The Mourinho Thread

[Reddish-Blue 2,345]

Of course it's transition... for we have a new manager. There's no way it isn't a transition. RM team in 2010 was better than ours - any team that has Cristiano Ronaldo has something else compared to the others and they had him and a bunch more that were older, on their peak and experienced - and it was a transition season where he was spanked by Barcelona in the biggest beat up between the clubs lately (5-0) and although they finished 2nd in La Liga by only 4 points, that was mainly because Barcelona had a huge lead and they started dropping points towards the end of the season (9). They made it to CL SF - again their team was better than our current squad - and only won the Cup (Copa del Rey). I'm not saying we won't win, but to deny this is a transitional season seems nonsensical as we're under a new management, we have new players, we have many young players (9 under 23) and we'll change the mentality the club has had for the past few years. There's no way you don't go through a transition to reach the goals. There isn't magic in football and that's the capital mistake ManCity does year after year. They build a team with great names, and then the next season - because it didn't work as good as they wanted - they change half of the team again. There's no immediate and magical result. It's a process and Mourinho already asked time himself.

I never said though we won't win titles. I just said next season we will be a hit and that hopefully we are able to grab some titles already in this one. José faces this season as transitional. He already said that although he'll do his best to win titles now this is a team for the future. There aren't really many ways to interpret a sentence like that...

Well said. Manchester City's lack of team chemistry will hurt them sooner or later. I like the signings that Pellegrini has made, particularly the speedy Navas, who should solve their width problem but with large transfer fees, come large wages and big egos. It'll be interesting to see how Pellegrini controls the dressing room when Man City don't win games.

As for Chelsea, I agree with your point, this is a transitional season because of all the young players on our squad. I'm really interested to see what Mourinho does with the likes of De Bruyne, Schurrle, Lukaku, Van Ginkel as the season goes on..

I still feel we lack that dominant striker who can win us games single-handedly (e.g. Rvp for United) but we should be capable of winning something this season.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

Of course it's transition... for we have a new manager. There's no way it isn't a transition. RM team in 2010 was better than ours - any team that has Cristiano Ronaldo has something else compared to the others and they had him and a bunch more that were older, on their peak and experienced - and it was a transition season where he was spanked by Barcelona in the biggest beat up between the clubs lately (5-0) and although they finished 2nd in La Liga by only 4 points, that was mainly because Barcelona had a huge lead and they started dropping points towards the end of the season (9). They made it to CL SF - again their team was better than our current squad - and only won the Cup (Copa del Rey). I'm not saying we won't win, but to deny this is a transitional season seems nonsensical as we're under a new management, we have new players, we have many young players (9 under 23) and we'll change the mentality the club has had for the past few years. There's no way you don't go through a transition to reach the goals. There isn't magic in football and that's the capital mistake ManCity does year after year. They build a team with great names, and then the next season - because it didn't work as good as they wanted - they change half of the team again. There's no immediate and magical result. It's a process and Mourinho already asked time himself.

I never said though we won't win titles. I just said next season we will be a hit and that hopefully we are able to grab some titles already in this one. José faces this season as transitional. He already said that although he'll do his best to win titles now this is a team for the future. There aren't really many ways to interpret a sentence like that...

But Barbara, if the season ends up with titles, why should we say it is a transitional season ? Was the 2009-2010 a transitional season? No, was the 2004-2005 season a transition ? no ! even if we had a new manager and a new staff, we only added few names to complete the puzzle, with Rooney we could just do that.The maturity and the winning mentality that José brings does not need one year or two, in three months we'll be either on the top or nearly that, he may this time need one year to win the PL again, but I dont see us finishing with zero titles and for me a season with a good champions league run, one title or two is not a transitional season no matter the new players and the new manager.I remember very well the Real Madrid 2010-2011, the were for me the second best team in the world, it did not take long for José to make his touch and I expect the same here.

[Barbara 15,149]

But Barbara, if the season ends up with titles, why should we say it is a transitional season ? Was the 2009-2010 a transitional season? No, was the 2004-2005 season a transition ? no ! even if we had a new manager and a new staff, we only added few names to complete the puzzle, with Rooney we could just do that.The maturity and the winning mentality that José brings does not need one year or two, in three months we'll be either on the top or nearly that, he may this time need one year to win the PL again, but I dont see us finishing with zero titles and for me a season with a good champions league run, one title or two is not a transitional season no matter the new players and the new manager.I remember very well the Real Madrid 2010-2011, the were for me the second best team in the world, it did not take long for José to make his touch and I expect the same here.

sweetie, you're not understanding my point at all.

