The Mourinho Thread

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Part of me glad we're not in CL and FA Cup anymore. Team can focused to prepare for the game each week. With the thin squad at the moment, Costa injured, I don't think we could play consistent enough every 3 days.

[The Skipper 20,609]

But on the flip side, Mou has been criticised in recent month's for going a bit Benitez in taking a while to react to situations.

Personally I'm enjoying this more proactive Mourinho. Don't really understand why people are complaining about it.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,090]

How can you still say that we don't have a good CAM option when willian has had all his best games of chelsea career in that role. Everytime wilian has played through the center, he has looked good and most importantly, we have played well. High time to drop oscar.

Over two years ago I was telling people that the, "Oscar's tired", excuse was a myth. Before, note before*, Christmas last season I was saying that William was our best '10'. In terms of his qualities I still think that's true but the theory hasn't always borne fruit. I agree with you that Willian's better performances have come as a CAM, but I don't agree that every time he's played there we have played well. I don't believe that's even close to the real story. In my opinion he has frequently been as frustrating as Oscar. Slow decision making, getting caught in possession, failing to see or to execute the right pass, and dribbling into cul-de-sacs.

In any case, as I said, our overall form when Willian plays at CAM, is not solely dependent on his own output. I can see why Jose gets frustrated with Oscar and tries something else, but I can also see why Jose has never become comfortable with the something else either, and turns back to Oscar. Willian's outstanding performance yesterday may earn him another try but the experience of having seen him play there a number of times tells me that he is not going to be the long term answer. It remains my opinion that we need a better option for that position.

*The tale of Oscar's good form before Christmas every season is another myth. Well it is in my opinion anyway.

[Jase 43,479]

Personally I'm enjoying this more proactive Mourinho. Don't really understand why people are complaining about it.

Who's complaining?

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

8 games to go, with 3 of them against big teams. Jose's records against big teams are very impressive, so I'm confident about it. With City most likely will drop more points, even if we draw against Arsenal, I don't think it is a problem.

[The Chels 2,502]

Just like in the second leg against Atletico Madrid last season, Mourinho got somewhat desperate by bringing on Costa so early and thus running the risk of him injuring his hamstring. Admittedly, I did want Costa to come on at HT because we weren't clinical/incisive in front of goal then but it's certainly unusual to see Mourinho become somewhat desperate.

I didn't think we needed that change at HT yesterday as I felt confident we'd score anyway but I wasn't too worried by it. Stoke were barely troubling us and going 2 up front against them didn't change that. Doing it against the top teams though is completely different and I agree it was a desperate move against Atleti. We only needed one more goal after all. They easily nullified the change and it allowed them to dominate the midfield and subsequently the game.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Sometimes I feel just so thankful to see Mourinho, Hazard and Drogba in Chelsea at the same time...Hazard and Drogba combining together in a match in Chelsea colors was a distant dream a couple of years ago.

Cech

Dave Ricky JT Cole

Maka Matic

Robben Zola Hazard

Drogba

It'd be one hell of an XI in their respective primes!

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

8 games to go, with 3 of them against big teams. Jose's records against big teams are very impressive, so I'm confident about it. With City most likely will drop more points, even if we draw against Arsenal, I don't think it is a problem.

We should beat Arsenal really, beating Liverpool these days isn't really anything special these days without Suarez and an out of prime Gerrard.

[coolhead23 1,147]

We should beat Arsenal really, beating Liverpool these days isn't really anything special these days without Suarez and an out of prime Gerrard.

Arent you under-estimating Arsenal a little here?. It is not just about beating, it's how you beat your opponent and to be honest they are doing it a great job right now whereas we arent ...

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Arent you under-estimating Arsenal a little here?. It is not just about beating, it's how you beat your opponent and to be honest they are doing it a great job right now whereas we arent ...

Our win at stoke would have looked very convincing had Adam not scored that 65yd goal. We played lovely football, stayed in possession, played incisive passes. We looked like last years' Chelsea again, and this would have been spotted had he not scored that stunner. Not to mention he shouldn't have had the opportunity because Hazard was hacked down for the pass that lead to the goal.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

We should beat Arsenal really, beating Liverpool these days isn't really anything special these days without Suarez and an out of prime Gerrard.

For making it faster to celebrate, yes. But a draw at their home is not a bad result at the moment.

[coolhead23 1,147]

Our win at stoke would have looked very convincing had Adam not scored that 65yd goal. We played lovely football, stayed in possession, played incisive passes. We looked like last years' Chelsea again, and this would have been spotted had he not scored that stunner. Not to mention he shouldn't have had the opportunity because Hazard was hacked down for the pass that lead to the goal.

I wouldnt completely agree with u ... The first 20-25 mins was where we popped up some surprise which was taking shots on goals (something we werent doing do often), having a go at. Other than we went back passing around thing which we were doing. Talking about passes, we over do it lot of times.

Lovely football ... Not sure what is the definition of lovely football ... Hope it is not like what Arsenal fans say that they play beautiful football which is never defined.

[Kezza 1,965]

Pretty cool Jose switching to a 4-4-2 (granted we needed additional striker) when Stoke were just parking it in front of goal to allow Stoke to gain a bit of 'freedom' and posession, then once they gained a bit of confidence with space and time we'd pounce which lead to Remys goal. Then switched it back to a 4231 or 433 by brining Juan on

[didierforever 7,349]

Over two years ago I was telling people that the, "Oscar's tired", excuse was a myth. Before, note before*, Christmas last season I was saying that William was our best '10'. In terms of his qualities I still think that's true but the theory hasn't always borne fruit. I agree with you that Willian's better performances have come as a CAM, but I don't agree that every time he's played there we have played well. I don't believe that's even close to the real story. In my opinion he has frequently been as frustrating as Oscar. Slow decision making, getting caught in possession, failing to see or to execute the right pass, and dribbling into cul-de-sacs.

In any case, as I said, our overall form when Willian plays at CAM, is not solely dependent on his own output. I can see why Jose gets frustrated with Oscar and tries something else, but I can also see why Jose has never become comfortable with the something else either, and turns back to Oscar. Willian's outstanding performance yesterday may earn him another try but the experience of having seen him play there a number of times tells me that he is not going to be the long term answer. It remains my opinion that we need a better option for that position.

*The tale of Oscar's good form before Christmas every season is another myth. Well it is in my opinion anyway.

maybe not everytime. but it wont be a stretch if i say most of the times. moreover, like u said, he is our best no.10.

he has put in performances like city away last season which was one of the best counter attacking displays i have ever seen. also, his defensive nounce is without a doubt wonderful.

lets just hope that jose does what is best for the team, which at this very moment is definitely dropping oscar.

[stroey 2,525]

Pretty cool Jose switching to a 4-4-2 (granted we needed additional striker) when Stoke were just parking it in front of goal to allow Stoke to gain a bit of 'freedom' and posession, then once they gained a bit of confidence with space and time we'd pounce which lead to Remys goal. Then switched it back to a 4231 or 433 by brining Juan on

Yeah typical Mou, he did it at Madrid and it was so funny to see. Scored a leading goal and then brings Albiol and Arbeloa at the same time to close the gate.

But his was move was risky yesterday, using his last sub in min 63, I was really afraid of an injury or another Stoke goal.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,090]

8 games to go, with 3 of them against big teams. Jose's records against big teams are very impressive, so I'm confident about it. With City most likely will drop more points, even if we draw against Arsenal, I don't think it is a problem.

We have two more matches before we go to the Emirates. If we win both of those we will be at least 10 points ahead of Arsenal with 6 six games remaining. If so we'll have more of less taken the result of that game out of the equation. We have to guard against allowing the trip to Islington to become more important than it needs to be.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,090]

maybe not everytime. but it wont be a stretch if i say most of the times. moreover, like u said, he is our best no.10.

he has put in performances like city away last season which was one of the best counter attacking displays i have ever seen. also, his defensive nounce is without a doubt wonderful.

lets just hope that jose does what is best for the team, which at this very moment is definitely dropping oscar.

To be clear, I'm saying that I do not share the opinion that Oscar plays well early in the season then runs out of steam. He's just as limited in August and September as he is at any other time in my opinion.

I don't believe that Willian has shown my feeling to be right. Despite his limitations, Oscar has often proved the better option and, amid his struggles, has managed to make more happen from the ten than Willian has. When, as on Saturday, Willian adds some productivity to his game, he puts Oscar in the shade, but he just hasn't done that often enough.

I think this last point is the core disagreement between us. Willian always looks better with his greater pace, better dribbling and more eye catching skils, but, in my opinion, he seldom actually does better. As I see it, neither of these two is the answer for our team going forward. Next weekend however I'd go with Willian as you suggest.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,090]

Our win at stoke would have looked very convincing had Adam not scored that 65yd goal. We played lovely football, stayed in possession, played incisive passes. We looked like last years' Chelsea again, and this would have been spotted had he not scored that stunner. Not to mention he shouldn't have had the opportunity because Hazard was hacked down for the pass that lead to the goal.

If we won at Stoke then Charlie Adam scored from a lot more than 65 yards!

I agree with you though, we were better. This was the most enjoyable performance we've produced for a while. That said, I don't think either of us would argue with anyone who believes there is still plenty of room for improvement.

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

He says that he doesn't want to do something different, in relation to off form midfield trio, and go into unknown in April.

He took off second striker as soon as we scored - to play things as safe as possible.

He now doesn't want to think of Zouma in defence, instead he opts for a "safe" option.

He says that he can't give a minute to RLC, who is build like a tank, "to protect" him.

He reacts to Cuadrado miss like if that was crucial miss to define the season and shows way more than his discontent.

I just see he has huge monkey on his back right now. A big, big one. Plays according to his "winning formula" recipe.

I'm sure more could have been done in relation to the long term project but I see I am harsh on him when I see this man, our boss, being under such pressure ... I don't know. To reiterate this again, due to the past months, I want this title more to build from that than I want the title itself.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

He says that he doesn't want to do something different, in relation to off form midfield trio, and go into unknown in April.

He took off second striker as soon as we scored - to play things as safe as possible.

He now doesn't want to think of Zouma in defence, instead he opts for a "safe" option.

He says that he can't give a minute to RLC, who is build like a tank, "to protect" him.

He reacts to Cuadrado miss like if that was crucial miss to define the season and shows way more than his discontent.

I just see he has huge monkey on his back right now. A big, big one. Plays according to his "winning formula" recipe.

I'm sure more could have been done in relation to the long term project but I see I am harsh on him when I see this man, our boss, being under such pressure ... I don't know. To reiterate this again, due to the past months, I want this title more to build from that than I want the title itself.

GC has looked solid enough the last few games, Cuadrado needs adaption and if he can survive Stoke he can survived damned near anything, it's all about conditioning. Truth be told I think the only reason he hasn'tt played RLC is because he's not yet sure how it would impact his system, don't forget, breaking into the first team at Ruben's age is an impressive feat.

If we won at Stoke then Charlie Adam scored from a lot more than 65 yards!

I agree with you though, we were better. This was the most enjoyable performance we've produced for a while. That said, I don't think either of us would argue with anyone who believes there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The worst bit is that I had to read your post about 5 times before I actually realised what you were saying, lol.