The Mourinho Thread

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

The handling/management of the squad depth has been atrocious for the past few seasons. The club seem more concerned about earning profit than actually having a competitive squad to challenge for all major trophies and of course, Mourinho having his 'untouchables' has also been a detriment to the team. Our bench/squad depth is pretty desperate for a big club and hell, even some of the lesser teams have better players to call upon than us!

Amen. I honestly don't understand why JM is incapable of keeping some game-changers on the bench. Just seen we're giving away Moses on loan. I'd been ok with that but i know Kenedy and Traore won't get the light of day in the team. They won't come on when we're winning 3-0 in some match, maybe one of them will get 10 mins on Academy Day Matchday 6 in the UCL.

[Jase 43,479]

Amen. I honestly don't understand why JM is incapable of keeping some game-changers on the bench. Just seen we're giving away Moses on loan. I'd been ok with that but i know Kenedy and Traore won't get the light of day in the team. They won't come on when we're winning 3-0 in some match, maybe one of them will get 10 mins on Academy Day Matchday 6 in the UCL.

That is because he's stubborn, too loyal to a certain group of players. He doesn't put the same faith and trust in everyone, which is why some players felt alienated and left the club. Had Mourinho treated the players equally and the club not being eager to get profit, we might actually still have players like Luiz, Mata, De Bruyne, Schurrle etc available to help us get out sticky situations.

[Jase 43,479]

I wonder whether Maccabi Tel-Aviv will be Rosenborg 2.0 this season...

[Reddish-Blue 2,513]

I don't agree with that. Let's look at our major misses in the tranfer market since JM has arrived.

Schurrle-18M, Salah-11M, Cuadrado-27M, Luis-15M. These are players that came in with sizeable expectations and JM couldn't make it work.

His better buys. Zouma-12M, Matic-21M, Willian-30M, Fabregas-26M, Cosa-32M, Remy-10M.

That's not including the one's we've made this season. 6/10 Isn't great, but we sold off Luis and Schurrle for same/greater price. And Salah will go for a hefty sum im certain. So no, i highly doubt that was the reason. I think the board were happy with that proft, and thought they could skimp on investing even more into the squad and we are paying the consequences as a result. (Not saying the board are responsible for this horrific start though, that falls on JM)

I don't think Willian was worth it. His attacking moves are predictable and he can't get a shot on target which is pathetic for a starting CAM

He really did overachieve last season and I think he'll be found out this season as opposing defenders will know that he is unlikely to produce moments of magic

[LAM09 7,069]

Crazy to think he signed a new four year contract this month and his future is uncertain.

Our form has to improve fast.

[lionsden 4,689]

That is because he's stubborn, too loyal to a certain group of players. He doesn't put the same faith and trust in everyone, which is why some players felt alienated and left the club. Had Mourinho treated the players equally and the club not being eager to get profit, we might actually still have players like Luiz, Mata, De Bruyne, Schurrle etc available to help us get out sticky situations.

Precisely this. His squad management is extremely poor. He is the extreme opposite of the tinker man. He uses his starters/untouchables to the point of absolute exhaustion while almost completely neglecting the squad players. some of the players we lost due to frustrations over lack of game time could have easily been avoided but he loves his untouchables too much that he finds intelligent rotation and squad management a taboo.

No one is asking him to become the tinkerman 2.0 but a bit of balance does have its adavantages.

[Diceflix 207]

OK - but where is the criticism of Ivanovic?

He's blaming midfielders and wingers for not defending - when the one fucking player that's meant to defend isn't!

This is just looney tunes from Jose and I hope it's been taken out of context.

Maybe he criticise Iva right in his face, with a slap on his face, because that's what he deserved....

[Spike 12,049]

Despite the club having no players that are particularly dominant in the air; crosses continue to be the focal point of getting the ball into the penalty box. Diego Costa inparticular is anonymous as an aerial threat. I don't know if that is a Mourinho influence or if players like Willian, Ivan and Azpi have no idea what to do so they just float the ball into the penalty area.