He's here to create a new style of playing and that requires time. It has little to do with winning titles. My post was about Mourinho creating a hit team, the team everyone will talk about. Just like Barça has been and now Bayern is. He has the quality to do that and while he doesn't have all players now, he has a few of them that will mature into the next generation of A players and a few more might continue to join. Read carefully what I've written. It's about changing our style because he's changed his. And becoming a reference in the world of football. It requires time and those young players to mature.

If we happen to win titles in the between, great and I believe we will. Next year I believe we'll be able to repeat the first 30 minutes against Hull to a T and for nearly 90 minutes in most matches already. This season we might do that a few times, but we won't do another few times. That's what I'm talking about. Titles are consequence of the philosophy and style. And let's not forget we have really hard competition in EPL - let alone in Europe.

And you said well in your post. RM had the second best squad in the world at the time. I'm not sure currently we make the top5 or even the best squad in England right now.

I think comparing this season to the 2004/05 is a bit of a stretch. The players were older, more experienced... a complete different profile. Again it's not only me saying it, José said it just yesterday...

My point is - as a RM fan I can say - in 2010 (from Aug-Dec) the team was still a mess tactically. Pellegrini was sacked basically because of yet another terrible CL result and a very embarrassing early exit in Copa del Rey. The team had great talents and when Mourinho arrived he of course brought a few more names, but that team while great technically, was still lost tactically. What tactics should we use to capitalize the talent we had? Let's not forget this is La Liga - the level of competition doesn't compare to the EPL and still they struggled to find a pattern and a style of playing. Until the 5-0 we were leaders and after that disaster the team was emotionally unstable, they lacked confidence and the main reason they continued to win is because a team like that playing against Mallorca, Levante, Hércules (), Deportivo, Almería, Getafe, etc would of course win. But we had problems, we struggled, it took José a long while to define and establish a pattern, a style and see what really worked given the players we had. That team changed Mourinho. He tried to emulate what he did in Inter (which was much closer to what he did in Chelsea), but he couldn't because he had completely different players in his hands. The squad itself presented a challenge to him and it took him a while (and an embarrassing loss to Barça) to understand that what he did here and in Inter wouldn't work with that profile of squad.

I remember vividly that season, I've followed Madrid very closely because I was excited to have Mou managing yet another team I supported. It took him months and we were very lucky with the teams we had on UCL (Lyon and Spurs). It wasn't until February-March that the team finally seemed to have settled and for Mourinho to learn how to work with a squad that was so prone to attack, fast, talented in every position (from the pivot on) and with the second best player in the world. But before that he tried ball possession, he tried tikitaka, he tried two strikers, one striker, he tried a lot of things, until he realized what Madrid did best was counter-attack and fast paced football. We had more possession than opponents, but we were in no way a tikitaka kind of football. It took time for him to find the balance and for the team get used to the new tactics and that was a team that had a lot of players on their peak (Casillas, Ramos, Marcelo, Alonso, Cristiano, di María, Higuaín and players on verge of peaking such as Benzema and Ozil - although some would say they were already peaking).

When Mourinho came to England the rest of the teams had to raise their level to compete with his team. And that improvement is still there for a couple of top clubs and the smaller clubs can be challenging because the league is very physical. Which league (among the big ones) is more unpredictable (or competitive) than the Premier League? La Liga and Bundesliga are all about two teams, Italy currently is about Juve and someone else that won't really threaten them but will still be much better than the rest. The rest (including Portuguese, French and Dutch leagues) are 2nd tier leagues. Winning in England is harder.

