The Mourinho Thread

[The Skipper 20,593]

You have to question Chelsea fans who go about their business in such a disconnected manner. I think it was Spike who said 'you don't have to be a Mourinho fan to be a Chelsea fan', and therein lies the problem. If you support the club like a computer, maybe not. If however you experienced our first period under him and understand the impact he has on the club, then you'd have an emotional connection. It doesn't mean you have to agree with everything he says or does, but it means a level of respect would be apparent in your posts.

That's the problem some seem to have on here. I love Mourinho for what he's done for the club and was so delighted when he was announced back, it was like a dream come true - but if you don't always agree with everything he does (even if you go about it in a respectful manner) some seem to think that you don't support the club and that you're a glory hunter - which is ridiculous to begin with.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Our failed pursuit of Wayne Rooney and Ozil going to Arsenal(Lukaku would have stayed as Ba was going on loan to Arsenal) has been one of the major reasons why we could not win a trophy this year.

A semi final finish is what some teams dream of and we did that without a proper striker. The fact that we were in contention of the league till the last month also shows great potential. Next season will be much better because of 2-3 clinical signings. This seasons experience has truly been invaluable and will help us progress with greater confidence.

[Henrique 9,133]

Mourinho biggest mistake this season was never giving up the 4-2-3-1 system. Its a really effective system if you are facing teams like Liverpool or City, but he was using the same system against teams like Crystal Palace. I mean, whats the point of fielding two DM against Palace? Anyone expected a different game with such conservative line-up against a ultra-defensive game? but some people here were saying Mourinho got the tactics right because it was the same line-up he used against Arsenal. I don't even have to discuss this subject, because if you think you should use the same tactics facing completely different animals like Arsenal and Palace, then the whole discussion is over.

I really liked Tx "rhetoric", because it reveals whats is going on here: some members see Mourinho as a special manager because of the period between 2004 and 2007, thats why they are way too lenient sometimes.

[BloodIsBlue 291]

A Jaded Mourinho is still has 10x more character than the average manager. Our problem is the squad has too much drywood, plain and simple.

Mourinho biggest mistake this season was never giving up the 4-2-3-1 system. Its a really effective system if you are facing teams like Liverpool or City, but he was using the same system against teams like Crystal Palace. I mean, whats the point of fielding two DM against Palace? Anyone expected a different game with such conservative line-up against a ultra-defensive game? but some people here were saying Mourinho got the tactics right because it was the same line-up he used against Arsenal. I don't even have to discuss this subject, because if you think you should use the same tactics facing completely different animals like Arsenal and Palace, then the whole discussion is over.

I really liked Tx "rhetoric", because it reveals whats is going on here: some members see Mourinho as a special manager because of the period between 2004 and 2007, thats why they are way too lenient sometimes.

4-2-3-1 doesn't mean you're fielding two DMs, not at all. it's mean't for 1 holding mid and 1 box-to-box mid. Ramires is our only good box-to-box and even he gets about 10 feet into a run and loses the ball. If you look back at the Stoke City game. Matic started off as the holding mid and Lamps as more of a box-to-box but as the match warmed up they were switching their roles.

[zolayes 14,489]

Mourinho biggest mistake this season was never giving up the 4-2-3-1 system. Its a really effective system if you are facing teams like Liverpool or City, but he was using the same system against teams like Crystal Palace. I mean, whats the point of fielding two DM against Palace? Anyone expected a different game with such conservative line-up against a ultra-defensive game? but some people here were saying Mourinho got the tactics right because it was the same line-up he used against Arsenal. I don't even have to discuss this subject, because if you think you should use the same tactics facing completely different animals like Arsenal and Palace, then the whole discussion is over.

I really liked Tx "rhetoric", because it reveals whats is going on here: some members see Mourinho as a special manager because of the period between 2004 and 2007, thats why they are way too lenient sometimes.

YESSSSSSSSSS Ive been screaming this for years ,,, We have players talented enough to play in various systems .. Often we could be starting 4 4 2 0r 3 5 2

This single striker and double pivot drives me to distraction at times

[Term-X 7,891]

I really liked Tx "rhetoric", because it reveals whats is going on here: some members see Mourinho as a special manager because of the period between 2004 and 2007, thats why they are way too lenient sometimes.

Way too lenient?, as opposed to what exactly?.. only ever criticising him?. There are members here who don't EVEN strike THAT balance.

[BloodIsBlue 291]

YESSSSSSSSSS Ive been screaming this for years ,,, We have players talented enough to play in various systems .. Often we could be starting 4 4 2 0r 3 5 2

This single striker and double pivot drives me to distraction at times

4-4-2 is dead and 3-5-2 is for the Italians.

[Term-X 7,891]

A Jaded Mourinho

'The Jaded One'...

[zolayes 14,489]

4-4-2 is dead and 3-5-2 is for the Italians.

youve been brainwashed .. there is more than one way to skin a cat ,,,

[The Skipper 20,593]

A Jaded Mourinho is still has 10x more character than the average manager. Our problem is the squad has too much drywood, plain and simple.

