The Mourinho Thread

[Blue Armour 4,436]

We have never had fast starts under Mourinho. 04/05 upto Blackburn results covered some very sketchy performances and in 05/06 yes i know we won our first god knows how many games but it wasn't until Liverpool we started performing to standard.

If we are still playing like this, this time next month then get worried, but until then, see what happens.

The funniest thing is fans moan when Roman doesn't give manager's time, yet the same lot we over-react after a few games.

That's because its Mourinho...its just like Henrique said...a lot of uninitiated fans buy into the aura of invincibility that has been created around Jose, and now they're panicking when results haven't gone according to plan

Let's be honest, Jose is still learning more about this team, and what it can and can't do. Given time, a great manager like him should easily sort it out. That's not abnormal or unreasonable.

I'm already looking forward to the next game, and can't and won;t give 2 s**** about the couple of recent results.

[Tomo 21,751]

You can go on about the team needing time to gel and stuff but a loss to a side like Basel in such an embarrassing way is not acceptable at all. Even at our lowest of lows we should manage to beat them, even if it means relying on a moment of genuine class from one of our players (which the likes of Hazard and Oscar should be capable of).

Basle are a good team, they are in the CL for a reason, Man.Utd got 1 out of 6 against them, Spurs couldn't beat them. You rarely get mug sides in the Champions League these days, even the teams in pot 4 are strong.

These results happen in the Champions League, i could probably find one similar result all the top clubs have had in recent times, but im too tired and half cut to look, one on the top of my head tho, Barcelona 1-2 Rubin Kazan.

[Tomo 21,751]

That's because its Mourinho...its just like Henrique said...a lot of uninitiated fans buy into the aura of invincibility that has been created around Jose, and now they're panicking when results haven't gone according to plan

Let's be honest, Jose is still learning more about this team, and what it can and can't do. Given time, a great manager like him should easily sort it out. That's not abnormal or unreasonable.

I'm already looking forward to the next game, and can't and won;t give 2 s**** about the couple of recent results.

It's not just this time tho. i joined this forum just after the Wolves game under Carlo and there was a fair few calling for his head on the basis on 1 and half month of bad form. I remember their was floods of comments saying RDM was the wrong man after a pre season defeat to Brighton.

[Barbara 15,149]

I think it's not time for us to criticize starting eleven decisions - although subs are totally a different case - because he's been doing the tests to find the best team and the best style for us. I disagree with whoever said he needs to stop imposing himself because I don't feel that's what he's doing... He likes 4-2-3-1 - yes, but he isn't imposing it, he is testing it. While I like 4-3-3 better I think our wingers are being quite busy and creating plays - and that's the one thing that 4-3-3 has over 4-2-3-1 as the last three have more freedom while the 3 in the midfield play deeper and don't go too high to offer cover to the wingers - with the exception of the highest midfielder. But in the 4-2-3-1 although our wingers keep backtracking to defend - André is particularly awesome shutting down opponent's FB and wingers - they also have been very present in the attack, they have a lot of freedom to attack, so the formation itself seems more like a technical detail right now than the real issue.

Until he finds the best team to start the matches and make that formation work - even if it's the 4-3-3 formation - we'll see changes from one match to the other. It may take longer than we expect, who knows? But we need to be fair to him... technically and individually some of our best players are under-performing (Mata and Hazard) others are alternating great matches with capital mistakes or poor displays in others (Ramires, Cole, Lamps, Luiz) and there are players adapting (Kevin, André, Eto'o, now Willian too). So add the players bad performances to Mourinho's hit or miss attempts to find the best philosophy and we lose and draw matches. He's responsible, but I feel like he's not the only one and his mistakes are a consequence of his own adaptation to the squad and the definition of our style.

Selective memory people (yeah, their memory isn't short, just selective) seem to forget that both Robbie and Rafa also struggled during their first matches. It took Benitez four months (imo) to mold the completely mess that was Robbie's team. Why are people comparing Benitez work in the last months of his spell with Mourinho's first? How fair is that? It wouldn't be fair to compare their first months alone because Rafa was here to fix it and fix it soon, Mourinho is here to establish a philosophy that will guide us in the following years. One thing definitely takes more time than the other and mistakes are more prone in the latter as well. So the comparisons sound unfair, overreacting, and also pointless. Just my opinion though.

