The Mourinho Thread

[Barbara 15,149]

I think those bad years will push Mourinho. He will do it himself. He's obviously a guy that doesn't settle for mediocre results and I don't think he spares himself any criticism - at least not when he's evaluating his own work.

A couple of seasons without trophies isn't the end of the world, but it should be a wakeup call for someone of his caliber. Well, I think he needs to do some thinking when the season ends. He aged a few years last season in RM and it feels like he lost some of the passion for the sport. I'm sure he came across those tactless tweets about people wishing on his death instead of Tito's and Mourinho is a very sensitive man. Then there's the Diego Torres book, the way Madrid fans treated him, the way he's always bombarded with everything. Yeah, he provokes a lot of things, but a lot of them are pretty gratuitous. Maybe he's tired and needs some peace and then start things over in pre-season.

I guess he expected to find some peace here, but while English media isn't as bad as Spanish (it doesn't get as bad as that), it's much worse than when he was here and I think he probably didn't expect it like that. I think some reality checks are coming his way and I hope it makes him stronger. I love this genius of football. If his tactics are becoming obsolete or too one-dimensional I trust him to find it within himself to overcome those hurdles. There's no other manager I want here but him. Maybe he'll never become to us what Fergie is to ManUtd - the guy had a great identification with the club (just like Jose has), but he was at ManUtd at the peak of his career as a manager and he has been able to reinvent himself and Manchester tactics at least a handful times in those 27 years. If Mourinho can prove to be able to do the same, and adapt, I think he may be to us what Sir Alex was to them. But nothing, absolutely nothing that comes in the next few seasons will change how I feel about Mourinho and Mourinho as a Chelsea manager.

He has my respect, love, trust and hope. He always will. I hope both he and team grow together and we become what he envisions us to be with him.

[IliyaDamyanov 43]

to start with a 6 def in a CL semi-final , he should go to jail for that....next step is to sell hazard and william and to buy a few more defenders....the football is about scoring goals after all , not about parking the bus....shocking

[LAM09 7,100]

to start with a 6 def in a CL semi-final , he should go to jail for that....next step is to sell hazard and william and to buy a few more defenders....the football is about scoring goals after all , not about parking the bus....shocking

Did you watch the match on Sunday?!

[Viper22 2,418]

Mourinho bashers out in full force today I see. What a surprise that they've crawled out of the woodwork after a high profile loss like that. Where were they when we beat Liverpool at Anfield, City at the Etihad or battered Arsenal & Spurs?

Having said that, I do think Mourinho got outfoxed today; playing Azpi in the midfield was a risk and it didn't pay off, and the Eto'o sub was mistimed and smelled of panic. Also, Hazard was another risk that didn't pay off, he was woeful today. Atletico used a similar tactic to us and Simeone applied it better. Schurrle should've started.

However, Mourinho does NOT have that much to work with. The Ramires-Luiz pivot was obviously going to be bad, but what other option did he have? Oscar not fully fit and grossly out of form, MVG just back from a serious injury, Matic cup-tied and Mikel and Lampard banned. We all know about the striker problem too, although I do think Torres was good today when he actually got hold of the ball. On top of all of that aswell was the fact that Terry, Eto'o and Hazard were all not fully fit but he didn't have a choice in playing them, and 'lo and behold; Hazard cost us for 2 goals, Eto'o the other one and this was the worst i've seen JT play in my lifetime. Not their fault, it was risk that had to be taken.

Think how many times this season Mourinho has won us a match due to his tactics. And then compare to the amount of times his tactics have cost us. (The main ones I can think of was 0-0 against Utd earlier in the season and today). Everyone is human, no-one is saying Mourinho is perfect, and while he was beaten fairly today, he's still the best manager around and that's that. We'll be back, better than ever next season, just you wait!

[Tomo 21,754]

If Real win in Lisbon, how many "Carlo won the CL with Real and Mou didn't" comments are we going to get this summer in this thread alone?

I might have to template "does that make Di Matteo the best manager in our history then?" ready for when they inevitability come up.

[Tomo 21,754]

I rate Simeone it has to be said, my type of managers are one's who build a solid powerful unit that a match for any one.

