The Mourinho Thread

[The Chels 2,502]

Really? I must have missed that.

So you don't recall hearing phrases like 'Mourinho masterclass', 'Mourinho got his tactics spot on' and 'Mourinho's got his side playing brilliant football'? I'm pretty sure they are dished out every time we win. The victories against City, Liverpool and PSG last season were almost exclusively attributed to Mourinho's tactics.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Give credit where it's due mate, he did the right thing and that's what matters.

I'm not taking anything away from him. I just don't think it's a praise-worthy gesture. If he came out trying to make excuses, he'll have been lambasted.

[manpe 10,861]

I'm not taking anything away from him. I just don't think it's a praise-worthy gesture. If he came out trying to make excuses, he'll have been lambasted.

Fair enough, that's your view. My view is that when there can be reason for critics, then there can always be reason for praise.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Disorganised/non-existent pressing + big gaps within midfield/between midfield and defence = allows opposition the ball in dangerous positions and closer to our box against individually weak defenders = more likely to concede.

We see the above in most games and the fact that Jose still hasn't fixed this suggests he's either happy with the defensive system we have in place or doesn't know how to change it. Instead of trying to limit the number of times the opposition get the ball in dangerous positions he seems to prefer to blame individuals when we concede from those positions (e.g. Schurrle v City). There is no defensive stability in the side except for when we park the bus - and that doesn't always go well as we saw at City away this season or away to Liverpool in the COC.

Well its a MASSIVE difference in quality between Ferreira-Carvalho-Terry-Cole/Gallas and Iva-Cahill-Terry(old)-Azpi/Luis. Our defense works good as unit but even then only if Matic and Cesc are fully rested. While Cole, Terry and Carvalho were probably best back three in PL history. Azpi has all the quality to take get close, but we are two CBs short and RB to make that complete. Terry is still good, but need big support from faster defenders, while Zouma is way too young and inexperienced to become Mourinho's guy like Terry was 10 years ago. Terry was whole different beast than Zouma or even Varane and thats a fact.

Mourinho in Porto had Costa, Carvalho, Ferreira, Valente and Lucio, Samuel, Chivu, Maicon at Inter, not to mention Costinha, Zanetti, Cambiasso who added extra defensive solidity to back four. Not to even go at Chelsea with Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Essien, Makelele...the difference in defensive quality between those teams and today's chelsea is giant. And even IF we buy few world class defenders, it takes time for those to understand each other. 2004 Chelsea was more exception than rule for Mou.

But said all that, we should win Premier League title this year with this team, no doubt. CL IMO will be almost impossible, but for league, no excuses; not after the 5pt lead we currently have and home game vs City.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

So you don't recall hearing phrases like 'Mourinho masterclass', 'Mourinho got his tactics spot on' and 'Mourinho's got his side playing brilliant football'? I'm pretty sure they are dished out every time we win. The victories against City, Liverpool and PSG last season were almost exclusive attributed to Mourinho's genius.

Every now and again, but not every game. But that isn't my point. There are a lot of fraying tempers on this board and I want to log off now before I get further frustrated. What I personally believe is that the level of criticism directed at Mourinho is totally unjustifiable compared to the relative lack of congratulations he gets at the end of most matches.

Ultimately I hold the players responsible for almost every defeat. They're the ones kicking the ball around, not José. He shouldn't have to motivate £100,000-a-week players to score more goals than the opposition, especially a side 45 places lower down the Football League pyramid than ourselves. There are times when you can critique José's team selection, his substitutions or his tactics, but the side we put out today was good enough to beat Bradford. We were just undone by an horrific second half performance and were caught up in the magic of the FA Cup.

[Styles 9,790]

I honestly don't understand why some members get so offended and upset by the Mourinho criticism. There isn't a single manager of a club who isn't being criticised by a section of supporters right now. It's happening at every club in every sport. No manager is off limits. This is the same manager who routinely criticises Chelsea supporters and embarrasses them in the media and people are complaining about some forum posts. You couldn't make it up.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

It's funny how some posters were already on the low trying to shift blame for this appalling result away from the manager to the players by saying stuff like "that's why Jose doesn't play kids" when the only kid in sight was Christiansen! Zouma the so called "kid" probably has more caps than Bradford's entire squad! It's not like we had Boga, Loftus Cheek, Solanke, Brown and Ake (where the f**** was he?) by the way. All the noise from Mourinho of playing youth seems like hot air now. They won't get another opportunity till next season till they're eventually sent to some mediocre lower league team on some bad loan.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

I honestly don't understand why some members get so offended and upset by the Mourinho criticism. There isn't a single manager of a club who isn't being criticised by a section of supporters right now. It's happening at every club in every sport. No manager is off limits. This is the same manager who routinely criticises Chelsea supporters and embarrasses them in the media and people are complaining about some forum posts. You couldn't make it up.

It's part of the cult of personality that surrounds Mourinho and sorry to say, the small mindedness of some, the follower mentality, especially (but not limited to) among the johnny come lately, post-Abramovich crowd who think Mourinho is the best thing ever to happen to Chelsea and can seemingly do whatever the hell he wants. Including moaning about the fans, making very questionable remarks by paralleling our support with Scouse scum with the latest "25% bullshit".