I prefer to keep my titles expectations low and look forward to this team progressing, maturing and taking the first steps into marking a generation in a couple of years. Everything beyond that is icing the cake. I have no doubts we'll be a force to reckon with next year and in a couple more we'll be the 'it' team. That's one thing missing in Mourinho's resume and it's great that Roman seems to aim the same. Whether they'll succeed or not, is yet to be seen, but I think we have all tools to make it happen and until then I'm prepared to see a lot of rotation, experiments and adjustments and hopefully titles mixed with all of it. It does help ManUtd has a new coach in nearly 3 decades and that ManCity pressed the reset button again.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

@Barbara

We think differently, you want Mourinho to build a team that can - after one or even two years - dominate domestically and in Europe, with a style of play different than the one he implemented here when he came first.I dont see this way, the challenge is too difficult and we simply cannot "do a Bayern

Munich after a shocking defeat against Barcelona in the 2008 2009 campaign started their revolution, changing managers and going in a direction, van Gaal took over and went on to nearly win the treble, before Jupp took over and won the treble after a disappointing season.My point is, it took Bayern four years to finally have a team that dominated europe without any doubts, this process needed money and good ideas.I dont think the board and Mourinho could for example accept to finish this season trophyless, I dont believe the journalist when they say this time its different for José.I think the aim is to win as soon as possible, to make a winning machine by playing good football, different to the one of 2004 because now we have different profile, but the aim is always to win as quickly as you can.We'll be a force, but what Mourinho wants is to build a dynasty here a la Ferguson, to win many leagues - not always brilliantly - to have that stability that will help him in this process.

We are going in a direction of challenging for the Premier League and Champions League this season, we are not building for the next years a squad, we already finished that process, José will try to implement his new ideas but also wont "do a Villas-Boas" and will at times sacrifice his ideas to win important games because he'll have a huge pressure from the big boss to deliver quickly and with some style.Chelsea is not Bayern and Barcelona, we cant accept trophyless seasons like Bayern did in 2011 and Barca 2007/2008.

[edetarod 2,155]

what i hope:

plan A: Roo

plan B: Ibra

plan C: Suarez

what i think:

plan A: Roo

plan B: Eto'o

plan C: that Portuguese guy

[Blue Armour 4,278]

"Football is full of top talents but not many top players." - Jose

Love it!

Mourinho is definitely not going to go easy on Hazard this season.

[mediator 2,026]

As Jose left presser, a Spanish colleague asked him for an interview in her mother tongue. “No, no: I don’t speak Spanish any more.”

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Tactics and team selection all wrong for tonight's game. He should share the blame with the players for the bad performance.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Tactics and team selection all wrong for tonight's game. He should share the blame with the players for the bad performance.

We won the game, what the fuck is wrong with you people ?

FFS.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

We won the game, what the fuck is wrong with you people ?

FFS.

We won the game purely by luck. Are you happy with that performance?

[Jase 43,479]

We won the game, what the fuck is wrong with you people ?

FFS.

TBF, think Benitez got slaughtered as well for his team selection and tactics even though we won but didn't play well. So, not sure why Mourinho should escape criticism for that either.

And just because we won, doesn't mean we can't criticize the manager for his decision making. We do that to players every time as well, win or lose. Otherwise, what is the point of analyzing and having discussion?

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Villa scored 3 past Arsenal at the Emirates few days ago, this isn't some pub team we were playing. So many childish posts tonight (and in general the quality of the forums is declining since our Champions League win).

I'm very happy we won this game, I'm delighted. It was an ugly win, but United does it all the time and wins the league with those wins. So, calm down and enjoy.

[Jase 43,479]

Villa scored 3 past Arsenal at the Emirates few days ago, this isn't some pub team we were playing. So many childish posts tonight (and in general the quality of the forums is declining since our Champions League win).

I'm very happy we won this game, I'm delighted. It was an ugly win, but United does it all the time and wins the league with those wins. So, calm down and enjoy.

Just because we complain, doesn't mean we don't enjoy the win. We do but also we want the best for our team. We look at the deficiencies and speak about it, win or lose. Don't see what's wrong with that really. And mind you, even though United does most of the time, have seen their fans complain about Fergie before.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Tactics and team selection all wrong for tonight's game. He should share the blame with the players for the bad performance.

Agree with that, I said it in the beginning of the match.

However, those weird wins are what make teams champions...

[Barbara 15,149]

transcript of Mou's post match presser

Were you fortunate to win?
It was a free-kick against Aston Villa. If somebody pushes an opponent especially in the box in a dangerous area it is a free-kick against them.

