which sometimes happens irrespective of any and evrything. For gid's sake, we have still just had 3 losses in the whole season. So don't try to prove a point with an anamoly like the bradford game.

I did not say that I know Mourinho's plan b nor did I say that he has one, I said that he hasn't shown one thus so far. Redundant question to ask me. I said that the attacking talent "should be capable of defeating any team" not that it can nor did I say that they should be steam rolling the defences of other teams. There is a difference between what I've said and what you'd inferred from me. Unless you stop putting words in my mouth, I have nothing more to add to this debate of ours. If £300,000,000 is a work in progress, then the club should seriously question the scouting sectors of the club. Pathetic to spend this much money on a team that plays pragmatic football.

That is true the team has only lost three teams this season. But the team is winning at what cost? Grinding out results? Disgusting.To win with style and defending with grace should be the team's ultimate goal. The attacking is disjointed and the defending is at times desperate and hamfisted. Notwithstanding Chelsea is a club in the postition to buy success and indoing so may as well buy it with a beautiful intent. I am not upset with the success the club is achieving but I am very critical of the how the success is being achieved. Do the means really justify the end?

[Jase 43,479]

Couldn't agree more with these points.

Mourinho's stubborness of being loyal to several players has led to poor management of the squad and decision making. That has certainly affected the team's performances of late.

[didierforever 7,349]

I did not say that I know Mourinho's plan b nor did I say that he has one, I said that he hasn't shown one thus so far. Redundant question to ask me. I said that the attacking talent "should be capable of defeating any team" not that it can nor did I say that they should be steam rolling the defences of other teams. There is a difference between what I've said and what you'd inferred from me. Unless you stop putting words in my mouth, I have nothing more to add to this debate of ours. If £300,000,000 is a work in progress, then the club should seriously question the scouting sectors of the club. Pathetic to spend this much money on a team that plays pragmatic football.

That is true the team has only lost three teams this season. But the team is winning at what cost? Grinding out results? Disgusting.To win with style and defending with grace should be the team's ultimate goal. The attacking is disjointed and the defending is at times desperate and hamfisted. Notwithstanding Chelsea is a club in the postition to buy success and indoing so may as well buy it with a beautiful intent. I am not upset with the success the club is achieving but I am very critical of the how the success is being achieved. Do the means really justify the end?

I am sorry dude. At first I thought, you were just upset with the amount of goals being scored in the last 13 matches and inspite of our supposed "attacking abundance of talent", I thought the reason for that was prettt evident. I just dint know i was talking to one of those people who thought grindong results is pathetic. One of the most hilarious statements I have read. Not gonna waste my time anymore.

You dint say steam rolling but for a team who has scored 94 goals in 43 matches this season, I would say its a pretty good return. What's more is that we just played a game against the league's meanest defence and did "dominate" Soton all through the 2nd half and were probably very unlucky more than once to not get a winner.

Another LOL argument is that since we have spent 300mil in 5 years' time, so this can not be a team in progress especially when half of our manger's transfers have been to clean out the previous messes like torres, luiz, mata (that 100mil right there) and getting players which he wanted rather than what were given to him.

Also, I did admit that jose was wrong in a number of things. When I was asking questions, it was to signify that I myself dint know the answer so I admit the thing. Anithr OTT reaction from you in that resoective. As for asking if the means justify the end? What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course it does. There is a cautionary tale in arsenal.

[Oscar 441]

Couldn't agree more with these points.

Mourinho's stubborness of being loyal to several players has led to poor management of the squad and decision making. That has certainly affected the team's performances of late.

Salah, Remy and mikel...

[Spike 12,049]

I am sorry dude. At first I thought, you were just upset with the amount of goals being scored in the last 13 matches and inspite of our supposed "attacking abundance of talent", I thought the reason for that was prettt evident. I just dint know i was talking to one of those people who thought grindong results is pathetic. One of the most hilarious statements I have read. Not gonna waste my time anymore.

You dint say steam rolling but for a team who has scored 94 goals in 43 matches this season, I would say its a pretty good return. What's more is that we just played a game against the league's meanest defence and did "dominate" Soton all through the 2nd half and were probably very unlucky more than once to not get a winner.

