The Mourinho Thread

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Jose Borinho. So sick of this guy managing in big matches and winning! Why is he always setting up the team to win??? Its the worst tactic I've ever seen... We're gonna go down as the first team ever to win the league from beginning to end and likely win it by double digits but that's not enough!! There is more to playing football than winning and Jose is just taking all the fun out of the game by winning all the time

I'm sick of it!!

[bababoom 4,478]

I honestly dont mind how we played, obviously the first 30 minutes was hard to watch but once we calmed down and got to grips with United we improved and managed the game brilliantly.

I do think we need more technically sound players though, on the counter our players lack that certain precision and ability. Atletico's whole team consist of great technical footballers who not only graft but are able to move the ball efficiently when they break. Gabi, Tiago, Koke, Turan and Griezmann, thats basically their whole midfield. They can control matches but just as easily are able to sit deep and counter with quick, precise passing, they all have great footballing minds.

[Tomo 21,751]

I watch Chelsea play almost every game. I miss maybe 2-3 games per season at most, and considering we play upwards of 55 games per season that is a lot of football. So, why wouldn't I be obsessed by the way we perform?

We have had perhaps 2 decent performances in nearly five months of football. It seems some people genuinely don't give a shit about anything but wins and trophies and yet they want to portray themselves as some sort of super fan.

The thing is we did play really great footy in the first 6 months off the season, since January the form has dropped but we are still picking up the results, that is what has given us such a huge gap against the other 3, we all have had amazing spells and average spells, the difference being we have been picking up the results playing badly.

[Amblève. 4,995]

Jose Borinho. So sick of this guy managing in big matches and winning! Why is he always setting up the team to win??? Its the worst tactic I've ever seen... We're gonna go down as the first team ever to win the league from beginning to end and likely win it by double digits but that's not enough!! There is more to playing football than winning and Jose is just taking all the fun out of the game by winning all the time

I'm sick of it!!

You're beating a cremated horse now. The haters were wrong yada yada yada, Mourinho is never wrong yada yada yada, fans have no right to speak their frustrated minds yada yada yada.

I swear, this forum's been challenging HFBoards' level of unoriginality lately.

[Stats 7,156]

we could if we wanted to. people forget the pool match last season where we would probably have lined up for a similar way but since they got an early goal, we ripped them open for the rest of the half before shutting out the match in the second.

yesterday, we did not need the win, united did. a draw would have suited us as good. then why the risk. why should we be doing anything that makes us circumspect at this juncture in the season. just not worth it. we had a gameplan, and it worked like a charm.

I agree but I see it on both points. I disagree with you that Mourinho set up that way because we did not need to win. I think he probably would have done the same earlier in the season. Who knows. But yeah it worked however it is not the approach I want to see us keep playing in these games on a regular basis. While it has worked us wonders in the league the lack of attacking approach cost us in the UCL. I am proud of how we have wiped away the PL. Massive credit to Jose for that but for those who have criticized the approach are entitled to. Everyone is happy with the win but I don't like when I see some people on here accusing the moaners of not being a proper supporter etc and telling them to get a grip. Because like I was saying I think people are justified to feel unhappy with the performance.

I am not in that category but I am not going to abuse or criticise people for moaning about the negative approach.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

You're beating a cremated horse now. The haters were wrong yada yada yada, Mourinho is never wrong yada yada yada, fans have no right to speak their frustrated minds yada yada yada.

I swear, this forum's been challenging HFBoards' level of unoriginality lately.

I couldn't care less. You're looking for originality every time you come to a thread about the manager? How many original thoughts could there be? Of course it's gonna be repetitive.

[Tomo 21,751]

If we'd played attacking football City style against United and lost 4-2 like they did you'd be asking for his head. I'm convinced Jose just can't win. Not showing United respect would have been a big mistake and putting Zouma on saved us the game.

Exactly, some people seem to think just because we are the better team we shouldn't bother nullifying their threats.

That type of arrogance is what cost Brendan Rodgers the title.

[didierforever 7,349]

I agree but I see it on both points. I disagree with you that Mourinho set up that way because we did not need to win. I think he probably would have done the same earlier in the season. Who knows. But yeah it worked however it is not the approach I want to see us keep playing in these games on a regular basis. While it has worked us wonders in the league the lack of attacking approach cost us in the UCL. I am proud of how we have wiped away the PL. Massive credit to Jose for that but for those who have criticized the approach are entitled to. Everyone is happy with the win but I don't like when I see some people on here accusing the moaners of not being a proper supporter etc and telling them to get a grip. Because like I was saying I think people are justified to feel unhappy with the performance.

I am not in that category but I am not going to abuse or criticise people for moaning about the negative approach.

chelsea 3-1 united. you cant possibly say that we set up in the same way. which shows we at this moment is simply trying to wrap up the league. beautiful football is not the objective, winning is. hence we are using whatever stratergy which seems best to simply get the job done.

