The Mourinho Thread

[IliyaDamyanov 43]

------Ramires/KDB----Oscar/Lampard-----
-------William ------ Mata------ Hazard-------
------------------------ST------------------------

and we will never lose a match

[Strike 7,853]

is the rotation of AM's hurting the team more than helping it? Every week its a different combination of attacking midfielders behind a different striker. Not many other teams do that and its not easy to develop combinations and off the ball understanding in this way

In time, the attack will gel and get better but the constant changes means that it will take a considerable time before it happens. we haven't got going yet we're 2nd in the table. if the team does get going at some point, the league title is possible but even if its not this season, we should atleast make progress in team shape and play by the end of the season

[nofacej 132]

I can't help but think a lot of the members posting in this thread were watching a different Chelsea to the one I was over the past two seasons. It's true we're not dominating weaker opposition like we perhaps should be, especially given the quality the amount of money we've spent should have bought, but we're still picking up points and could very well be top of the league by Christmas. At worst we'll be 5 points behind the leaders. Contrast that with the previous two seasons where we were sitting a full 11 and 12 points away from first place respectively, and I'd say we've got a lot to be optimistic about this year.

Also, can I just say to those who are whining about the money we'll inevitably spend under Mourinho: WHO GIVES A FUCK? If the club can afford it, and it ends up winning us titles I don't care how much we spend to get there. It's not like it's my money being spent. Furthermore, we've consistently outspent the majority of clubs over the course of Roman's reign and that's likely to continue with or without Mourinho.

[coolhead23 1,147]

I don't believe in any of this "we are in transition" ideas being used to essentially blanket Mourinho with excuses if he does not win the title this season. We have been in "transition" for a good couple of years now, getting rid of some of the older players and replacing them with top quality players that are near the peak of their powers (Hazard, Ramires, Mata, Luiz etc.). Most of these players have settle in this squad and we have got enough depth (I admit it’s not in all area, but it’s still sufficient to last a season unlike last when we had a thin squad) to not worry about injury an crisis.

The simple fact is that this squad should be winning this title this year. Look at all the other teams season and it is clear to me that we are the only one that can be consistent if we are managed correctly. Yes we are a bit blunt with the strikers and central midfield, but Mourinho had a whole summer transfer window to buy these players, so it all lies at his door that we are weak in those departments and decided that he would rather pay £30 million for an attacking midfielder who is simply going to be used as a squad player, while having this deluded belief that players like Lampard can somehow be the backbone of the team. But even after all this, considering the inconsistencies of the other squads; we still should be able to win the title with some of the world class players we have got. Yet Mourinho is in two ways of what type of football we are wanting to play, trying to use flair players to constantly press defensively even though it damages their attacking abilities, and half the time is trying to convince fans that we are going to play attacking football while the other half is playing some messy counter attacking football that leaves us looking completely clueless. How can people say that Mourinho is trying to create an identity for us when after being in charged for 6 months still has no clue on what type of football we are playing? Probably the saddest thing about this is that players like Juan Mata, who are of exceptional class, able to influence games with one pass are being cast aside because of seemingly ego problems by Jose who decided that he would not like him because he does not fit exactly with his idea of everyone pressing even though there is serious doubt if this tactic even works while playing him out of form, never giving him the same chances as others who he plays out of favouritism (Lampard, Ivanovic) and never plays him in his best position, even when his favourite in the number 10 spot is not playing, he for some odd reason refuses to put him there and instead puts Willian or Schurrle there, even when it’s not as effective, like he won't do it because it would damage his pride.

This whole idea that were are in some sort of transition (which has been used for the last 2 seasons at least) and that Mourinho is developing a long term plan that will last for many years is absolutely nonsense. This man is the antithesis of long term management and stability. His whole career has been built around going to a club that already had a good squad, getting a huge transfer bank balance to buy expensive players, create a stock mentality, win some trophies, and then in two or three years’ time, as soon as signs of the train starting to derail, he quickly jumps to another and starts again. I had no belief that he would be here to stay for the long-term and I have seen no evidence that he is capable of doing this. But I have seen loads of evidence of the complete opposite. Nathan Ake, young talent with a promising future who got his breakthrough last season is cast aside to the reserves. Chalobah, another brilliant young talent who a wonderful loan spell last year is not given a chance but loaned out again, Lukaku - very bright talent who also had a great loan spell last year, is put down in the pecking order and goes on loan again while we recruit a 32 year old who is on the decline. While relying heavily on a 33 year old defender who has serious injury concerns that could come p any minute, and a 35 year old midfielder who in no way in hell is capable of being the backbone of the team but plays pretty much every game so far. We pay £30 million pounds for another attacking midfielder who we absolutely did not need and is essentially used like a squad player, yet the talented Kevin De Bruyne another for the future who could have easily be used in the position of Willian and was getting rave review in Germany has been cast aside and looks set to leave the club soon. How is this in anyway a transition? A transition would be offloading Lampard, Cole, Cech etc, using Terry much less frequently while promoting some youngsters into the first team to be bled with are other talented regulars, creating a strategy that unites their strengths - we have seen none of that. To me this will play like any reign of Jose's career time wise, 3 years at the maximum trying to win as many trophies as possible before something comes that makes him leave, whether we have any success is another question all together.