Remy and Falcao seem to ver talent at heading the ball but they don't get the same amount of minutes and chances as Costa.

Even more frustrating is the cluelessness around the box area. If a player doesn't take a potshot cross into the box, they take a potshot at goal. Ivan, Cahill and Willian are guilty of this despite having average to poor shooting technique. Players that do have fantastic technique like Fabregas and Hazard just pass the ball to someone else. I'd feel more comfortable seeing Fabregas approaching the ball for a longshot than Ivan.

Personally, I have no idea if it due to match tactics and strategy or the players just lacking initiative and creativity.

[Amblève. 4,995]

It never ceases to amaze me how shit we are at attacking. Teams like Swansea manage to play better offensively despite having far less individual quality and money to spend than us; for some reason we haven't been able to implement lasting schemes etc when attacking in these 2 years that Mourinho has managed us and that is quite alarming to me. Usually big teams manage to at least create chances when they're struggling but I don't remember a single chance vs Crystal Palace that would have been the result of a trademark play of ours (if we had any of these). No 1-2's, no lay-offs, nothing.

[LAM09 7,069]

It never ceases to amaze me how shit we are at attacking. Teams like Swansea manage to play better offensively despite having far less individual quality and money to spend than us; for some reason we haven't been able to implement lasting schemes etc when attacking in these 2 years that Mourinho has managed us and that is quite alarming to me. Usually big teams manage to at least create chances when they're struggling but I don't remember a single chance vs Crystal Palace that would have been the result of a trademark play of ours (if we had any of these). No 1-2's, no lay-offs, nothing.

It all has to come down to the manager at the end of the day. He's the one tell the team how he wants them to play and that is what we have to endure at times.

[Spike 12,049]

It is 50/50 for me. The manager and the players have been sub-par.

[Parky 739]

I am grateful for what jose has achieved for our club but I think his limitations in terms of tactics, squad rotation and management has come to bear. His one trick pony has been found out by other teams. His stubborns and pragmatism has cost us points up until now but it is still very early in the season.

Jose is now at a crossroads does he stick to what he has been successful with many times before or does he start to progress with new ideas and change. It will be interesting how the next few games plans out. If Jose continues the same recipe he is doomed to fail and will fall on his own sword. But if he is ready to embrace progress with new ideas and change than he still can bring success to our club for many years to come.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

Maybe he should spent some time coming up with a system that doesn't put our entire attacking load on Fabregas and Hazard's shoulders.
So in case both of them go off form we don't have the rest of the team standing there with their thumb up their asses not knowing wtf to do.

Atm we look absolutely clueless when we have the ball. The "pass it to Hazard and Fabregas they'll know what to do" tactic isn't working.
We end up resorting to desperate long range attempts and crosses into no man's land.

Both Hazard and Fabregas deserve to be criticized because they have been very poor but Mourinho deserves to be criticized too for not instilling any kind of attacking patterns into this team
and for purely relying on individual brilliance to get us goals.

We should be trying to break down teams by using rehearsed team patterns. I'm not seeing any of that. Everyone just seems to be moving off the ball as they please. Making runs when they feel like it instead of moving as a team and synchronizing their off the ball movement with eachother.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Maybe Mou isnt long term manager. Perhaps he can blow his baloon bigger and bigger but at some point it explodes.

We dont have a team. We have bunch of individuals who have no motivation and perform like shit. Its up to Mou to bring them together and motivates them.

Majority of this team is class. But they dont show it. We need the best out of players and its up to the coach how to deal with it. Iva alone is not the only problem for our performances. Its the whole team.

While Mou has to stick around, if we dont start playing well (if not league at least CL), we could face some big problems. The players might turn against Mou etc...Hazard, Matic, Tibo etc could leave. And thats something I dont want to see.