4-2-3-1 doesn't mean you're fielding two DMs, not at all. it's mean't for 1 holding mid and 1 box-to-box mid. Ramires is our only good box-to-box and even he gets about 10 feet into a run and loses the ball. If you look back at the Stoke City game. Matic started off as the holding mid and Lamps as more of a box-to-box but as the match warmed up they were switching their roles.

Doesn't even necessarily mean you need one holding and one b2b midfielder - you can have different combinations - i.e. A holding and a playmaker, destroyer and playmaker or a b2b and a playmaker etc.

[Special Juan 27,456]

With my Jose cap firmly on, I believe this bloke is to us what Warburtons is to bread.

Support Jose, applaud Jose and love Chelsea.

:blue scalf:

[Henrique 9,133]

Like Mourinho said, he could have taken the easy option. He could have easily gone to PSG or Monaco and raked in a few more titles to add to his CV.

He knew the task ahead when coming back here and knew it would take a season to adjust, hence why he downplayed our title chances early on. When will people realise there is no quick fix? It is going to take time to get Chelsea back to the very top of their game but, I think Jose is the best man for the job.

We can't keep sacking managers because we went a season without a trophy. We have so many players that we probably won't need and it's all down to no long term manager being here. The fact that Roman let Jose sell Mata says it all for me, Jose is his man and is here for a long time.

Would you rather us win the odd trophy and go through a manager per season? We will be left with players that don't fit managers style and left having the same conversations after every season.

In case some haven't noticed, we have been through most of the worlds top mangers.... Klopp? One bad season and some people would want him out too.

Jose might not bring the most exciting football to watch but he is a winner and no other manager will defend this club like Jose

I don't think anyone here is asking for Mourinho's head. Thats the difference between Mourinho and a manager without his CV. After a bad season, you still believe Mourinho will turn things right and make Chelsea as strong as any team around the globe. To other side some people start to have misgivings about Mourinho. Football is really dynamic. 10 years ago Wenger was still great, at this moment he is still managing Arsenal because they lack ambition. Its clear for everyone that Arsenal could do better with a younger manager with fresh ideas. Sometimes changing is necessary for both clubs and managers. A lot of great managers from the past needed to spend years on the ostracism to get back at the highest level: Louis Van Gaal, Del Bosque, Jupp Heynckes, to name a few.

Just like everyone, I thought we would win the PL this season because of Mourinho's impact, but I have to admit that I was really surprised that at some points it looked like Mourinho didn't know what he was doing, and I'm sure that his line-up against Atlético raised some eyebrows. The difference between a genius and a mad man is the success, the first Atlético goal came after a cross from the side where the team had two full backs, and the team lost 3-1 at home. Its not only about the result, it was the way the team was defeated. It had a lot to do with tactical choices, it wasn't because Atlético had a better squad, as some people are claiming, and even if thats the case, so why are the managers for, if at the end of the days is the quality of the squad that really matters?

I don't believe in Mourinho when he is saying he took the hard option. After he left Madrid he said he wanted to be in a place he was loved. At Chelsea and in England, people think he is some kind of tactical god, he has the majority of the fans and of the press in his pocket. In PSG he would win some national leagues, but would add only stats in his CV, because there is a abysm between PSG and the rest of the league, they are supposed to win the league with any manager in the world, but everyone know what PSG really wants. Winning the UCL with a french team is a really HUGE task. If he really wanted some hard challenge, why he is not in Italy again? If any manager in the world win a UCL with a italian club in the next 3 years, this man would be a real genius. Being at Chelsea again is far from a hard job. Chelsea is easily the best option for him at this moment, at least was one year ago. It was the natural choice for him.

So, the big question for next season is: can Mourinho improve this team? Will the team have more success next season? Some people believe the only answer is yes. We all hope "yes" is the answer, but after what I saw this season, and can expect anything to happen, from the team winning 4 trophies, to Mourinho leaving the club after another trophyless season.

[Henrique 9,133]

A Jaded Mourinho is still has 10x more character than the average manager. Our problem is the squad has too much drywood, plain and simple.

4-2-3-1 doesn't mean you're fielding two DMs, not at all. it's mean't for 1 holding mid and 1 box-to-box mid. Ramires is our only good box-to-box and even he gets about 10 feet into a run and loses the ball. If you look back at the Stoke City game. Matic started off as the holding mid and Lamps as more of a box-to-box but as the match warmed up they were switching their roles.

It doesn't matter, but this is what happened with Mourinho this season. Lampard barely played as a box-to-box. He became a DM this season. His attacking impact was close to none this season, just compare his goals with past season. Ramires played as a 2nd DM the whole season, you just need to compare his goals/assists stats with the previous two. This season his was spending less time supporting the team in the attack, and making more stupid things in the mid. Against Palace, as an example, we played with Matic+Luiz.

Way too lenient?, as opposed to what exactly?.. only ever criticising him?. There are members here who don't EVEN strike THAT balance.

I'm not talking about you, but there are lot of people who support Mourinho 100% of the time.

[The Skipper 20,593]

"Clearly, Chelsea had a fantastic team that lasted for 10 years, but that team is over, it doesn't exist any more. Chelsea needs to build another team with some similarities to that one. Some of these boys are still here, but not many of them. And Chelsea is building its future.