Another LOL argument is that since we have spent 300mil in 5 years' time, so this can not be a team in progress especially when half of our manger's transfers have been to clean out the previous messes like torres, luiz, mata (that 100mil right there) and getting players which he wanted rather than what were given to him.

Also, I did admit that jose was wrong in a number of things. When I was asking questions, it was to signify that I myself dint know the answer so I admit the thing. Anithr OTT reaction from you in that resoective. As for asking if the means justify the end? What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course it does. There is a cautionary tale in arsenal.

What is the point of debating with you if you just believe my opinion is a waste of time? I'm open to new ideas and I am willing to say I'm wrong when I'm wrong but you are something else. I guess I'll keep my lol arguements and stupid questions to myself, thanks for the respectful debate, I had fun .Have a nice day.

[Stats 7,140]

LEAGUE CUP WINNERS AND SIX POINTS CLEAR

MOURINHO OUT

Fickle bastards.

Can't wait to quote a shitload of these posts when/if we win the PL and the same critics are licking his arsehole.

Come on Alex. That is harsh. Majority of us want Mourinho to stay but he does deserve criticism.

-We won the League Cup. Nice early season trophy.

-We get dumped out the 4th round to Bradford in a comp that regarding how many big sides went out, we could have thrived in that. Major disappointment.

-Champions League: We easily go through the group stage however go out in the knockouts to a team who outplayed us both games. Awful tactics and considering we were up against 10 men for the 2nd leg and played that poor and went out is ridiculous. Never been that raged by a Chelsea performance before. Another huge disappointment.

-League. We were excellent, early season. However for a while now the performances are getting poor. It is worrying. Yes it looks like we will wrap up the league but we have been lucky in the sense that our main rivals have dropped many points where they should have won. However look at some of our performances recently and tell me if that is not cause for concern. I will be delighted if we win the league but the second half of the season performances have been below-par.

Mourinho rarely rotates the team and it shows. Buying Luis for £16m or so and rarely using him is pathetic. He does well most games he pulls on a Chelsea shirt. If we win the PL it will be a success for me because that is what I wanted the most at the beginning but let's be honest, their have been a lot of flaws this season that Mourinho should be accountable for too. The UCL exit was a poor performance from the players but he takes a huge part of the blame and tbh with you it is only because of our early season form that keeps us in first place. That is worrying as it papers over the cracks.

Anyway, hope we just win this title and Mourinho does some major business in the summer to make sure we are even stronger for next season.

[didierforever 7,349]

What is the point of debating with you if you just believe my opinion is a waste of time? I'm open to new ideas and I am willing to say I'm wrong when I'm wrong but you are something else. I guess I'll keep my lol arguements and stupid questions to myself, thanks for the respectful debate, I had fun .Have a nice day.

when i thought your argument was that we should be scoring 2+ goals easily with the abundant attacking talent at our disposal ( ), i thought it was an argument. i even said that jose was at fault for overly trusting in oscar, buying physical wingers instead of technical ones and also over relying on hazard. my point was simply that our attack simply is not as good as you thought it is. and i tried to drive home the point. but i refuse to argue with anyone who starts with the usual drivel about us not dominating and putting performances before the results. the same people who say this, were the biggest moaners last season when we went trophyless and will be the biggest moaners when we play good "beautiful" football and not win a thing. just the way of the world and i simply refuse to be pulled into it. but that should not stop you from continuing the propaganda.

lastly, tell me a team which does not have to grind out results. there was a time when barca were in such a poor form that they were grinding out results against the likes of elche and levante. RM right now dont seem capable of grinding out a result and look at them. from a 6-7 point lead, they are 1 point behind barca. i am sure even u know that for a fact that grinding out results as big a factor of champions and winners as is good football. so sorry if i seem reluctant on not wanting to argue on something which is pretty much a fact for me.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

That first half was the reason why we stood no chance in the Champions League. We tried to defend after scoring one goal and they still got so many chances.

There are a lot of things we have to do to get better next season.

1. I think we shouldn't sign anymore Brazilians. Most of them have the worst decision making in any team. We're looking for energy from them but when they get fatigued, where's the little bit of quality?