Maybe, just maybe if you didn't set up the team to be so pathetically defensive in the first place, the fans who paid good money to watch it in the blistering cold would have had something to shout about!

[DYC. 7,542]

So the first half of the season is definitely over, and I think it's fair to say Ivanovic and Cahill have made quite a few mistakes (understatement). I'd love to see Zouma and Luis receive that same kind of trust he put in Ivanovic and Cahill and give them starting spots. Remember how Luiz and Cole were dropped after below-par performances? So it's definitely not beyond the realms of possibility.

Keep them in the team in the second half of the season even if they mistakes, bar the extreme of course. They would definitely bring a greater athleticism into the defence.

[Jase 43,479]

So the first half of the season is definitely over, and I think it's fair to say Ivanovic and Cahill have made quite a few mistakes (understatement). I'd love to see Zouma and Luis receive that same kind of trust he put in Ivanovic and Cahill and give them starting spots. Remember how Luiz and Cole were dropped after below-par performances? So it's definitely not beyond the realms of possibility.

Thing is though, Mourinho appears to have one set of rules for one group of players and another for the other group.

[Tomo 21,751]

It's part of the cult of personality that surrounds Mourinho and sorry to say, the small mindedness of some, the follower mentality, especially (but not limited to) among the johnny come lately, post-Abramovich crowd who think Mourinho is the best thing ever to happen to Chelsea and can seemingly do whatever the hell he wants. Including moaning about the fans, making very questionable remarks by paralleling our support with Scouse scum with the latest "25% bullshit".

Maybe, just maybe if you didn't set up the team to be so pathetically defensive in the first place, the fans who paid good money to watch it in the blistering cold would have had something to shout about!

Sorry but that is simply not true, of course he is going to get cut more slack compared to say Scolari because of his history with the club, the same way Cech has escaped criticism for shipping 4 to Bradford but you could bet your bottom dollar Tibo wouldn't have been so lucky.

[DYC. 7,542]

Thing is though, Mourinho appears to have one set of rules for one group players and another for the other group.

Yes, the infamous Mourinho untouchables. I understand how it can at times seem that way, but I'm still not convinced that's true. You'd think a manager at the highest level wouldn't let favouritism affect his job. It was understandable with the likes of Drogba, Lamps etc., they were top class, but Cahill and Ivanovic? Come on. I hope that's not the case.

[Jase 43,479]

Yes, the infamous Mourinho untouchables. I understand how it can at times seem that way, but I'm still not convinced that's true. You'd think a manager at the highest level wouldn't let favouritism affect his job. It was understandable with the likes of Drogba, Lamps etc., they were top class, but Cahill and Ivanovic? Come on. I hope that's not the case.

Manager or not, Mourinho is human after all and like all humans, sometimes we can let favoritism cloud our judgment or affect our way of thinking. Mourinho can be too stubborn or pragmatic for his own good.

[The Chels 2,502]

Well its a MASSIVE difference in quality between Ferreira-Carvalho-Terry-Cole/Gallas and Iva-Cahill-Terry(old)-Azpi/Luis. Our defense works good as unit but even then only if Matic and Cesc are fully rested. While Cole, Terry and Carvalho were probably best back three in PL history. Azpi has all the quality to take get close, but we are two CBs short and RB to make that complete. Terry is still good, but need big support from faster defenders, while Zouma is way too young and inexperienced to become Mourinho's guy like Terry was 10 years ago. Terry was whole different beast than Zouma or even Varane and thats a fact.

Mourinho in Porto had Costa, Carvalho, Ferreira, Valente and Lucio, Samuel, Chivu, Maicon at Inter, not to mention Costinha, Zanetti, Cambiasso who added extra defensive solidity to back four. Not to even go at Chelsea with Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Essien, Makelele...the difference in defensive quality between those teams and today's chelsea is giant. And even IF we buy few world class defenders, it takes time for those to understand each other. 2004 Chelsea was more exception than rule for Mou.

But said all that, we should win Premier League title this year with this team, no doubt. CL IMO will be almost impossible, but for league, no excuses; not after the 5pt lead we currently have and home game vs City.

Good point. If you isolate any of our defenders 1v1 (apart from Azpi usually) then we're screwed. I'm not sure how that is possible in a team vying for PL and CL glory but because of it we need to make sure our defenders are not exposed and we're not doing such a good job of that, for reasons previously mentioned. Against Liverpool, Sterling was allowed to run at Cahill (even though we were parking the bus!) and that meant there was only one conclusion.

[boshman 1,073]

I honestly don't understand why some members get so offended and upset by the Mourinho criticism. There isn't a single manager of a club who isn't being criticised by a section of supporters right now. It's happening at every club in every sport. No manager is off limits. This is the same manager who routinely criticises Chelsea supporters and embarrasses them in the media and people are complaining about some forum posts. You couldn't make it up.

I don't think it is the criticism of Mourinho that people get upset about. It is the utter bollocks that some people post about the man who has done so much for the club, and really not done anything to deserve such talk.

My personal favourite is the 'sack him' calls. Sack him for what? For nearly doing the PL and CL double last season without any strikers. For guiding us 5 points clear at the top of the league. For only losing THREE games all season.

It's staggering for me how easy people jump on this man's back when a result goes against us. Some of you lot don't know how good you have it. Be careful what you wish for.