So no, I don't buy this transition idea or that Mourinho is trying to create a long term strategy that needs time. We have a squad that should win the title this season if managed correctly, of course as I have said he had plenty of opportunities to improve the squad, but considering that everyone else has been inconsistent and considering that most of the players that we bought the last few years have settle down with the squad, Mourinho has no excuse, we should win the title if the squad is managed correctly. And it seems to me he and some people here are using this "we are in transition" and "he is trying to create a long term identity" phrases in case we don't win the title this season as an excuse. When to me it’s obvious that Mourinho has no intention (or does not have the capabilities) of doing either of the two. By the grace of god we are second and a few points from the top, so he should be able to do this if he bucks up some of his ideas.

I guess no one can better this. Perfectly correct on all countI dont know but for some stupid reason I keep going back to the dialogue that he made in his documentary "A Manager needs to involve himself with time to be in the game" and i keep hoping that it comes true with Jose during his time at Chelsea... Hope!

[TrippingStep 336]

Was that before, during or after we lost at home to QPR?

You on about the Arsenal game that was won through 2 set pieces? or the Arsenal game that was won through a debatable penalty after we got thrashed over for almost the whole of the second half? or the United game were we didn't wake up until we were 2-0 down after 20 minutes?

When Rafa was here the performances got constantly criticized ,now he's gone all off a sudden we were playing like Brazil in the 70's under him, i don't get it?

I do, i also remember we got outplayed in that game and got very lucky while a few weeks later we lost to Juventus in one of the most one sided games i have ever seen which as good as dumped us on ITV4, but oh well atleast we were playing a few triangles, thankgod for that hey.

Against QPR, Rafa was rotating too much players.

And if the majority was not liking Rafa, I liked what I was seeing after a difficult first two months with him. I was seeing improvements in the movements in attack, the way we defended in midfield, the defence pushing higher, we were not letting teams shoot and cross as much as we were doing under Di Matteo.

In attack in possession, I have seen many plays that were like basket ball system, fixing a zone, like a set-up screen, pick and roll play that if the defense is not reacting well, release a runner to attack the box, if the defense is blocking it, it leaves space to the middle or the other side of the pitch.

Our play from the back was quicker and more methodical to play quicly to the other side or to the midfielders. Luiz breaking first line of press was also good as it opened more passing options.

In Europa league, we were only playing one match, resting the other game but in the game we were playing at 100%, we were creating many, many chances against Basel and Steaua. Look at our play against them this year, dull, slow with no ideas to attack.

And remember that he arrived in the middle of the season, that the team were on his knee and still after two months, I was seeing a lot of progress.

What I see now is seeing too much of the negative side of the Di Matteo team, the central defense staying too deep, the midfield easily bypassed when we lose the ball.

[EBH 283]

I am reading, very sadly, that Mourinho is sanctioning new contract for Lampard, Cole...

If we do this, we will be 'transition' forever. They are finished. There is no point, paying them huge money, for sitting on the bench. Next, we will hear, big new 5 year deal for Essien. This is crazy

[Roquila 1,335]

Team performance has nothing to do with players not playing how the should play. Right?

[mediator 2,026]

I am reading, very sadly, that Mourinho is sanctioning new contract for Lampard, Cole...

If we do this, we will be 'transition' forever. They are finished. There is no point, paying them huge money, for sitting on the bench. Next, we will hear, big new 5 year deal for Essien. This is crazy

That's for the minimal homegrown quota

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

I am reading, very sadly, that Mourinho is sanctioning new contract for Lampard, Cole...