2. We need to find a Spanish midfielder, people with good decision making/keypasses /assist record and can still press. (Koke)

We need to buy schneiderlin from Southampton to play besides Matic in the big games next season, Fabregas should stay away from the pivot or benched against any team that does pressing.

3. I think Mourinho is ruining everybody on the right wing with his tactics. The right wingers first job is to cover for ivanovic instead of attacking. Then the subs play 10 mins every 2-3 games.

What is annoying me is the amount of money and time we have spent on that wing (KDB, schurlle, Salah, Mata, Willian, cuadrado) and no one seems to get a grip, it means the fault is in the tactics. Either Mourinho gets a player who suits his tactics both offensively and defensively or he should do some rotation. In fact he shouldn't buy any player who doesn't have body strength for the right wing again, because from 2 years of watching the movement of the right winger I think the player Mourinho is looking for is James Milner. I'm confident if we buy reus for the right wing he'll look like salah was here.

4. And lastly wtf has happened to our pressing and intensity?? Since when can Southampton, Liverpool and tottenham press better than us??? If our players are weak under pressure, why don't we press the opponent back?? What is this sitting back, giving up and letting them create as much chances as they want and hope courtois has a great game?? Courtois has had far too many motm performances this season and thats what teams like Burnley should be hoping on, not Chelsea.

We need to attack faster, press faster like the 2nd half and stop this firsthalf slow, sluggish and turgid play that is not an identity of a Mourinho team.

[mikeholiday 209]

Talentwise i dont think the gap between chelsea and soton is that wide, despite chelsea players' wages and transfer fees.

I find it weird that some people just put blame SOLELY on Jose.

[Kezza 1,965]

Sooo many people called Jose Mourinho on this forum..

[Jase 43,479]

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho 'untouchable XI' has played five times more than fringe team

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Come on Alex. That is harsh. Majority of us want Mourinho to stay but he does deserve criticism.

-We won the League Cup. Nice early season trophy.

-We get dumped out the 4th round to Bradford in a comp that regarding how many big sides went out, we could have thrived in that. Major disappointment.

-Champions League: We easily go through the group stage however go out in the knockouts to a team who outplayed us both games. Awful tactics and considering we were up against 10 men for the 2nd leg and played that poor and went out is ridiculous. Never been that raged by a Chelsea performance before. Another huge disappointment.

-League. We were excellent, early season. However for a while now the performances are getting poor. It is worrying. Yes it looks like we will wrap up the league but we have been lucky in the sense that our main rivals have dropped many points where they should have won. However look at some of our performances recently and tell me if that is not cause for concern. I will be delighted if we win the league but the second half of the season performances have been below-par.

Mourinho rarely rotates the team and it shows. Buying Luis for £16m or so and rarely using him is pathetic. He does well most games he pulls on a Chelsea shirt. If we win the PL it will be a success for me because that is what I wanted the most at the beginning but let's be honest, their have been a lot of flaws this season that Mourinho should be accountable for too. The UCL exit was a poor performance from the players but he takes a huge part of the blame and tbh with you it is only because of our early season form that keeps us in first place. That is worrying as it papers over the cracks.

Anyway, hope we just win this title and Mourinho does some major business in the summer to make sure we are even stronger for next season.

I accept your arguments, especially about team rotation. But I have never said Mourinho doesn't deserve criticism. I said it twice yesterday alone. My argument is that our squad is nowhere near as good as people on here think it is. Mourinho is making a fist out of a hand that is relatively decent, but by no means world-beating.

For me, Mourinho is rebuilding the mess that was the short-term fix represented first by Grant, then Scolari, then Hiddink, then Ancelotti, then Villas-Boas, then di Matteo, then Benitez. It might have brought about some short-term success, but there was no long-term vision for the future. There is this time around with José. It will be a frustratingly long journey, but he will make us one of the world's best teams again in the not too distant future. And as far as I'm concerned, we've taken positive strides this season.

A League and League Cup double is a fucking phenomenal achievement given the quality of the competition in the PL this season. It's as competitive as ever and for me this is a very positive indicator of things to come. Mourinho doesn't get it right every game, I accept that, but if he gets it right over the course of a season - which we almost always does - he wins silverware. I'll take that.