The Mourinho Thread

[bababoom 4,478]

I thought this was a great article, well worth the read.

Mourinho the new maestro of mind games

Sir Alex Ferguson will no doubt go down as the greatest manager in British football history, if he hasn’t already.

But just because the king of mind games had seen the future and didn’t overly like the look of the competition coming towards him, it doesn’t mean that we now have a void of supremely gifted coaches where the odd spot of gamesmanship and double bluff is concerned.

Certainly, in the case of Jose Mourinho, we have a new king of the dark arts. As if we didn’t know it, notwithstanding the fact that what makes the Portuguese a genius at this particular pursuit is that, at its core, there no doubt lies a modest amount of schadenfreude as well.

Mourinho is an interesting individual for all kinds of reasons. Here is a man whom, unlike Ferguson, perhaps hasn’t done quite enough for the club where he was destined to make his name.

Despite winning two league titles and a clutch of domestic cups, Mourinho will be judged on whether he can bring the Champions League back to Stamford Bridge. And he knows it.

The precursor to him doing that is in the sharpening of his teeth during this season’s Premier League title race, a title that Mourinho would probably have conceded in his head during the summer.

However, a weak Manchester United, coupled with a narrowing in quality between Arsenal and Manchester City and at least another three clubs regularly capable of taking points from the top four, has left Chelsea very much in the hunt.

And that has hastened the onset of Mourinho’s dark side. It was with the smell of blood in the air that the former Real Madrid coach took his Chelsea side to the home of City on Monday, aided by one of the finest double bluffs I think I’ve ever witnessed.

You will recall Chelsea’s match with West Ham United, after which Mourinho said: “This is not the best league in the world, this is football from the 19th Century. The only [other] thing I could bring was a Black & Decker [tool] to destroy the wall.”

He was, of course, referring to West Ham’s style of play after the Hammers secured what could be a vital point, with a 0-0 draw, in their battle for Premier League survival.

It was a strong statement and was particularly interesting to fans and pundits alike because the elephant in the room was that Mourinho’s next match was away to free-scoring City, a game in which Chelsea would surely “park the bus”.

Most of us fell for that initial bluff but not, it seemed, City manager Manuel Pellegrini. He sensed danger; he was right to because, sure enough, Chelsea unveiled what was a strong attacking side, coupled with a solid back four, and went for the win straight from the kick off.

Pellegrini unveiled the most defensive City side to take the pitch this season, with Martin Demichelis deployed as a holding midfielder who appeared to have been told not to get too near any of Chelsea’s attackers. And a fine job he made of it, too.

In truth, it wasn’t his fault. Pellegrini thought that he had called Mourinho’s bluff. In fact, what he’d actually done was fall right into the trap that was set for him a week earlier in Mourinho’s post-West Ham press conference. It was very impressive stuff from Mourinho, something that I can only admire from the outside looking in.

If Pellegrini had done nothing in the wake of Mourinho’s comments, then he’d have been accused of failing to spot Chelsea’s tactical approach to the game because the Mourinho mind games had clouded his judgement.

And so, Pellegrini set his team up to show how astute he is; and in doing so, he ultimately fell straight into Mourinho’s trap.

Chelsea, thanks to a Branislav Ivanovic goal, duly won the battle at the Ethihad Stadium and never really looked in any danger. Yet the real damage to City is only just revealing itself.

In his press conference yesterday, Mourinho called his side the “little horse” in a race with “two big horses” in Arsenal and City. He went on to say: “We are there [challenging for the league] because we are doing very well or because maybe Man City and Arsenal are not doing as well as they should with the conditions they have.

“We are not a squad like Man City’s with every player in the best moment of their careers of the age of stability between 25 and their 30s, all of them working together for a long time, a manager [Pellegrini] that arrived and the team was there ready for him.”

In his own press conference, Pellegrini, no doubt still icing his arse after the smacking it took from Mourinho’s brilliant game plan on Monday, made a catastrophic lapse of judgement and retorted: “Maybe it is a small horse if the manager thinks like that [that Chelsea won't win the league]. It can be a little horse but very rich.