If we do this, we will be 'transition' forever. They are finished. There is no point, paying them huge money, for sitting on the bench. Next, we will hear, big new 5 year deal for Essien. This is crazy

Trust me,having players like Lampard and Cole is a HUGE advantage and to be honest we are very lucky to have such players as they can benefit us on and off the pitch.

Experience is a must in any team and while you might think that these players are preventing the young ones to shine,I feel its quite the opposite.The stuff young talents can learn from playing besides these two legends is just something we can't buy in the transfer market.Money can't buy the the emotional attachment Frank and Cole have for this club and so you can always expect 100 percent commitment and work rate on the pitch.

I would definitely love to see him next season but with a lesser role.(If they aren't willing to accept such a role then that's just another matter but if they are then we just cant lose such kind of players)

Lampard has been getting many chances this season and maybe thats because of MVG's injury and as for Cole he's still fighting for his place but there aren't many possible options at the moment for us to just replace him with.In a few years time,yes Shaw can be the answer but not now.

So anyways,its better to be happy to have such world class players than to just complain about them.

[Namika 922]

I am reading, very sadly, that Mourinho is sanctioning new contract for Lampard, Cole...

If we do this, we will be 'transition' forever. They are finished. There is no point, paying them huge money, for sitting on the bench. Next, we will hear, big new 5 year deal for Essien. This is crazy

If we buy a CM and Shaw, they will just be on the bench. I would be pretty happy with that.

[Mouri_Matic 560]

If we buy a CM and Shaw, they will just be on the bench. I would be pretty happy with that.

So we are gonna pay Cole £200k per week, Lampard £75-£100k per week so they could sit on the bench?

[Mouri_Matic 560]

Trust me,having players like Lampard and Cole is a HUGE advantage and to be honest we are very lucky to have such players as they can benefit us on and off the pitch.

Experience is a must in any team and while you might think that these players are preventing the young ones to shine,I feel its quite the opposite.The stuff young talents can learn from playing besides these two legends is just something we can't buy in the transfer market.Money can't buy the the emotional attachment Frank and Cole have for this club and so you can always expect 100 percent commitment and work rate on the pitch.

I would definitely love to see him next season but with a lesser role.(If they aren't willing to accept such a role then that's just another matter but if they are then we just cant lose such kind of players)

Lampard has been getting many chances this season and maybe thats because of MVG's injury and as for Cole he's still fighting for his place but there aren't many possible options at the moment for us to just replace him with.In a few years time,yes Shaw can be the answer but not now.

So anyways,its better to be happy to have such world class players than to just complain about them.

Comes with ego as well. Look what happened to AVB when he tried to bench Lampard permanently, I am sure if our current maanger wasn't Jose, Cole would have started a rebel as well like he eventually did to AVB.

[Namika 922]

So we are gonna pay Cole £200k per week, Lampard £75-£100k per week so they could sit on the bench?

Do you really think they are going to be on the same wages ?

[Mouri_Matic 560]

Do you really think they are going to be on the same wages ?

The only reason Cole was still here this season was because of our wages offer. He wanted 2 years last time, we only offered one.

[Phil Driver 503]

So we are gonna pay Cole £200k per week, Lampard £75-£100k per week so they could sit on the bench?

No we have sanctioned a 75k a week four year contract for Mikel so that he can go shopping while we play a match in the premier league and Jose didnt/wouldnt have approved that (the contract not the shopping). Players like Lampard and JT have huge roles to play at the club , many were saying JT was finished last season ,Jose did not.

[daBlackMamba7 174]

What a bunch of rubbish! When did anyone even talked about Mourinho being fired?

Wenger is there for 10 years without winning and every single one of them there was heavy criticism towards his philosophy. Moyes is in his first year with United and look how much pressure he is on already. The same applies to other big clubs like Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, etc.

Jose is trying to play the victim here. I havent seen him taking much blame for what is currently happening with the team and I am not likeing it. It is the 3rd year fans are hearing the 'this is a transition period' excuse. Sorry, it aint cutting no more!

Everyone knew we needed a striker, everyone knew we needed a good duo for the pivot, everyone knew we needed better defenders, etc. However, what have we done to fix it? Oh yeah, we bought Willian and Schurrle and loaned out Lukaku!!!

I dont expect Jose to make us unbeatable or anything, but I do expect him to at least make us able to keep a clean sheet and perform well against pub teams. Right now, he is basically not doing anything. His work hasnt been very good so far...

Honestly i dont get why people act so ignorant or just straight try to play the, i dont know wtf is happening card....

