The Mourinho Thread

[Viper22 2,418]

Why? We have a great squad, had a very good start of the season. So why go for only ONE point? Why not try to get all the points? I just don't get it. Jose went for one point, but why should we be happy about it and say that "see, he got what he wanted!"? It's bullshit, the same bullshit from last season, when we should've trashed United on their ground, but we struggled for the same old ONE point. Why are we so afraid?

You can't go into every game demanding a win, that's spoiled in the extreme. It was the hardest game of the year for us, away to the champions. We lost there and won there last year once each. We have to afford them some respect. If we'd attacked them believing we could win we may well have won. But more likely we'd have been beaten, maybe badly, and then the whole complexion of the league would change, they'd only be 3 points back and we wouldn't be in as strong a position as we are now. We didn't HAVE to win the game, we just had to not lose the game to keep as ahead of them as we are. We obviously wanted all 3 points or we wouldn't have attacked to score the goal we did and come within a metric Lampard of winning the damn game. But demanding that we go in with the same attitude away to city as we did at home to Swansea (especially when we're leaking goals) is just plain stupid.

Seems like you'd only be happy if we kept our 100% record the whole damn season and maybe for the next 10-15 years. A point at the Etihad is a decent result, and means we're still well on top in the title race at such an early stage.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

You can't go into every game demanding a win, that's spoiled in the extreme. It was the hardest game of the year for us, away to the champions. We lost there and won there last year once each. We have to afford them some respect. If we'd attacked them believing we could win we may well have won. But more likely we'd have been beaten, maybe badly, and then the whole complexion of the league would change, they'd only be 3 points back and we wouldn't be in as strong a position as we are now. We didn't HAVE to win the game, we just had to not lose the game to keep as ahead of them as we are. We obviously wanted all 3 points or we wouldn't have attacked to score the goal we did and come within a metric Lampard of winning the damn game. But demanding that we go in with the same attitude away to city as we did at home to Swansea (especially when we're leaking goals) is just plain stupid.

Seems like you'd only be happy if we kept our 100% record the whole damn season and maybe for the next 10-15 years. A point at the Etihad is a decent result, and means we're still well on top in the title race at such an early stage.

Reasonable realistic post. Missed this on this thread

[lionsden 4,689]

Whichever way you slice it, it's unacceptable for a multimillion pound squad, full of very talented and top class players with big ambition to defend deep and look as shell shocked as we looked especially in the final 12 minutes against 10 men. There's absolutely nothing anyone can say that can justify it. Even if Lampard hadn't found the equaliser, it still wouldn't be acceptable to fold mentality and retreat in our own halves hanging on to their lives, like a small/pub team would do, against 10 men.

I have seen some small teams show better pair of balls against a big team.

[Fernando 6,494]

Whichever way you slice it, it's unacceptable for a multimillion pound squad, full of very talented and top class players with big ambition to defend deep and look as shell shocked as we looked especially in the final 12 minutes against 10 men. There's absolutely nothing anyone can say that can justify it. Even if Lampard hadn't found the equaliser, it still wouldn't be acceptable to fold mentality and retreat in our own halves hanging on to their lives, like a small/pub team would do, against 10 men.

I have seen some small teams show better pair of balls against a big team.

But then a multi million pound team got raped against Leicester for being too attacking.....

And you know why? Because their defense sucks.

Likewise our defense is bad when playing attacking fútbol.

So it's suicidal to do so against your main competitor's

[roba3y 28]

Thanx Jose for making us not satisfied when we didn't win on the Champions ground and just got a draw !
Thanx for getting us back to where we belong.

[lionsden 4,689]

But then a multi million pound team got raped against Leicester for being too attacking.....

And you know why? Because their defense sucks.

Likewise our defense is bad when playing attacking fútbol.

So it's suicidal to do so against your main competitor's

So you want to compare JT, Cahill and Azpilicueta to Utd defenders? Our defence individually and collectively is light years superior to utds and I don't recall Lecicester playing with 10 men. Utd actually had a man sent of which gave Leicester the impetus to chase the lead. How is both situation even comparable at all?

Atleast use a better and more comparable example to make your point or analogy. it's not too much to ask for.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Whichever way you slice it, it's unacceptable for a multimillion pound squad, full of very talented and top class players with big ambition to defend deep and look as shell shocked as we looked especially in the final 12 minutes against 10 men. There's absolutely nothing anyone can say that can justify it. Even if Lampard hadn't found the equaliser, it still wouldn't be acceptable to fold mentality and retreat in our own halves hanging on to their lives, like a small/pub team would do, against 10 men.

I have seen some small teams show better pair of balls against a big team.

Whatever, City are champions. You guys make it sound like we're the only ones on the pitch. The bottom line is a draw is a good result and we played good enough to get that and possibly more. City were on the front foot all game and that wasn't gonna change after they were reduced to 10 men. We kept our game plan and almost got the result.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

Ok guys lets say Jose got it right, what kind of starting 11 is required to DOMINATE away from home against a top team? world 11?

