The Mourinho Thread

[Barbara 15,149]

Our midfield options are not quite enough just yet it has to be said. It's still lacking the killer punch, that bit of extra quality. Take out Matic and Fabregas (and even Ramires) and we're left with the likes of Mikel, Romeu, Chalobah, Van Ginkel etc. It's not really enough.

Which team in the world you take three of their midfielders (regular starters) and they'll have the same to replace?

That's the kind of thing I think it's delusional. Mikel, Romeu and van Ginkel are more than enough to cover it and God helps us if for any reason we lose our three main midfielders all at once. That's tragic and no club is ready for that.

The only thing I think we still need is a #2 striker with completely different qualities to Costa/Lukaku (supposing he stays, I don't think he will) and that's about options, not simply a guy to come for Costa every match at mark 70.

[Hutcho 8,443]

It looks like a good, balanced midfield but in quality? Take out the first two (or three) players there and suddenly there is a disparity in regards to the quality provided from the players.

Yeah there is a disparity there. Because fabregas and Matic are world class.

And world class players in general don't want to go somewhere and sit on the bench.

If we say we are playing 3 in midfield in a 4-3-3 we have the world class trio which all of us can't wait to see. Then next up we have ramires who up until recently was our best player in midfield. Granted that wasn't ever a great midfield partnership. But Matic ramires Oscar or whatever variation is still amazing when you think it was lampard (:heart:) and mikel for quite a while.

I get what you're saying...

If a defender goes down Ivan comes in and we aren't much weaker if at all.

We have 2 world class keepers (if that situation remains)

and even if hazard got injured schurrle/Willian wide is still elite.

But think we are still in great shape centrally.

Up top is another matter as we can't just have 2 strikers going into the next season, although I would keep lukaku as the no. 2.

[Hutcho 8,443]

Which team in the world you take three of their midfielders (regular starters) and they'll have the same to replace?

That's the kind of thing I think it's delusional. Mikel, Romeu and van Ginkel are more than enough to cover it and God helps us if for any reason we lose our three main midfielders all at once. That's tragic and no club is ready for that.

The only thing I think we still need is a #2 striker with completely different qualities to Costa/Lukaku (supposing he stays, I don't think he will) and that's about options, not simply a guy to come for Costa every match at mark 70.

This is a good point.

Also to add to this. MvG never got much of a chance and is kind of like a new signing in himself and it would be unwise to just bracket him in the young, needs to improve before taken seriously category.

Same to some extent with Romeu.

[Barbara 15,149]

I'm going to pay much closer attention to the boys playing for us right now. I think there was a reason why we played only youngsters in the starting XI against Wycombe and I think we'll see that again tomorrow based on what Mourinho said.

I'm not naive to think he will add those 3-4 players from the U-21 just because he's feeling indebted with English football... there's the homegrown quota to be reached and we let go of Cole and Lamps to make matters even worse - and if Cech doesn't leave and Courtois comes we won't have the usual #3 goalie spot either as Schwarzer was given a renewal (that imo is the biggest indicator Cech may be leaving). Maybe he plans to keep Bertrand ( ) as a reserve to Luís, but I don't see even Moses being incorporated in the team again.

I'm really curious to know who those 3-4 players will be. We have way too many young players - homegrown and foreign - in the squad now... it's so hard to even try to pick any of them, but I don't believe any foreigners will be chosen. Ake I think is a given, and maybe Bamford if we get rid of Lukaku (we did have Torres and Ba last year as backups to Eto'o, so Bamford staying isn't that far-fetched as despite his glorious goals against Liverpool and PSG, Ba was far from impressive and useful).

who do you think he's going to choose to stay with us?

[Jase 43,479]

That's a strange way of looking at things. Take out Messi, Suarez and Neymar and Barca are left with Pedro, Deulofeu + youth player. Take out Iniesta, Rakitic and Busquets and they're left with Rafinha, Sergi Roberto and Song. Take out Alonso, Modric and Kroos and you get Isco (out of position), Illaramendi and Casemiro since Khedira and Di Maria are on the way out. Up front, Ronaldo/Bale/Benzema v Jese/Morata/?

City without Yaya and Fernandinho are left with Garcia, Fernando and Rodwell..