“This is the team that has spent most money in the last ten years, is the team that spent most money this year and the team that spent the most money in the transfer window. So, little – but rich.”

It is the first time that Pellegrini has replied to Mourinho this season.

Mark my words, as I sit here today typing this article and eating shortbread biscuits, that reply will come back to haunt Pellegrini.

The Chilean isn’t the first to lose his focus in moments like this. It had shades of Kevin Keegan about it, for sure; and a vow of silence from the 60-year-old would surely have done wonders for City’s cause this week.

It reminds me of the people I see replying to the trolls on Twitter. Trust me, nothing annoys an antagonist more than a deafening wall of silence.

When Mourinho was made aware of those comments, no doubt his face would have gone into “Grinch” mode and a long, devilish smile would have spread very slowly up towards his ears.

Mourinho finished his press conference by saying: “Everything I say and do are mind games. The only thing that is not mind games are the results.”

What is that famous German expression again? Oh yes, schadenfreude.

http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/the-secret-footballer/15363/mourinho-the-new-maestro-of-mind-games/

[HD3D 1,038]

Haha. He laid into Pellegrini on comments about money spent. "I don't think an engineer needs a calculator"

This Piligrini guy has no clue. He first walked into Jose territory by setting up an attacking team with disorganized defense that allowed Chelsea to play in the way it thrives on, which is counter-attack. He probably still has no idea how he managed to escape a 4-0/5-0 hammering. And now he's walking into Mourinho's territory again by letting him use the media as a weapon to get under his skin.

The FA cup game hasn't even started yet and he's already losing. ^^

[robdog 2,084]

how do i save that pic?!!

click on the picture w/ you mouse

[Jase 43,479]

Another home run victory for Mourinho...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/10/jose-mourinho-manuel-pellegrini-calculator

"I don't have to repeat myself a lot, but everybody knows what Manchester City are. What I would like to say is that, for example, Pellegrini was talking about the money we've spent. I think he's a fantastic coach, and I respect that a lot, and on top of that, outside his football career, he's an engineer by qualification. I don't think an engineer needs a calculator to do Mata £37m and De Bruyne £18m, so that's £55m. Matic is £21m and Salah is £11m. That's £32m, and 55 minus 32 is 23.

"So Chelsea, in this transfer window, generated £23m. It's easy to understand that this is working with financial fair play, 'fair' financial fair play. There are no arguments against that. This is what we're doing. Others aren't doing the same. We are building a team for the next decade, if possible. [City] have a team to win now because they don't have a team for 10 years. They have a team for now, for the next three or four. So experience, potential, power, not worried about financial fair player because, in the summer, they just spend ... We don't need a calculator for this. It's easy: +23.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

Typical of José, the old days are truely back.

[Fernando 6,585]

Another home run victory for Mourinho...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/10/jose-mourinho-manuel-pellegrini-calculator

Did he on purpose forgot to add Kurt zouma to the list?

Or he don't count right now cause he's on loan?

[Jase 43,479]

Fernando, on 11 Feb 2014 - 03:32 AM, said:

Did he on purpose forgot to add Kurt zouma to the list?

Or he don't count right now cause he's on loan?

Erm, maybe the latter? Zouma does feel like a summer signing despite being bought last month. And even if you count Zouma into the spending, it still didn't exceed what we got in return from the sale.

[LegenTerry 273]

Simply-we have the best manager in the world.

[Rmpr 8,977]

The old Jose is back, I missed him!

[zolayes 14,489]

The old Jose is back, I missed him!

Pelegrini must be loving meeting up again ...He is looking more like Bert from Soap every week ..about to be abducted by Aliens...

Moyes just looks as if he has seen the Grim Reaper And Wenger cant even stand Jose ,,, Sorry Wenger can't even stand

[robsblubot 3,595]

Chelsea starting XI for a tough away game (City):
Petr Cech
Ivanovic
Gary Cahill
John Terry
Azpi
Matic
David Luiz
Ramires
Willian
Eden Hazard
Eto'o

* 3 offense and 8 defense minded players.