[zolayes 14,489]

Basle are a good team, they are in the CL for a reason, Man.Utd got 1 out of 6 against them, Spurs couldn't beat them. You rarely get mug sides in the Champions League these days, even the teams in pot 4 are strong.

These results happen in the Champions League, i could probably find one similar result all the top clubs have had in recent times, but im too tired and half cut to look, one on the top of my head tho, Barcelona 1-2 Rubin Kazan.

Sorry but Basle aren't a good team ... They are a below average CL side and at the Bridge SHOULD have been a guaranteed 3 points.

There can be NO disguising the fact that this was a terrible result and IMO the result was exactly what the performance deserved

[kellzfresh 7,229]

i panicked big time today, i never believed we could lose at home under mou. If anything, not to basel?

But mou needs time, he needs to find one starting lineup and stick to it, build chemistry. Tell acole and hazard to stop playing like they are having beef with each other.

We should start taking early crosses into the box, and hazard should get into the box more often

[Amblève. 4,995]

Basle are a good team, they are in the CL for a reason, Man.Utd got 1 out of 6 against them, Spurs couldn't beat them. You rarely get mug sides in the Champions League these days, even the teams in pot 4 are strong.

These results happen in the Champions League, i could probably find one similar result all the top clubs have had in recent times, but im too tired and half cut to look, one on the top of my head tho, Barcelona 1-2 Rubin Kazan.

Basel is not the same team anymore they used to be when they won vs United. And if we're honest, Spurs only lost to them because they couldn't finish to save their lives.

Basel basically changed half their team this summer (and even during the summer of 2012) and lost players like Dragovic who were their absolute cornerstones for the past few years.

Also, we played at home. Results like these should never ever happen at the Bridge.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Hmm, as far as these first few matches have been going, i'm seeing an actual decrease in quality since preseason...

This team should have the quality to easily beat squads like Basel. But is it the players' fault, the manager's fault or a lack of cohesion.

I'm starting to believe Mourinho has troubles playing with an offensive team. In his Real years he had the best squad in the world for most of the time, and the second best starting eleven after Barca. But he made them play like inter and depended on the individual talent of Ronaldo. What did he really win with all that offensive quality? One title, one cup and no Champions League finals. Granted, he was up against probably the best team ever, but did he ever play them full on and head to head?

I think he's best managing big, powerful teams based on a strong defense like Inter and the old Chelsea. Not exactly the players he has now...

[Tomo 21,751]

Sorry but Basle aren't a good team ... They are a below average CL side and at the Bridge SHOULD have been a guaranteed 3 points.

There can be NO disguising the fact that this was a terrible result and IMO the result was exactly what the performance deserved

Im not saying it's not a bad result, but it's not like we lost to Yeovil.

[zolayes 14,489]

Im not saying it's not a bad result, but it's not like we lost to Yeovil.

let's hope we don't lose to Swindon ...it could be our best chance of a trophy

[Blue Warrior 109]

The fight back is on, the kick up the arse is done. Mourinho to steady the ship and lead from the front. Losing to Basle, have seen worse. No surrender, pride in the famous blue shirt.

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

Must to learn from this game...

Mou Mou...

[Tomo 21,751]

Its safe to say Fulham and Swindon are more important than we initially thought they would be.

[polo 18]

it's not his fault if the players don't give their all

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Yeah, I'm 100% behind him, but bringing Mata was a mistake... which I wonder what people that was saying he's shitty because he doesn't use Mata enough will say. For some is lose-lose when it comes to him, but he made a mistake that cost us the match imo. Mata may not be directly responsible for the goals (indirectly he was responsible for one), but he killed our creativity (writing this sounds so absurd, but it's so true) in the attack and stopped pressuring because not only he added absolutely nothing to the attack, he also lost possession 5 times - that I've counted - could have been more.

Besides Eto'o hasn't got his positioning right even. He is either staying wide at the edge of the box and couldn't hold the ball inside the box. Our AM-stiker link up didn't work out. So the blame goes partly to Eto'o as well.