I hope he never manages any off our PL rivals, im much happier coming up against 'defending doesn't matter' managers like Pellegrini, Wenger and Brendan, because we can just counter the shit out off them. When we stop dropping silly points (which Mou will sort out sooner rather than later), those managers won't get near us.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

If Real win in Lisbon, how many "Carlo won the CL with Real and Mou didn't" comments are we going to get this summer in this thread alone?

I might have to template "does that make Di Matteo the best manager in our history then?" ready for when they inevitability come up.

This is why I'm rooting for Atletico among other things. I hope they do the double.

[mediator 2,026]

Do you think a second line up is needed next season?

One for big games playing counter attacking football, and another one vs small teams with creatives Ams playing possession football?

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Im done watching this park the bus formation, why cant we play like Madrid for example?? Or even Dortmound or the old bayern from last year?

[LAM09 7,100]

Im done watching this park the bus formation, why cant we play like Madrid for example?? Or even Dortmound or the old bayern from last year?

Our squad is the reason.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Our squad is the reason.

But whose fault is it?? We spent 100 million since he came no excuse there

[LAM09 7,100]

But whose fault is it?? We spent 100 million since he came no excuse there

Two players maybe even starters aren't eligible for the CL, and we still need to get rid of dead wood.

Judge him and the team next season.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Do you think a second line up is needed next season?

One for big games playing counter attacking football, and another one vs small teams with creatives Ams playing possession football?

The question is the second half of your comment one of Mourinho's strengths? According to Diego Torres' book (probably bullshit). Mourinho, in his time in charge with Madrid, hardly ever did any "static attack" training. i.e attacking build-up while playing possession football.

Mourinho's thing is setting up the team to play the way we did at City. Defend well and counter-attack with pace. It's how he won the league with Madrid.

[thekid9 418]

The question is the second half of your comment one of Mourinho's strengths? According to Diego Torres' book (probably bullshit). Mourinho, in his time in charge with Madrid, hardly ever did any "static attack" training. i.e attacking build-up while playing possession football.

Mourinho's thing is setting up the team to play the way we did at City. Defend well and counter-attack with pace. It's how he won the league with Madrid.

Not much good if you can't beat farking Stoke and Crystal Palace is it?

[Joker10 946]

Not sure that is a case. Mourinho's teams need a world class CF. Had Drogba at Chelsea, Milito at Inter, and Torres tonight. LOL!

That is the difference.

Its pretty obvious and beaten to death that we have issues with our strikers. But lets not make our strikers the scapegoat for everything. First credit where credit is due our strikers have showed up in a lot of our big games. Yes signing a big time striker will help, but we have deficiency in other areas.

Mou has had a whole season with this squad we will see if he address them. Some i wonder if he sees it as a problem, for example lack of attacking threats from our FBs. If he actually plays like a big sides against good sides.

[thekid9 418]

Mourinho - 2 trophies out of a possible 14 available in the last 4 years. £272,440,000 spent in that time...Just saying

[thekid9 418]

This will be the first time in a while Mourinho has gone trophyless in a season...

Didn't win any last year

[LAM09 7,100]

Its pretty obvious and beaten to death that we have issues with our strikers. But lets not make our strikers the scapegoat for everything. First credit where credit is due our strikers have showed up in a lot of our big games. Yes signing a big time striker will help, but we have deficiency in other areas.

Mou has had a whole season with this squad we will see if he address them. Some i wonder if he sees it as a problem, for example lack of attacking threats from our FBs. If he actually plays like a big sides against good sides.

Not making them scapegoats mate, but stating the facts. If we had a Suarez/Costa, I am more than sure we would have won the league as it is unlikely now. Regarding attacking FB's, I don't think Mourinho will be interested in buying one for that purpose. A LB is needed due to Cole no longer being what he once was, and Dave isn't a LB.

[LAM09 7,100]

Mourinho - 2 trophies out of a possible 14 available in the last 4 years. £272,440,000 spent in that time...Just saying

That can be said, but how much did he spend at Porto?

Mourinho is a manager who would prefer to buy a team than well know individuals.

[thekid9 418]

That can be said, but how much did he spend at Porto?

Mourinho is a manager who would prefer to buy a team than well know individuals.

Yeah that was like 15 years ago! Truth of the matter is, he is the first manager of ours for years not to deliver a single trophy!