What are Jose criticisms based on? An entire season? half a season? or because he is special and we are not spanking teams 6-0?...Are we in the 3rd year of Jose's transition?...Have we been actually able to have a real transition period? because our impatience...AVB wasnt here long enough for his "philosophy" to bear fruits, he was chopped and mid season we had to start from scratch, how many mangers have we had after that? I think 3, that means we have to start from scratch 3 times again, just between last season and this one...So yes brother we are still in transition and its actually starting to look like a real one, not those that by december we were already out of the title race..

Everyone know we needed a striker, we went out and got one for basically free, he is not great for us boo hoo, y'all would have been fine if he had cost like $50million, would they have been guarantee he would be great for our team now?.....Lukaku with all his talent, is delusional if he had expected assurances to be the No. 1 striker...I dont know why most people and not pissed at him for not willing to fight for his place, or would you have been happier if Ba was on loan at Arsenal and helping them challenge us for the title? most of all now that they have Ozil to supply him...

Those that say they cant see any difference, if you watched our games last year, when did we use to press high up the field and tried to recover possession and start attack asap during rafa?...Now watch our games and see how much we actually do and did that in the first half of yesterday's game...The players couldn't keep it up in the 2nd half and that has happened more than once, so yes i see things changing....I liked the first half yesterday and against stoke, we just need to to start transitioning into doing that for an entire game....

[daBlackMamba7 174]

Transition? I didn't know Transition involved insisting on playing a 35 year old rather than playing a youngster.

So transition involves playing a player who will retire soon rather than a player who is the future of the club?

As much pressure as David Moyes has been in he's still been encouraging their young talent, Adnan Januzaj.

Just read this post by Rmpr

Which youngster do we have that can pass the ball from the midfield and is PL ready? Baker?.....I know we got a youngster MVG, but it think its a know fact that he is injured....We have tried pretty much the other options there, Essien, Mikel, Rami....Also how many world class AM's does Man U have?...Do you Januzaj, will get a spot among our 6 AM's, you have to put things in context....Why did the same Moyes not do the same with Ross Barkley last season?

[Phil Driver 503]

Drogba should still be at Chelsea with Lukaku and it was not Jose who got rid of Drogba I doubt he would have , we could have had a scenario where Lukaku would have stayed and worked with Drogba and Jose ,instead of Torres who needed to know he was the main striker and Ba ,Eto'o.. So what benefit did Chelsea gain by moving Drogba on before his time was up? as he is by far a better player than the three we have .

Any failings and imbalances in the squad are down to the men who have been dictating transfer policy up to now and one of those is Emenalo ,Jose will have this all sorted out after next summer ,then will be the time to start judging him and it will be favourable.

[Fernando 6,743]

This thread does not make sense. This rant is coming when we are in second with chances of going top very soon?

Has not been the easiest season but one thing this club needs is to win a premier League even if it's winning ugly. We need to get that winning mentality especially after so many new younger players.

Now I agree with worries that we are not playing good, using any much youth and have not utilize mata to the best of its ability. These are things that worry me a bit as well.

But it's still early to make a big conclusion as we are only half way through the season.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Honestly i dont get why people act so ignorant or just straight try to play the, i dont know wtf is happening card....

What are Jose criticisms based on? An entire season? half a season? or because he is special and we are not spanking teams 6-0?...Are we in the 3rd year of Jose's transition?...Have we been actually able to have a real transition period? because our impatience...AVB wasnt here long enough for his "philosophy" to bear fruits, he was chopped and mid season we had to start from scratch, how many mangers have we had after that? I think 3, that means we have to start from scratch 3 times again, just between last season and this one...So yes brother we are still in transition and its actually starting to look like a real one, not those that by december we were already out of the title race..

Everyone know we needed a striker, we went out and got one for basically free, he is not great for us boo hoo, y'all would have been fine if he had cost like $50million, would they have been guarantee he would be great for our team now?.....Lukaku with all his talent, is delusional if he had expected assurances to be the No. 1 striker...I dont know why most people and not pissed at him for not willing to fight for his place, or would you have been happier if Ba was on loan at Arsenal and helping them challenge us for the title? most of all now that they have Ozil to supply him...

Those that say they cant see any difference, if you watched our games last year, when did we use to press high up the field and tried to recover possession and start attack asap during rafa?...Now watch our games and see how much we actually do and did that in the first half of yesterday's game...The players couldn't keep it up in the 2nd half and that has happened more than once, so yes i see things changing....I liked the first half yesterday and against stoke, we just need to to start transitioning into doing that for an entire game....

:clap: