The Mourinho Thread

[Tomo 21,754]

ryan bertrand - played a brilliant game in the CL final. was consistently good at every oppurtunity he got for chelsea. was in the PL team of the year last year.

moses - in his one season for us, he was one of our best players in europa league. has been brilliant in every pre-season oppurtunity he has got for the club, was really good at stoke last year before injuries ruined the season, has had a brilliant start to the whu loan spell.

but i can see why u would compare a player who got into the PL team of the year to some random guy in league 1 playing 1 good match. brilliant argument.

Bosingwa played in the CL final, we were massive underdogs for a reason, out of everyone who played that night none would get in our current team, maybe Mata under a different manager. Meireles was brilliant in Barca harassing Iniesta and Xavi, should we have kept him too?

Moses wasaverage for the most part and abysmal at Liverpool at a team that was perfectly set us for attacking mids.

[borriske 330]

50m ... says it all ... who would refuse that for 3rd string CB at the club ...

However the question should be why didnt we find replacements for the ageing players ...

Are we talking about Luiz or Luis?

[didierforever 7,349]

Bosingwa played in the CL final, we were massive underdogs for a reason, out of everyone who played that night none would get in our current team, maybe Mata under a different manager. Meireles was brilliant in Barca harassing Iniesta and Xavi, should we have kept him too?

Moses wasaverage for the most part and abysmal at Liverpool at a team that was perfectly set us for attacking mids.

again with the one match examples?

what about getting into the PL team of the year? do you even get what u r comparing? bertrand was always consistent and a solid option that again jose's stubborness cost us.

moses was average playing as a CAM in a 3-5-2 or as a right wing back which is technically the most difficult and demanding position to play. he is a winger, who can do a defensive job too but it does not mean that you can play him as a RWB.

and then comes the fact of how he has looked every time he has been given a chance for us (even if its pre-season).

[Clockwork 1,794]

We are short: one defender and one central midfielder

Our main weak areas: one spot in defence and central midfield.

Mourinho asked for: one defender and a central midfielder in April/May.

He got from the board: An unknown Djilobodji and reports of 33 loanees.

Let's all blame Mourinho, only.

How would that have made a difference?

A central midfielder to replace who? a lot of players are underperforming but Cesc ranks the highest alongside Ivanovic. Mou has shown no tendency or inclination to drop Cesc, as long as he is Playing I can hardly see improvement in midfield.

Stones would have replaced Zouma, no chance of both starting. Come on no way Mou to drop both Cahill and Terry. TBF to Zouma he has been a bright side to our season, and Cahill has done a decent job. our CB duo ranks quite low in our short term concern.

You are also taking for granted that these two signings would have played a lot, there is no guarantee of that. Just look at Baba, he is not even on the bench.

I am curious who was this CM Mou wanted?

[didierforever 7,349]

How would that have made a difference?

A central midfielder to replace who? a lot of players are underperforming but Cesc ranks the highest alongside Ivanovic. Mou has shown no tendency or inclination to drop Cesc, as long as he is Playing I can hardly see improvement in midfield.

Stones would have replaced Zouma, no chance of both starting. Come on no way Mou to drop both Cahill and Terry. TBF to Zouma he has been a bright side to our season, and Cahill has done a decent job. our CB duo ranks quite low in our short term concern.

You are also taking for granted that these two signings would have played a lot, there is no guarantee of that. Just look at Baba, he is not even on the bench.

I am curious who was this CM Mou wanted?

jose actually pulled a wenger on us.

his CM target was pogba. a 100mil pound player who was wanted by barca and who will end up at barca. plus juve was never going to sell him after losing pirlo, vidal and tevez. we were "in for him" but realistically, we never stood a chance. exactly a thing wenger does every summer and most of the fans end up angry at the board.

[boshman 1,073]

And we don't look up to playing anyone bar Sunderland. You think we will beat Southampton?

If we play like we did 2nd half yday then of course we can beat Southampton.

[didierforever 7,349]

How would that have made a difference?

A central midfielder to replace who? a lot of players are underperforming but Cesc ranks the highest alongside Ivanovic. Mou has shown no tendency or inclination to drop Cesc, as long as he is Playing I can hardly see improvement in midfield.

Stones would have replaced Zouma, no chance of both starting. Come on no way Mou to drop both Cahill and Terry. TBF to Zouma he has been a bright side to our season, and Cahill has done a decent job. our CB duo ranks quite low in our short term concern.

You are also taking for granted that these two signings would have played a lot, there is no guarantee of that. Just look at Baba, he is not even on the bench.

I am curious who was this CM Mou wanted?

jose actually pulled a wenger on us.

his CM target was pogba. a 100mil pound player who was wanted by barca and who will end up at barca. plus juve was never going to sell him after losing pirlo, vidal and tevez. we were "in for him" but never stood any chance realistically. in the end, people would say the board failed (like they are currently).

whats worse is that players like koke were available for 60mil euros buy out clause and would have been a massive massive massive upgrade for us. but i honestly dont think jose even wanted a CM. he has cesc, why would he need a proper well rounded CM.

[Tomo 21,754]

again with the one match examples?

what about getting into the PL team of the year? do you even get what u r comparing? bertrand was always consistent and a solid option that again jose's stubborness cost us.

moses was average playing as a CAM in a 3-5-2 or as a right wing back which is technically the most difficult and demanding position to play. he is a winger, who can do a defensive job too but it does not mean that you can play him as a RWB.

and then comes the fact of how he has looked every time he has been given a chance for us (even if its pre-season).

Exactly, pre season, it means absolutely nothing, Maarko Marin shone in pre season, also Liverpool reverted away from 3-5-2 in the second half and he was still awful when given chances, some players are better a mid table, nothing wrong with That.

And Bertrand has one big weakness, he lets crosses into the box easily, Ivan gets mullered for that but Bertrand gets away with It.

[didierforever 7,349]

Exactly, pre season, it means absolutely nothing, Maarko Marin shone in pre season, also Liverpool reverted away from 3-5-2 in the second half and he was still awful when given chances, some players are better a mid table, nothing wrong with That.

And Bertrand has one big weakness, he lets crosses into the box easily, Ivan gets mullered for that but Bertrand gets away with It.

first things first, lets clear the misconceptions you have about moses. he played for a whole of 847 minutes for liverpool. they were not in any european competitions. got knocked out in the first matches of both the domestic cups.

now lets come back to the point of second half of the season - from match day 20 to matchday 38, he played a total of 69 minutes. but kudos to judging him on that. and if you dont believe me, here are the stats. http://www.transfermarkt.com/victor-moses/leistungsdaten/spieler/59866/plus/?saison=2013

yes, that is a weakness. but can bertand cross? can bertrand defend 1v1 situations? can bertrand not get dribbled past multiple times in a match. overall, is bertrand defensively good. the answer is yes.

[killer1257 3,282]

When is Jose´s next press conference?

[lucio 5,418]

He never got enough chances. When he did step in he done well. And with more game time he would have developed. I remember Bellerin got subbed off for Arsenal at H/T last season when they were 3-0 down to Stoke and it must of been a big confidence knock for him. Did Arsenal just leave him out to dry and send him out on countless loans? No, they realised he was a work in progress and kept faith in him. Look now. We should really try doing the same with ours. Especially when we have top English talents like that, we just get rid. Confuses the shit out of me. Bertrand would get much more praise if he was playing regularly at us instead of Southampton.

He got over 50 appearances though. Other youngsters can't say that.

[lucio 5,418]

If we play like we did 2nd half yday then of course we can beat Southampton.

Southampton are 10x the team Newcastle are. And our 2nd half consisted of un threatening dominance , until a random shot flew in.

[xPetrCechx 13,598]

When is Jose´s next press conference?

Tomorrow, Before Porto?...

[coolhead23 1,147]

I am talking about Felipe Luis not David Luiz just to be clear..

And I should've checked how much we got Luis for because I was a little confused with the £50 mil.

Bloody ****!

Sincere Apologies, mate ... *embarrassing*

I agree handling of Luis was disappointing indeed.

[Tomo 21,754]

first things first, lets clear the misconceptions you have about moses. he played for a whole of 847 minutes for liverpool. they were not in any european competitions. got knocked out in the first matches of both the domestic cups.

now lets come back to the point of second half of the season - from match day 20 to matchday 38, he played a total of 69 minutes. but kudos to judging him on that. and if you dont believe me, here are the stats. http://www.transfermarkt.com/victor-moses/leistungsdaten/spieler/59866/plus/?saison=2013

yes, that is a weakness. but can bertand cross? can bertrand defend 1v1 situations? can bertrand not get dribbled past multiple times in a match. overall, is bertrand defensively good. the answer is yes.

FaCup ? And in sure the 3-5-2 was ditched long before Christmas after trey lost at The Emirates but I could be wrong.

When I saw him at Pool u wasn't impressed at all and along with almost every Liverpool fan saying he was shocking doesn't bode well, you cite the lack of minutes, well it was enough for us to write off Cuadrado.

And with Bertrand, imho I think he is good at containing fast wingers on the most part like say Navas, but struggles against tricky players like Willian, I'm not saying he is a bad player, far from it, but he isn't this flawless defensively that is often portrayed.

[laura90 556]

When looking for a culprit Jose needs to take a good look in the mirror. It was his rash sales, biased favoring, weird tactics, alienating players, no rotation that made our squad what it is now.

Jose is now facing consequences of team selections based on reputation and past accomplishments rather than current form and meritocracy. When players can be certain that no matter how they perform they will play in the next important game complacency sets in as we are seeing.

The opposite also applies when squad players giving 100% only to come to a realization that no matter how hard they try, how well they play they cannot displace underperforming untouchables they lose interest, focus and they start thinking of their way out.When I'm at it, how pointless most of his transfers have been?

I'm not sure board gave him awfull lot of money, but he got enough funds to play decent football and keep us in the top four. That's consistency, isn't it?