I like Mou alot, but if there is a big disagreement or whatever between the players and Mou, actions must be done. We cant afford to lose dressing room because for example unlike Real we wont be able to keep best players and we will go through another transition period.

Hopefuly team will get shit together and we will come back with a bang.

On another note, we might suck in PL this year, but CL could be a whole different thing.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

It's so lazy to suggest that JM has lost the dressing room. Only once in his career has that happened.

What happened when he left Chelsea? Drogba, JT, Essien, and Lamps were crying/shell-shocked. Players were even texting him while he was at Inter! When he left Inter, JM and Materazzi crying together, Sneijder hails him as best manager ever. Ibrahimovic after only one season with him claiming he'd die for him. Madrid happens, but even Xabi Alonso and Fiorentinon Perez loved him.

He may have beef with the board, but not the players. Dont buy it for one minute.

Whose the Ronaldo/Casillas/Pepe at Chelsea?

No one. Hazard imo comes across as too aloof to be concered with club politics. Costa can barely speak english, and loves JM. Cesc Fabregas literally owes JM for revitalizing his career, making him a vocal point again after he was chased out of Barca. Thibo? JM had no qualms benching our 11-year Servant. Oscar? Look at what happened to KDB and Mata. Enough said. Ivan? Plays like shit, gets promoted to Vice-Captain/Captain.

[11Drogba 2,000]

Wenger was right about Mourinho. He is afraid of failure and he came here to become the king of premiere league after Alex Ferguson. If he knew that the ffp would be relaxed and City would spend much more than us while we build the stadium he might have been less willing to come to Chelsea.

On the other hand Mourinho thrives when he is the underdog. Although we are the champions we became the underdog again. I hope he realizes that and acts accordingly. Let's not get annoyed and frustrated that City are spending so much and they had a good start, let's become the team that frustrates and dominates its opponents.

[ZOS 580]

There are things he is not in charge of at the club, like transfers but he is culpable of the ridiculously late start to the preseason training and the unnecessary beefing with the medical team

[It's too big 625]

I am 60/40 on wanting to keep him as manager at the moment. I understand he is one of the top 2/3 managers in world football, but he just doesn't seem to want to give Roman or the fans the kind of football we want to see. If Guardiola became available at the end of the season, i would take him in a flash, but he may sign another contract with Bayern or might not want to come to Chelsea.

I am starting to doubt whether Mourinho can change the situaton or not, or whether he has lost the dressing room. To be honest, for any manager it's tough after the 3rd season and he's not had much help in the transfer window. Man city have been able to keep things fresh by continually bringing in quality players to add to their strength in depth, whereas we haven't bought enough quality.

Are we overbaked by playing too much, or are jose's tactics now growing old and the players are bored with them? Also, which other managers are out there that are available, or may be available in a season? The situation has to be perfect for all parties if he left and we got someone else in. If Guardiola signs a new contract then that leaves us with only one option and, we would be going over old ground, but it would be Ancelotti, and as much as I adore him as a coach, he may end up coming winning a title and then going downhill just like jose is at the moment. For me, if we don't improve then it's either offer Pep a great contract with assurances he won't be sacked, and bring him in next summer.

[Muzchap 8,966]

After some sleep - I'm still not sure what the problem is

I still think something is happening behind the scenes

I look back to the start of last season and how we played - so I know Mou can coach attacking play

He was so proud of the Schurrle goal - but after the defeat to Spuds - something changed and it's never been the same since

I really hope he decides to remove the shackles

I think the players are genuinely bored and frustrated at the defensive shape and want some freedom to go and attack.

I guess that's where Mou is frustrating - one freak result should not define the future.

[sapper245 40]

Our style of play is so much like it was in his 3rd year of his first time here, play got very stale and predictable. Also some of the players played every match last year. Even after a summer break the might still be mentally tired, after the season finished we flow off to Sidney ffs.