Courtois

Lahm Silva Godin Filipe

Vidal Matic

Robben Iniesta CR7

Messi

If we had a team like this do you think Jose will try to dominate City? Considering he had a squad nearly as good at Madrid with the likes of Di Maria, Ramos...etc and he still parked it against Barca, Dortmund I very much doubt it. Will we ever see us doing a 4-0 overall on Bayern/Barca if we got the chance? Again I very much doubt it because for example last year semi final away, if this is anything to go by he would have decided to stop it at 1-0 to Real and most likely tell them to do as us yesterday.

Or is this still 'a work in progress' as many here like to put it? and we will get there one day? Maybe it is Jose, he just never tell his team to go out and DOMINATE against a big team away from home. Maybe the cold hard truth is he can't? nothing wrong with it as we can see his record is immaculate against top teams and at home we actually try to be a bit more attacking.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

What people fail to acknowledge is this is the side everyone expect will challenge for the title. The fact that we did enough to get a draw(perhaps more) bodes well for the season. Etihad is not an easy ground to go to to get anything, this could be the hardest game we have all year and we came away with a good point. Jose isn't stupid he knows what he's doing.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Ok guys lets say Jose got it right, what kind of starting 11 is required to DOMINATE away from home against a top team? world 11?

Courtois

Lahm Silva Godin Filipe

Vidal Matic

Robben Iniesta CR7

Messi

If we had a team like this do you think Jose will try to dominate City? Considering he had a squad nearly as good at Madrid with the likes of Di Maria, Ramos...etc and he still parked it against Barca, Dortmund I very much doubt it. Will we ever see us doing a 4-0 overall on Bayern/Barca if we got the chance? Again I very much doubt it because for example last year semi final away, if this is anything to go by he would have decided to stop it at 1-0 to Real and most likely tell them to do as us yesterday.

Or is this still 'a work in progress' as many here like to put it? and we will get there one day? Maybe it is Jose, he just never tell his team to go out and DOMINATE against a big team away from home. Maybe the cold hard truth is he can't? nothing wrong with it as we can see his record is immaculate against top teams and at home we actually try to be a bit more attacking.

Its not the players, its the philosophy! We went into the game with a 5 pt lead and maintained that against our main rivals. Jose is not the kind of manager who is going to play one style of football! He plays to win and the reason why we have such a balanced squad is become we are adaptable and can play in any type of game!

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

Its not the players, its the philosophy! We went into the game with a 5 pt lead and maintained that against our main rivals. Jose is not the kind of manager who is going to play one style of football! He plays to win and the reason why we have such a balanced squad is become we are adaptable and can play in any type of game!

'Philosophy' as you put it perfectly then, he will always stick by his philosophy and sometime that is not good enough for the fans. You don't need to be tiki-taka to play domination football. Yesterday he clearly didn't though which is an issue for many people here. Of course we can, I think what most people wanted is for the players to adapt to a more dominant controlling game against City as we clearly got the players to do so.

[Cosmin 2,484]

You can't go into every game demanding a win, that's spoiled in the extreme. It was the hardest game of the year for us, away to the champions. We lost there and won there last year once each. We have to afford them some respect. If we'd attacked them believing we could win we may well have won. But more likely we'd have been beaten, maybe badly, and then the whole complexion of the league would change, they'd only be 3 points back and we wouldn't be in as strong a position as we are now. We didn't HAVE to win the game, we just had to not lose the game to keep as ahead of them as we are. We obviously wanted all 3 points or we wouldn't have attacked to score the goal we did and come within a metric Lampard of winning the damn game. But demanding that we go in with the same attitude away to city as we did at home to Swansea (especially when we're leaking goals) is just plain stupid.

Seems like you'd only be happy if we kept our 100% record the whole damn season and maybe for the next 10-15 years. A point at the Etihad is a decent result, and means we're still well on top in the title race at such an early stage.

I never said that not winning the game is the problem, so I don't understand your post. I also never said that we should go in with the same attitude as we did against Swansea. If anyone told me a few days ago that we'd draw 1-1 on Etihad, I would've been happy with it. What bothers me, and I was pretty specific about it, is the manner in which we approach this kind of games. I think it's safe to say that we are one of the best 7 clubs in Europe right now, the other 6 being Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Atletico, Borussia and PSG/City. We've won two European trophies in the last 3 seasons and played a UCL semifinal last year. We signed three of the best players in Europe: Fabregas, Costa, Filipe Luis and brought back Courtois, arguably one of the best 3 goalkeepers in the world at the moment. The point is that we are a strong club, we're not Tottenham, with all due respect. Almost everyone says that we are the #1 favourites to win the league title this year. And yet, we still play with fear against our main rivals. Why can't we show a little swagger, a little winning attitude? I'm not saying that we should go all over City or Arsenal or Liverpool away, but parking the bus is way too embarassing at this level. When you have Fabregas, Hazard, Willian, Schurrle, Oscar, Costa it's just dreadful to park the bus over and over again.