Was it a struggle for you tonight?
If in this moment we are here with a draw it wouldn’t be an unfair result. I think they fought a lot for a result. I don’t think they played a lot because they don’t play a lot.
Every ball the goalkeeper had every ball the goalkeeper kicks so they don’t play a lot but they fought a lot and they created great difficulties and if Petr doesn’t save the one on the far post from Weimann we probably don’t even get a point out of this game.
This is what they do. They have a special player with special qualities. They use him. Goalkeeper kicks it and Benteke is fantastic with the first ball and they play from Benteke.
They do this and the counter attack. The counter attack we controlled fantastically. In 90 minutes they had the one situation and we controlled it very well and killed their counter attacks because we played with great balance between the lines and positionally we were very good.
The situation with Benteke is very difficult to control because the goalkeeper has the ball, you can’t press the goalkeeper. The ball is there and he kicks the ball and after that everything goes from Benteke. It’s difficult. They gave us a very difficult match.

Was Benteke in your thoughts as a striker to buy?
He is a great player but he is a great player for a certrain style of football. We tried to play a different style of football.
We tried to play the way we played against Hull. We tried to play the way we train every day but the good thing from my team today was Villa gave us a different match and we coped with that.
Defensively we were strong. I think we could do better with the ball. Better decisions. Maybe my decision of not making many changes, only two, maybe was not the best.
Maybe it would be better to put more fresh players from the beginning because I felt my players found the midfield in the attacking areas were not very, very sharp which was understandable but the team fought very hard and sometimes you have to win because you play fantastic football.
Sometimes when you don’t do that you have to play based on other things and today other things gave us the game.

Did you fear Ivanovic would be sent off for an elbow?
No, first of all this is the Premier League. This is English football. For some reason the world loves it more than any other league.
One thing is a real aggression. Another thing is duals that land in a certrain way and I think the referee did very well and from minute one to minute 95 there was a real fight.
A football fight between Benteke and Ivanovic and fouls, foul on one side, fouls on the other side and I think that is football.

Two games, two wins but no goals from your strikers. Is it time to buy someone who can actually score?
In this moment we are scoring enough goals to win our matches and I try to I tried to put all my three strikers more or less the same time on the pitch.
Today I started Ba. Lukaku didn’t start but was the one who played both matches and I tried to give them the confidence to play and to get into the team. They did their work for the team in different matches.
They work hard, they open spaces for the team, they have a defensive job for the team they were humble on the service they gave to the team so I cannot say that I’m not happy with them.

What happened on the touchline?
When it is 1-0 nothing happened. When the game is over after 20 minutes nothing happens. From the minute until the 95th minute with the result unpredictable when nobody knows what is going to happen, Paul has a certain type of personality and behaviour on the bench that pushes for that.
He reminds me of myself 10 years ago when I was complaining about every decision, when I want to coach my team and at the same time I want to have a whistle on my lip. He is the same. He will change.
With time and experience he will change because he complains about every, every, every decision.
But he is a young manager, very intelligent. He plays very well adapted to the quality of his players. I wish him good. I like him and no problem. Just little discussions.

Have your side recovered?
Yeah, yeah. Today was today. We played Sunday and Wed after national team matches. Now we have four days with no football, absolutely nothing, and we have Friday, Saturday and Sunday and they are fine.

Are you more likely to go for Rooney after Monday's game?
I don’t want Chelsea to do it before we go there and everybody in the club in the board they agree with me. There is time to do things. We did it before and we will do later but what I think with this period where we are going to be quiet and just be thinking just about that game.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2399452/Jose-Mourinho-takes-aim-Paul-Lambert-spat-saying-He-reminds-years-ago.html#ixzz2ceFABMNg

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Agree with that, I said it in the beginning of the match.

However, those weird wins are what make teams champions...

It was a MASSIVE result, imo. It puts a lot of pressure on united and Moyes because it will be a huge hit for them to already be 6 points behind us 9 days into the season, so they come into the game on Monday with more pressure on them than us.

But performance wise, it was just terrible, there are no two ways about it.

[Hutcho 8,443]

What i really like is him questioning his own decisions and analysing them etc. And what he said about the team was correct.

At least we know we won't have to be subject to the 89th min left back sub when we need a goal. He won't be afraid to change things at half time or before if he thinks something is not right. Great to have him back.

He is still learning with the team, so he is gonna make slight errors here and there, tactically or selection wise.

[meetdoscar 335]

I read some comments here and I find it funny like we should be fantastic in every game we win especially when villa didn't even come to play but to defend from the start just like manu does this days. We played as we could against a team that parked the bus and most importantly we won. That's what makes champions for me.