[Styles 9,790]

The thing is we did play really great footy in the first 6 months off the season, since January the form has dropped but we are still picking up the results, that is what has given us such a huge gap against the other 3, we all have had amazing spells and average spells, the difference being we have been picking up the results playing badly.

I agree that we played well in the first part of the season, but the drop off from that football to what we have played in the last 4 or so months has been huge. We don't look like even half the team we did at the start of the season. It seems as if Jose reverts back to type at the first sign of adversity which is ultimately my issue; he did it last season and he has done it again this year.

And this is an excellent post by Clockwork:

I wish to express my rebuttal on the openions that "we are a few players short to play the style we want."

The truth is if you feel that we are a few players short to play the style we want, then it is never going to happen. This mentality exsist in every club, i have not come across any situation or club that felt they had every piece to enforce the style they want. Is there a club in the world that thinks they have every piece to enforce the style they want? The answer is absloutely no. Even the best side of the last ten years, the Barca side in their prime never had every piece or felt short on a few players. They needed to upgrade their CBs for years, and they still do. Before Suarez and Neymar, they never felt they had the optiomal forwards around Messi. Ibra, Villa, Pedro, and Sanchez were not adequate enough for one reason or another.

Saying we are a few players short in order to play a proactive football, then with this mentality we will never play that style. Even if in the summer we do sign Pogba, Reus, and Varane. Which is unlikely imo but lets assume wo do for now. What is the excuse we are going to use when one of our key players get injured or out of form? oh yeah we are going to say we don't have the players to play with our foot in front.

If we apply this mentality in real life is the equivalent of someone saying i will start start losing weight when (insert excuse) or someone saying i will stop smoking when (insert excuse). It doesn't matter the excuses are unlimited. Same unlimited excuses apply to Club football, we will never feel like we have every piece to play the style we want, we can always say we need this or that. The reasons to procrastinaite is unlimited.

I am sorry to say this, but there is no chance Mou will change or we will have some sudden change of style. If you are fine with how we are playing then i can tolerate it in fact i can respect this view. Thinking othewise is delusional at this point, because there is not a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise.

We are never going to have the absolute perfect squad. We are always going to have injured players and / or lack a certain type of player in the squad, so to use that as an excuse as to why we cannot play well or have to play such dreadful football for such long periods of time just doesn't cut it.

[Stats 7,156]

chelsea 3-1 united. you cant possibly say that we set up in the same way. which shows we at this moment is simply trying to wrap up the league. beautiful football is not the objective, winning is. hence we are using whatever stratergy which seems best to simply get the job done.

Chelsea 3-1 United. That was last season? At the start of the season we were playing more attacking football. Yes, I agree but it is not as if that attacking approach has worked in the UCL. But, yeah apart from that I agree but like I was agreeing with the critics yesterday it is not as if that style of football was the only solution. I believe we could have played more attacking.football with the players we have.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

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[kellzfresh 7,229]

I found this article

Mourinho denied credit after defensive masterclass

Leaving the ground following the Chelsea victory over United it was hard not to feel anything but delight. This was a methodical performance, the team completely negated one of the league's in form sides, who a week ago put four past Manchester City. On this occasion, United looked lost on the ball, Kurt Zouma marked Marouane Fellaini out of the game from the first minute and despite having 70 percent of possession throughout the match, the team in red looked bereft of ideas.

The majority of their possession was at the feet of a defensive trio in Paddy McNair, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia at the half way line. There was not a single clue between them as to how they could breakdown Chelsea, now that lobbing the ball up to Fellaini was no longer an option. In the end the two centre backs decided pot shots from thirty yards out would be the best solution. It really wasn't.

With that in mind, it came as somewhat of a shock to read on my timeline that Chelsea fans should feel embarrassed by the performance or that for some reason we should not be proud of that win. It wasn't the performance of champions. These are the rambling of football's alleged purists, rooting out the evil, enemy of the game that is Jose Mourinho. In reality, the problem isn't Mourinho, it is the self-righteous, naive mind that thinks a pragmatic performance is anything but the right way to play football.

Football is, after all, the only sport that so thoroughly chastises those who excel at defending. For those who need reminding, defending is half the game. Imagine a boxer being criticised for not allowing his opponent to hit him. Floyd Mayweather, boxing's most technically proficient fighter, will hereby be known as "The Anti Boxer". Imagine thinking the Seattle Seahawks are an enemy of the NFL as opposed to the embodiment of it. Or that San Antonio's empire in the Tim Duncan era should be forgotten because they can defend their own half of the court.

It is strange that those who champion the right way of playing football fail to understand the importance of strategy. It is absurd to think that there can be no satisfaction in grinding out victories. Tell that to the 40,000 inside Stamford Bridge and every single one of them would laugh: that performance was nothing short of incredible. The scoreline was the perfect reflection of how the game panned out -- only one team ever looked like they'd find a way though. It is no surprise that even with only 30 percent possession the next best chance in the game aside from the goal fell to Chelsea and Eden Hazard when his acrobatic effort struck the post from a tight angle.

As a winner, Mourinho's methods are second to none. The idea that his approach to big games is that of a small club mentality is so unbelievably narrow minded, that it pains me to see people failing to understand the beauty of it. This is not the same style of play as an underdog, praying that through sheer force of will and desperate defending, they can keep the onslaught at bay for ninety minutes. Sure, there are the odd occasion when this will work out in their favour, when Mourinho classed West Ham's football as 19th Century, it felt like a compliment more than an insult. Yet, at the end of the day that result was as much down to good fortune and a heroic effort in goal by Adrian than anything else. West Ham's subsequent efforts at stifling the Chelsea attack with mere numbers has failed. It is why Brendan Rodgers' comment that "Defending is easy" was so way off the mark (much like the rest of the league's challenge for the title).

I for one think it is sad to see so many disregard half of the game in the way they do towards defending. Sure, free flowing, attacking football is perhaps at its best in this generation. However, a failure to admire those who stand against the tide, beating away everything thrown at them is not a sign of championing the beautiful game, it is blind ignorance.

Soaking up pressure for ninety minutes in the way that Mourinho's sides do, is not easy. It takes an unbelievable amount of discipling and skill to perform. Mourinho's so called negative tactics have yielded unparalleled positive results. Ultimately it boils down to efficiency. Mourinho believes that his side can do more with 30 percent of the ball than the opposition can do with 70%. Most of the time, he's right. Most of the time, he wins. This isn't David vs. Goliath, this is the Ali "Rope-a-Dope" played out to perfection. This is a masterclass in counter punching.

It is rather comical that Mourinho is portrayed as a pantomime villain, the Dementor of football, sucking the life force out of the game. While, his approach may not be easy on the eye for a neutral, it is not Mourinho's fault that the purist brigade are out with their pitchforks and torches after every victory he oversees, failing to appreciate the complexity of the game. Mourinho positions his players as if they were pieces on a chessboard. You have to react to the opposition, life is a series of checks and balances. In football no one understand this better than The Special One.

[zolayes 14,489]

I agree that we played well in the first part of the season, but the drop off from that football to what we have played in the last 4 or so months has been huge. We don't look like even half the team we did at the start of the season. It seems as if Jose reverts back to type at the first sign of adversity which is ultimately my issue; he did it last season and he has done it again this year.

And this is an excellent post by Clockwork:

We are never going to have the absolute perfect squad. We are always going to have injured players and / or lack a certain type of player in the squad, so to use that as an excuse as to why we cannot play well or have to play such dreadful football for such long periods of time just doesn't cut it.

we have been by far the luckiest team in the PL with regard to injuries ... IMO if Hazard had been out for 6 games or so we wouldnt be on top

[Rom2013 446]

For some people seeing CHelsea winning the League after 5 years it's going to hurt a lot... we need to understand that.

[Tomo 21,751]

we have been by far the luckiest team in the PL with regard to injuries ... IMO if Hazard had been out for 6 games or so we wouldnt be on top

There is no luck in having a top medical team.

[zolayes 14,489]

There is no luck in having a top medical team.

oh so that is all is it .. ONCE i read your posts now I just laugh at them .. OUR medical team have saved Hazard ... you should be in politics

[Tomo 21,751]

oh so that is all is it .. ONCE i read your posts now I just laugh at them .. OUR medical team have saved Hazard ... you should be in politics

So it's a lucky coincidence we have been one of the least affected teams with injuries for years?

[zolayes 14,489]

So it's a lucky coincidence we have been one of the least affected teams with injuries for years?

WE ARE LUCKY HAZARD hasnt been injured ... PUT your brain in gear and think about it.. HAVE you seen the tackles that have been made on in .. HE and US have been lucky

[Tomo 21,751]

WE ARE LUCKY HAZARD hasnt been injured ... PUT your brain in gear and think about it.. HAVE you seen the tackles that have been made on in .. HE and US have been lucky

you said and I quote "we have been the luckiest team this year with regard to injuries" to then I responded it's not luck that we have a good medical team.

I think you need to take your own advice about putting the brain into gear, but doesn't matter to me anyway, you're heading back on ignore, permanently this time.

[Tomo 21,751]

I found this article

outstanding piece

I have said it before and will say again, purists/idealists who only have one way to play are ruining the game, I would cringe if we appoint a manager who went on about possession and moral victories.