Again with the comparison. Will just throw this out again...

Stronger than last season but still not exactly without the comparison. I'm not saying that we should sign Pogba, Vidal, Khedira etc but just 1 more maybe, if not 2, that will bring quality into the squad. Tiago can do a decent job for us but not week in week out.

That may be true but the point here isn't to overload our squad till the point like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. It's about just making sure we have adequate quality and numbers in the squad and right now, we still are lacking that bit in midfield and even with the strikers.

Which team in the world you take three of their midfielders (regular starters) and they'll have the same to replace?

*sigh* Not saying they have to be the same or world class players like the regular starters. Just some who are decent and can come in and do a good job without necessarily feeling too much of a loss of that 1st choice player.

That's the kind of thing I think it's delusional. Mikel, Romeu and van Ginkel are more than enough to cover it and God helps us if for any reason we lose our three main midfielders all at once. That's tragic and no club is ready for that.

Let's not kid ourselves here. Three quarter of this place constantly moans about Mikel, questioning his quality and what he brings to the team and now suddenly people think he's adequate? Romeu and Van Ginkel may have talent but they are by no means proven and experience enough yet. Still got much to learn and improve on. It's not just covering the first choice players if they get injured but also if they need a rest or are suspended. Let's just say if we suddenly have to play a midfield that doesn't contain Matic and Fabregas against one of the big teams, would anyone really be confident?

Let's not forget that nearly everyone moaned and were pessimistic whenever we had to play a midfield/pivot without Matic last season. Not saying that we should have 2 players for every position but just get another player as backup to the first choice players and also an upgrade on the second choice ones. Won't be surprised one bit at some point next season if someone complains about the lack of depth in terms of quality in that midfield next season should we settle on this current midfield.

[iseah100 5,612]

Again with the comparison. Will just throw this out again...

*sigh* Not saying they have to be the same or world class players like the regular starters. Just some who are decent and can come in and do a good job without necessarily feeling too much of a loss of that 1st choice player.

Let's not kid ourselves here. Three quarter of this place constantly moans about Mikel, questioning his quality and what he brings to the team and now suddenly people think he's adequate? Romeu and Van Ginkel may have talent but they are by no means proven and experience enough yet. Still got much to learn and improve on. It's not just covering the first choice players if they get injured but also if they need a rest or are suspended. Let's just say if we suddenly have to play a midfield that doesn't contain Matic and Fabregas against one of the big teams, would anyone really be confident?

Let's not forget that nearly everyone moaned and were pessimistic whenever we had to play a midfield/pivot without Matic last season. Not saying that we should have 2 players for every position but just get another player as backup to the first choice players and also an upgrade on the second choice ones. Won't be surprised one bit at some point next season if someone complains about the lack of depth in terms of quality in that midfield next season should we settle on this current midfield.

MvG and Romeu are good. They need to be given a chance, and Mou will hopefully do that. It makes no sense to pay 200k a wk wages for someone who wont start regularly (Khedira) . What we have is good. Of course we aren't prepared to play without our top 2 midfielders, but are City prepared to play without Fernandinho/Toure? No. What we have is enough, it's quality and has depth.

[Barbara 15,149]

Let's not kid ourselves here. Three quarter of this place constantly moans about Mikel, questioning his quality and what he brings to the team and now suddenly people think he's adequate? Romeu and Van Ginkel may have talent but they are by no means proven and experience enough yet. Still got much to learn and improve on. It's not just covering the first choice players if they get injured but also if they need a rest or are suspended. Let's just say if we suddenly have to play a midfield that doesn't contain Matic and Fabregas against one of the big teams, would anyone really be confident?

Let's not forget that nearly everyone moaned and were pessimistic whenever we had to play a midfield/pivot without Matic last season. Not saying that we should have 2 players for every position but just get another player as backup to the first choice players and also an upgrade on the second choice ones. Won't be surprised one bit at some point next season if someone complains about the lack of depth in terms of quality in that midfield next season should we settle on this current midfield.

That's the delusional part of it, Jason. To think that we'll have on par substitutes to every player in the squad (even if you say that's not you're saying, it is). We have Matic Fabregas and Ramires for two positions if we play 4-2-3-1. If we play 4-3-3 Oscar is also in the mix for the three positions. If one of those guys can't play, another can come in.