Arsenal starting XI for a tough away game (liverpool):
Szczesny
Sagna
Per Mertesacker
Koscielny
Monreal
Arteta
Wilshere
Oxlade-Chamberlain
Ozil
Cazorla
Giroud

* 5 offense and 6 defense minded players. * I'm being nice to Arteta here as he's hardly DM material.

I honestly don’t know whether Wenger is arrogant, clueless, or both… And the funny thing is that Arsenal fans have been brainwashed by Wenger and think that it was a sensitive way to face a tough away match… I know Flamini was unavailable, but how about spending some money on defense players? Or how about using another defender (in midfield or defense), like some *other* managers do when needed. You know what some folks call tactics and formations...

[Jase 43,479]

Chelsea starting XI for a tough away game (City):

Petr Cech

Ivanovic

Gary Cahill

John Terry

Azpi

Matic

David Luiz

Ramires

Willian

Eden Hazard

Eto'o

* 3 offense and 8 defense minded players.

Arsenal starting XI for a tough away game (liverpool):

Szczesny

Sagna

Per Mertesacker

Koscielny

Monreal

Arteta

Wilshere

Oxlade-Chamberlain

Ozil

Cazorla

Giroud

* 5 offense and 6 defense minded players. * I'm being nice to Arteta here as he's hardly DM material.

I honestly don’t know whether Wenger is arrogant, clueless, or both… And the funny thing is that Arsenal fans have been brainwashed by Wenger and think that it was a sensitive way to face a tough away match… I know Flamini was unavailable, but how about spending some money on defense players? Or how about using another defender (in midfield or defense), like some *other* managers do when needed. You know what some folks call tactics and formations...

Although Arsenal have become slightly more pragmatic in their approach this season, which is evident at times, one gotta question if Wenger ever drills that defensive and tactical know-how into his team like say Mourinho does with ours. That team he put out against Liverpool may not necessarily be the wrong one but don't think they are tactically sound and defensively aggressive and solid to make it work despite having 5-6 attacking players. Other teams have had many attacking players like them in most games and yet still achieve positive results. Also I was wondering recently, looking at their midfield players, how many of them would actually even get to Mourinho's team when playing the bigger teams? Probably none.

[Jase 43,479]

Jose's revving up the mind games before becoming Jaguar's global ambassador

[robsblubot 3,595]

Although Arsenal have become slightly more pragmatic in their approach this season, which is evident at times, one gotta question if Wenger ever drills that defensive and tactical know-how into his team like say Mourinho does with ours. That team he put out against Liverpool may not necessarily be the wrong one but don't think they are tactically sound and defensively aggressive and solid to make it work despite having 5-6 attacking players. Other teams have had many attacking players like them in most games and yet still achieve positive results. Also I was wondering recently, looking at their midfield players, how many of them would actually even get to Mourinho's team when playing the bigger teams? Probably none.

good points. Though I'd insist by saying that a duck is still a duck no matter what you call it.

I'm all for rounded players, but when you have Arteta as your most defensive player in the midfield in a tough away match, there must be something wrong with your strategy and/or tactics. The other players are even more lightweight. Is it fair to ask Cazorla to go and win all aerial duels for example?

[Barbara 15,149]

Todays presser:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1bost7_mourinho-press-conference-before-the-match-west-brom_sport

and it must be said that the league is more competitive this year than in previous ones. Arsenal and Liverpool are stronger than they've been in years, but mainly the mid-table teams (except ManUtd ) are much stronger than they used to be. So having 56 points now or leading the league is much more difficult this season than it would have been in the past two seasons imo. Even City is a tad stronger than they were (thanks to Mancini leaving).

That's how enormous what he's been doing is.

It happened again. I said something here and then José said the same in his presser a few hours/days later.

Why I don't have the same tendency with the lottery numbers? damn it!