You could see this season that these people were important to give some stability, to give some experience to the team, but obviously they're not the players for the next 10 years. The players for the next 10 years have to be the Hazards, Oscars, Matic... these young guys are the guys for the next 10 years.

[...]

Eden has had a big evolution in his game and a big evolution in his personality. He had a high that lasted for a long time - many, many months. He couldn't finish on a high because he was injured and in the most important moment of the season - for the second leg against Paris, for the first leg against Atletico - he was not there.

Against Atletico in the second leg he was there but not in top condition. He wasn't there for the last few matches of the Premier League because of his injury, but he was clearly a player with a big evolution and hopefully he will be even better next season."

Good stuff Jose.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpools-luis-suarez-isnt-footballer-3522510

The Chelsea boss says his Player of the Year would be Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko.

“He’s not just a goalscorer. He assists, he plays, he behaves, he’s fair, he doesn’t dive, doesn’t try to put opponents in the stands with accumulation of cards. I’d choose Dzeko,” he said.

“My player of the year would be always from the champions so if that is Manchester City, I would choose Dzeko.

He was the third-choice striker in the beginning of the season, but when the team needed him, in crucial moments of the season, he made the difference. Sixteen goals for the third striker is spectacular.

"If Liverpool win [the title] - and it would not take a miracle - I would go for Steven Gerrard.

[Fernando 6,491]

Way too lenient?, as opposed to what exactly?.. only ever criticising him?. There are members here who don't EVEN strike THAT balance.

No not only ever criticizing him, is analyzing thing and debating which is healthy in its way.

The problem here is that there's two side of the coins.

At one aspect you have people like @The only place to be, that take one side of the extreme coin. Everyone who doesn't' agree with him is not a "Chelsea supporter"

Then there's the other side of the coin that everything Mourinho does from day one is seen as negative light.

I don't agree with both extremes, I'm somewhere in the middle.

What I don't like is the constant I am holy then thou are attitude. This is such a childish attitude.

Have a conversation, or debate like normal adults, just don't behave like kids!

[Jase 43,479]

Mourinho biggest mistake this season was never giving up the 4-2-3-1 system. Its a really effective system if you are facing teams like Liverpool or City, but he was using the same system against teams like Crystal Palace. I mean, whats the point of fielding two DM against Palace? Anyone expected a different game with such conservative line-up against a ultra-defensive game? but some people here were saying Mourinho got the tactics right because it was the same line-up he used against Arsenal. I don't even have to discuss this subject, because if you think you should use the same tactics facing completely different animals like Arsenal and Palace, then the whole discussion is over.

I really liked Tx "rhetoric", because it reveals whats is going on here: some members see Mourinho as a special manager because of the period between 2004 and 2007, thats why they are way too lenient sometimes.

So easy to say 4-2-3-1 is a defensive formation with the 2 DMs and all, when it's not. Guess you weren't complaining when we beat the smaller sides with this 4-2-3-1, were you? Has nothing to do with the formation at all but more so with the application of the system. Take RDM for instance, when he first came in, he set us up in a defensive 4-2-3-1 system looking to play on the counter but in the following season, we played a more attacking 4-2-3-1. If anything, Mourinho arguably need set us loose a bit more in his favored 4-2-3-1 and not change the whole system so that we are less defensive. Heck, even the suggested 4-4-2 can be defensive if a manager wants it to be that way. Doesn't mean it's more attacking and speaking of 4-4-2, that formation is never going to work for us properly if we don't utilize proper wingers and even overlapping full backs to stretch the play. Otherwise, most things are just gonna clock in the midfield area like we are doing now most of the time and that system itself have hardly been a success for us this season when we've used it. We never seem to be able to control the midfield since most sides these days play with 3 in midfield and we always get overrun and as a result of that, we then just launch aimless long balls and only hoping that something will come good of it rather than having an actual plan with it.

[DoubleO 192]

So easy to say 4-2-3-1 is a defensive formation with the 2 DMs and all, when it's not. Guess you weren't complaining when we beat the smaller sides with this 4-2-3-1, were you? Has nothing to do with the formation at all but more so with the application of the system. Take RDM for instance, when he first came in, he set us up in a defensive 4-2-3-1 system looking to play on the counter but in the following season, we played a more attacking 4-2-3-1. If anything, Mourinho arguably need set us loose a bit more in his favored 4-2-3-1 and not change the whole system so that we are less defensive. Heck, even the suggested 4-4-2 can be defensive if a manager wants it to be that way. Doesn't mean it's more attacking and speaking of 4-4-2, that formation is never going to work for us properly if we don't utilize proper wingers and even overlapping full backs to stretch the play. Otherwise, most things are just gonna clock in the midfield area like we are doing now most of the time and that system itself have hardly been a success for us this season when we've used it. We never seem to be able to control the midfield since most sides these days play with 3 in midfield and we always get overrun and as a result of that, we then just launch aimless long balls and only hoping that something will come good of it rather than having an actual plan with it.

Not to mention AVB's boring 4-3-3.... always.