The problem with Mikel is how we tactically use him. Whether he's a wonder or not, he normally plays as a DM and he gets the job done - which is primarily defend. Yes, he doesn't add one thought of creativity to our midfield and it took him 300 matches to score a goal, but he gets the job done. If we lose Matic for whatever reason, we could move Ramires to DM position or use Mikel. If we lose Fàbregas we could play Ramires there in the 4-2-3-1 or Oscar in the 4-3-3 and if he gets off from where he's stopped Marco as well. If we lose Ramires first we thank God we can play Mikel, van Ginkel, Oscar (if in a 4-3-3).

So I don't really get why we would need to sign another midfielder... to play a handful of matches? This will disrupt van Ginkel's development. He needs minutes and I hope he gets them more than just some cup matches.

I said it on the Fàbregas thread the other day when discussing his supposed 'ability' to disappear in important matches. Whether we like him or not, Ramires also got the job done in those matches. There's no comparison between the team last year and this year. We only used Matic in half capacity - as he only came in the winter and couldn't play UCL. So we added Matic on full capacity and Fàbregas. Half of Matic already makes up for Lampard departure - not considering the goals - and then we added Fàbregas to the mix. It's not only a replacement, but an upgrade.

We have three players for the DM position (Matic, Ramires and Mikel), three players for the B2B position (Fàbregas, Ramires and Marco) and three players for third man in midfield (Cesc, Rami and Oscar), not to mention that unlike Azpili last year against Atlético, Luís can actually play midfield decently. He's done it in the past. And all of that is me completely disregarding Romeu as I don't know if he'll stay with us. If he does, it's yet another name for the midfield. I don't see where to put another guy, unless it's a veteran like Tiago, that will come for free.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Still we have to add 1 more CM and ST.

Tiago & Drogba

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Jose Mourinho says Cesc Fabregas never wanted to return to Arsenal and calls Jack Wilshere a bad role model for children

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2697792/Jose-Mourinho-says-Cesc-Fabregas-never-wanted-return-Arsenal-calls-Jack-Wilshere-bad-role-model-children.html

Lol

[Jase 43,479]

That's the delusional part of it, Jason. To think that we'll have on par substitutes to every player in the squad (even if you say that's not you're saying, it is). We have Matic Fabregas and Ramires for two positions if we play 4-2-3-1. If we play 4-3-3 Oscar is also in the mix for the three positions. If one of those guys can't play, another can come in.

The problem with Mikel is how we tactically use him. Whether he's a wonder or not, he normally plays as a DM and he gets the job done - which is primarily defend. Yes, he doesn't add one thought of creativity to our midfield and it took him 300 matches to score a goal, but he gets the job done. If we lose Matic for whatever reason, we could move Ramires to DM position or use Mikel. If we lose Fàbregas we could play Ramires there in the 4-2-3-1 or Oscar in the 4-3-3 and if he gets off from where he's stopped Marco as well. If we lose Ramires first we thank God we can play Mikel, van Ginkel, Oscar (if in a 4-3-3).

So I don't really get why we would need to sign another midfielder... to play a handful of matches? This will disrupt van Ginkel's development. He needs minutes and I hope he gets them more than just some cup matches.

I said it on the Fàbregas thread the other day when discussing his supposed 'ability' to disappear in important matches. Whether we like him or not, Ramires also got the job done in those matches. There's no comparison between the team last year and this year. We only used Matic in half capacity - as he only came in the winter and couldn't play UCL. So we added Matic on full capacity and Fàbregas. Half of Matic already makes up for Lampard departure - not considering the goals - and then we added Fàbregas to the mix. It's not only a replacement, but an upgrade.

We have three players for the DM position (Matic, Ramires and Mikel), three players for the B2B position (Fàbregas, Ramires and Marco) and three players for third man in midfield (Cesc, Rami and Oscar), not to mention that unlike Azpili last year against Atlético, Luís can actually play midfield decently. He's done it in the past. And all of that is me completely disregarding Romeu as I don't know if he'll stay with us. If he does, it's yet another name for the midfield. I don't see where to put another guy, unless it's a veteran like Tiago, that will come for free.

Delusional, again? Whatever you say Barbara...