That stellar pressing football team used to play during good times demands two things: big squad and rotation. Former have been sistematically ruined later virtually non exsistent.

And now the reilable first 11 from last year quite often look like shadows of their former selves.

But than again I may be a Chelsea hater cause I refused to see last season wins and trophies as a justification for mediocre football, unimaginative tactics and everything mentioned above.

[BlueStorm1003 539]

We are lost in the comfort zone. The way in which Jose just refuses do drop underperforming players shows both his stubbornness and how lazy our main player have become, knowing they will not get dropped. The way in which Iva still gets into the starting line up worries me. Our worst player so far without a doubt. Fabregas clearly stopped caring after winning the title, and Costa has clearly lost his predator sense.

I still think Matic looks worse because of Cesc not helping much in defensive work, but he is a shadow of the beast of a defensive midfielder he was last season.

These are some examples that how that we need changes in how we affront the games. We can´t keep playing like shit, expecting to win the games regardless of what we do like in the last months of the past season. Jose is not the only one to blame here, but hell does he get a big part of it. We need to make use of our youngsters more, and we need to show our "stars" that if they don´t do well, it´s the bench for them.

We are not helpless, we are not in a crisis that will leave us in the mid table. It´s the start of the season, and we are few points off from the top. Now it all depends on Jose and the players. Both sides have to look at themselves and make changes accordingly. I understand why some people are asking for Jose´s head, but I strongly believe that the best we can do right now is show them support. Yes, we have to show them that we are unhappy about the situation, but we have to put ourselves behind the lads. The last thing they need is another reason to lose more confidence.

[Peace. 4,352]

Never said they didn't get it. It's just they got it less than Mourinho. At least some of the blame was put on the squad last time. Now, there's hardly any with the exception of 2-3 players.

I refuse to believe one second that Mourinho is getting more stick than Benitez. That is a ludicrous thing to assume. We asked for the spaniard's head even before his first game, and the general consensus throughout his stint was the eagerness to see him fuck off of this club. There were a few people that assessed him impartially, though the vast majority — including myself — was ready to throw him under the bus at any occasion. Whatever could happen, it was because of Benitez. You can also compare the Terry situation. When Benitez benched him, it was a national drama. When Mourinho does it, there is barealy any discussion regarding it.

Even though people were rather complacent with Villas-Boas at first, as soon as Lampard started his act, people were calling him a fraud. And I do well remember that we were only a few to defend AVB on this forum. As for the players... When AVB decided to get rid of those who were not "bad" elements, people unilaterally destroyed him because he casted away poor Anelka, Alex and Kalou.. There were players that were criticized, such as Bosingwa, Torres, Mereiles, (Drogba ?), though nothing special.

As for the actual situation, don't tell me that only Mourinho gets the stick. And no it is not only the usual suspects that get criticized; Actually, two third of them are not criticized right now, namely Ramires and Cahill... Overall, people desperately hope Ivanovic gets his fifth yellow card to be suspended... People are sick of Fabregas... People are acknowledging that Matic is significantly below the standard he set when we bough him back... People are worried about Hazard being a ghost of himself... People are labelling Falcao the second Torres... People are acknowledging that Remy is not all that... People are frustrated regarding Costa's production... People are as well frustrated regarding Willian... And Oscar... People are claiming that Terry might be hindering us (regarding the proactive defense, at least)... etc... People are also aware that the squad is not good enough as well as our starting eleven. Yes, our squad is also criticized ; a lot. Yes, our players are individually criticized ; a lot.

Actually, the situation is exactly the same as it was with Ancelotti, Benitez, Villas-Boas and di Matteo ; i.e. the manager is criticized and his players as well. The only difference is that maybe... maybe there is a bigger amount of comments criticizing Mourinho... But there is also a lot of posts claiming people that dare to criticize Mourinho are not true fans and so on... And even if Mourinho is more criticized than the others, that is logical. He is after all the self appointed "Special One" ; he is the guy that only improves year after year. He is considered the best coach in the world... It is kinda logical to criticize more heavely the best coach for a poor job than the not so good one...

The bottom line is that Mourinho is not criticized more than the players — the pooor boy —, that is just a fallacy. Players also get their fair share of stick ffs;..

[Muzchap 8,966]

Now i understand your frustrations with performances and more importantly results but to say we are in danger of missing out on the top 4 is ludicrous. We are 5 points behind with 31 games still to play....

I know it seems far fetched - but we are not moving forwards - we are relying on other teams being as shit as us.

City should win the league

United look a good candidate for challenging (who'd have thought)

Arsenal will be there or there abouts

That leaves us, Pool, Spuds and some other teams to battle it out.

Let's be fair we only beat Arsenal because of the man power difference. So we have only actually beaten West Brom in the league - let that sink in. We will have some tough games coming up and we have already lost ground - what are you seeing with the current team that convinces you will will be able to make it?

I'm really not convinced without a massive overhaul of personnel, formation and tactics.

[cfcs most wanted 657]

I want to see that Old Mourinho, that would celebrate each goal and not to see his grim unenthusiastic face each day. What has happened to this guy???