And some of you are talking about our defence like it's at a Conference level. And like it's God fault that we didn't buy a CB during the summer. Losing 5-1 on Anfield happens when you're shit, not when you play attacking, positive football. Stop confusing things.

P.S: Remember when Mourinho promised us that he will change the way the team plays? Remember when he said that this season we are one of the big horses? Well, it's not a miracle that we look better against small teams. It's actually normal. But when you claim that you are a big horse, I expect you to prove it against another big fucking horse, not against Swansea City. And, at the end of the day, it seems to me that we are still acting like a little horse.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

I never said that not winning the game is the problem, so I don't understand your post. I also never said that we should go in with the same attitude as we did against Swansea. If anyone told me a few days ago that we'd draw 1-1 on Etihad, I would've been happy with it. What bothers me, and I was pretty specific about it, is the manner in which we approach this kind of games. I think it's safe to say that we are one of the best 7 clubs in Europe right now, the other 6 being Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Atletico, Borussia and PSG/City. We've won two European trophies in the last 3 seasons and played a UCL semifinal last year. We signed three of the best players in Europe: Fabregas, Costa, Filipe Luis and brought back Courtois, arguably one of the best 3 goalkeepers in the world at the moment. The point is that we are a strong club, we're not Tottenham, with all due respect. Almost everyone says that we are the #1 favourites to win the league title this year. And yet, we still play with fear against our main rivals. Why can't we show a little swagger, a little winning attitude? I'm not saying that we should go all over City or Arsenal or Liverpool away, but parking the bus is way too embarassing at this level. When you have Fabregas, Hazard, Willian, Schurrle, Oscar, Costa it's just dreadful to park the bus over and over again.

And some of you are talking about our defence like it's at a Conference level. And like it's God fault that we didn't buy a CB during the summer. Losing 5-1 on Anfield happens when you're shit, not when you play attacking, positive football. Stop confusing things.

Completely agree, been repeated many many times over and over again. IT IS NOT THE RESULT BUT THE MANNER OF IT. Also LOL did anyone seriously complain that we couldn't do it because our CB were bad? WTF does people want, Varane+ Benatia in defence? Cahill and Terry are the best CB pair in England atm.

[Tomo 21,733]

It really grates my geers that some people here went AWOL when we were winning and playing great stuff, two draws in a week one away to the champions ffs and they are all over the forum like a rash.

As for some of the comments here since the match yesterday, sweet jesus, I don't like going down the agenda line but sometimes you have to wonder.......

[Tomo 21,733]

'Philosophy' as you put it perfectly then, he will always stick by his philosophy and sometime that is not good enough for the fans. You don't need to be tiki-taka to play domination football. Yesterday he clearly didn't though which is an issue for many people here. Of course we can, I think what most people wanted is for the players to adapt to a more dominant controlling game against City as we clearly got the players to do so.

Controlling or dominant game like the reverse fixture last season? Liverpool and Arsenal at home? Everton away were we were dominant and desperately unlucky to lose?

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

'Philosophy' as you put it perfectly then, he will always stick by his philosophy and sometime that is not good enough for the fans. You don't need to be tiki-taka to play domination football. Yesterday he clearly didn't though which is an issue for many people here. Of course we can, I think what most people wanted is for the players to adapt to a more dominant controlling game against City as we clearly got the players to do so.

I bet if you polled people and asked them if they'd rather the club try to play like Barcelona or Arsenal or even City at the risk of losing more and in turn not winning trophies, the majority would opt for the winning formula.

I'll tell you what's better than sexy football, its sexy trophies! If we can continue playing the way we are now, we will win the real trophies not the fake ones like Arsenal and Barca (last year) won. Football is changing and if you think plowing forward and trying to smash a top 10 team in the world is the best situation for the team then I don't know what to say to you. I have no problem with how we're playing, trophies are sexy to me...

[Cosmin 2,484]

It really grates my geers that some people here went AWOL when we were winning and playing great stuff, two draws in a week and they are all over the forum like a rash.

As for some of the comments here since the match yesterday, sweet jesus, I don't like going down the agenda line but sometimes you have to wonder.......

Sorry, mate, but, first off, I am one of those who criticized the way we're defending and playing, in general, exactly during the game against Swansea City. So no, it's not an overreaction. Secondly, this was the first big game of the season, the first chance to prove the 'big horse' status that Mourinho claimed. As seen, he blew it. It was the same old us, just like the last season. We did the same thing on Etihad as we did the last time, when we didn't have the likes of Fabregas and Costa. Of course now it's the time to get upset, because now was the time to see the change and we didn't see it.

[Tomo 21,733]

Football is changing and if you think plowing forward and trying to smash a top 10 team in the world is the best situation for the team then I don't know what to say to you....

There's a club not far north from us in Islington that have a manager who does just that, some people here are probably better off checking them out going by some comments here.