Will just agree to disagree.

[Barbara 15,149]

Delusional, again? Whatever you say Barbara...

Will just agree to disagree.

no, sweetie, I'm not calling you delusional.

I'm saying the idea of having such big players as simply backups is an illusion. Ramires is a more than decent squad player. I don't want him to start our every match (he might though), but he's a very good squad player and so is Mikel imo.

It's delusional of us to expect such quality in a team's bench. It isn't attainable imo. To have players better than Ramires and Mikel as simple squad members and ignore potentials such as Marco, isn't something that I'd call possible or real.

[Madmax 9,219]

*sigh* Not saying they have to be the same or world class players like the regular starters. Just some who are decent and can come in and do a good job without necessarily feeling too much of a loss of that 1st choice player.

And how does Tiago not fit that mould? Bar Matic he was better than all of our other options last season.

[Blue Gino 377]

Last season Jose said buying is done after Salah and Matic. Strictly speaking big names not youth players like Pasalic last season. I doubt he's lying. He wanted to get transfers out of the way and start sorting out squad players and if anything there will be nothing but loans and sales from here on till the deadline. Look how the club have progressed at eliminating debt to comply with FFP, you think they can generate enough sales to fund 60 million for Pogba or close to that for Cavani? Maybe they find a bargain out there but Jose spoke of building a team for the next decade and wants include 3 to 4 youth players in the squad and Terry even said a few will surprise people out there so I'm trusting Jose's words and let all the bullshit from the media fly to sell papers as far as I'm concerned

://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/25/mourinho-chelsea-finished-january-transfer-window

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Damn it @Barbara, stop writing what I want to say!

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Too long without Mourinho press conference i missed it so much, can't wait to hear what he'll say this season after last year "Specialist in failure" he's obviously already start the fight against wenger now after what he said on fabregas.

He really didn't say anything about Fabregas. This is what's so sad about the British media. Mourinho said nothing bad but because it's him the clueless hacks create a non-story using sensationalist headlines. It's just a sad reflection of the football culture in Britain, most especially in England. The players are bang average. The pundits are completely clueless. They know nothing about European football when compared to their European counterparts. "If it didn't happen in the Premiership, it didn't happen" is the mentality. The coaches are dire and antiquated, emphasizing physicality and "passion" over technical and tactical skill. The big, bulky kid always get's an advantage over the smaller more skilled ones in youth set-ups. This among many reasons is why England only have one World Cup to show despite apparently being a "big" footballing nation.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Omar Momani cracks me up everytime

[Jase 43,479]

no, sweetie, I'm not calling you delusional.

I'm saying the idea of having such big players as simply backups is an illusion. Ramires is a more than decent squad player. I don't want him to start our every match (he might though), but he's a very good squad player and so is Mikel imo.

It's delusional of us to expect such quality in a team's bench. It isn't attainable imo. To have players better than Ramires and Mikel as simple squad members and ignore potentials such as Marco, isn't something that I'd call possible or real.

It's only delusional when people make it out as if I'm asking the club to buy 2 world class players for every position. All I've been saying from the start is we need 1 more good midfielder as a 2nd choice because I'm not fully convinced with our midfield options. JUST ONE! It's not really "delusional" to have 1 good player sitting on the bench especially when you consider the rotation/suspension/injuries factors in and it's definitely not "delusional" when only a few seasons ago, we had like really good players sitting on the bench, being the second choices in the team. But if you think that's "delusional", then go ahead and think so.

And how does Tiago not fit that mould? Bar Matic he was better than all of our other options last season.

This.

While signing Tiago will add further number of options in the squad, people need to acting like he's only 25 y/o and is entering his prime/peak year. He's already 33, well past his peak and yet the way people have been going on about him is like he's gonna be our saviour in that midfield and thrash every player we come up against.

[Madmax 9,219]

This.

Why does it matter that he's 33 and not 25? You said it yourself - you want someone to add numbers and options without necessarily being world class, and Tiago does exactly that. You're stuck in a dichotomy there - you want someone good but aren't sold on Tiago because he won't 'thrash every midfield we come across' - which is what 'decent/good' but not world class players do. And I don't think anyone's hailing Tiago as our saviour - people are saying he's a good squad option, which is exactly what he is.