The Mourinho Thread

[Fernando 6,376]

Forget about the sack at this point, let him in charge until May with one clear objective - Champions League football next season with no transfers in the next window.

From now on Roman should grab his phone, call Guardiola and do everything in his power to convince him to come here. Big salary and big money for transfers next summer considering we've saved a huge amount this summer and will be saving again this winter.

Give Guardiola 150-200m and he'd rebuild the squad completely with players to fit his philosophy and hit the ground running from the very first match. He's not known as a big spender so he'd probably build his core around players similar to Thiago, Douglas Costa, Alaba, Boateng et al. That's fine with me.

Chelsea should have enough to finish at least 4th and I'm more than sure that Guardiola would at least listen to what Roman would have to say.

IMHO, Guardiola is the only one that could change the mentality at this club and take us to next level. Others would only do what Mourinho did - have a short term impact, but then fade away. This is why I think the Mourinho should not get the sack right now.

Awesome post my friend.

This is would be the right way about doing things.

Lets hope it can be executed.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

Imo, the players are more guilty than him.

Disagree with that. The players deserve blame for our poor form but it's clear that something isn't right behind the scenes.

When so many players play like shit for such an extended period of time you have to start looking at the manager, his tactics and the team atmosphere.

[Henrique 9,133]

Looks like we have to win the Europa League or Champions League (again) this season.

I was thinking about thats, imagine a cynic strategy. The team end in 3rd in group stage, just to have e genuine chance of winning EL and getting into UCL next year.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

As for anyone comparing him to sir Alex, that is like comparing a top class player to a legendary player. If that was the case everytime a manager is in a sticky situation anyone can just point at 'look at sir Alex, just give him more time' and no one will ever be sacked. There is a reason why 'Sir Alex' is even a thing, that is because he has endured the test of time like no others and Mourinho can't ever come close to that so it is pointless for comparison.

Also the situation is a lot different at MU than Chelsea, in his worst time Sir Alex still shows that he knows how to get the team back on track, with Mourinho it is always simple down and out route, he has never actually managed a big comeback in his managerial career, as soon as things get tough he falls out with the people above and get sacked/leave 'mutually'.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Okay, now that I've gotten back home and calmed down a bit. Here's my two cents. It's a bit lengthy, but whatever.

Not only can we not manage to show even a semblance of attacking football, but we are a disaster in defence. All our attacking players are losing their technical abilities. Costa, Fabregas, Matic, Willian, OSCAR, even Eden has started to show signs. This guys can't even control a football anymore. It's that bad. Wonder why?

I remember when Mourinho said, "If I want to win 1-0, I think I can as a I think it is one of the easiest things in football. It is not so difficult.". The problem with self-aggrandizing declarations like that is somehow, someway, they always find a way of coming back to bite you in the ass.

Mourinho has believed his hype for too long as the so-called Special One. In his 1st spell here, the (English) media, most especially Sky helped to feed his ego as this tactical wizard, a Harry Potter if you like, who knew everything there is to know about football. When Mourinho's Chelsea won a big game, it was all about Mourinho's amazing tactical ability. When we lost, deafening silence and zero credit to the other manager. This did no good for his career, as instead of trying to improve his weak points, he stuck to what had made him so successful initially. Football, in a dynamic sense, is an ever changing sport. If you stand still, you're going to get crossed over eventually. Now Mourinho is having serious problems replicating his earlier successes with a team built to ATTACK at his disposal. As was the case at Madrid, even before the schism he started in the dressing room.

In Mourinho's first press conference when he returned, he said he was a better manager in 2013 than he was back in 2005. The evidence now suggests otherwise, as his team has only shown 3 months of good football in nearly 3 years and less silverwate. There's no doubt about it in my mind, he's been exposed as a manager. His entire schtick of defending very deep and narrow and hoping for counter-attacks and set-piece goals is not only undesirable at Big European powerhouse clubs, but is no longer effectual, at least when given an attacking team to manage. Mourinho will no doubt have success if he returned to Inter and was given free reign over the type of players he wants and the brand of football he is most capable of deploying. But as far as managing at the very top of Europe, I think he's done. Unless he goes back to basics and does a refresher course in fundamental attacking tactics or hires an attacking coach to his backroom staff. Ferguson had no problem with the latter, it still remains to be seen if his enormous ego will allow him to do either of these things.

This is why he should never have been hired in the first place. Our board continues to amaze with its atrocious managerial decisions. Sign young, but immensely talented flair attackers in Hazard, Oscar, Mata, De Bruyne and give them to Mourinho to manage. Incredible lack of foresight.

[TheIceMan 596]

So much Plastic.......................

[Tomo 21,681]

There has to be some fucking order in this club. It's a mess. A complete mess. I truly believe Mourinho has lost it in the dressing room and currently we have no true leader to bring the team back together. I want Drogba back. Not in the squad but in our dressing room. It was so obvious he was one the key players to winning the title last season, motivating the team in the dressing room.

I cannot stress myself again, what he did with Matic and Willian today was stupid. And it angers me even more, that the worst offenders Fabregas and Ivanovic are still left alone.

For those who think Mourinho can still fix it in the end, by the time he fixes it, it'll be too late.

Although I don't doubt Didier's influence in the dressing room, I'm not sure how much influence he could have in turning these results around, let's not forget he was actually at the club in the run of 10/11, when the dressing room revolted against AVB and was one of the main players that turned on Scolari.

[Styles 9,790]

We're the defending Premier League champions. And we're 16th in the table having let in 21 goals this season already. "Shambles" is complimentary of our efforts thus far.

True. I think Mourinho's management has been truly shambolic - what he did to Matic today was the definition of shambolic.

Sacking him now wouldn't ruin the club's reputation any further than it has been already.

[didierforever 7,349]

Yes.

Too many players make too many individual mistakes... Ivanovic,Terry,Cahill etc....

They are the same players that won the league a few months ago. jose is the same manager with the same tactics.

Something is wrong with the players mentality. some of them look like they don't give a fuck. some of them just in a very poor form.

Jose tries to protect them, to give them time to try to recover but nothing till now.

lets start with ivanovic. how many mistakes has he made? swansea, city, palace, everton, porto. and yet he played today and got destroyed. why? whose mistake was it that iva even started today or against porto or against everton or against palace?

exactly, the same manager with the "SAME TACTICS". people adapt. they evolve. each and every team has done that. we have not. jose has not. its not the players' fault that we have no idea what to do with the ball. that we look so toothless in attack. that our main weapon of scoring is willian and his free kicks. it is not the players' faults that teams keep attacking our right side. that cesc cant cover defensively for a team in league 3 and yet is being made to play as a DLP.

a good manager, drops the players when they need to be dropped. jose has not. its not being just 3/4 games into the season. its been 12 fucking games into the season. more than enough time to recover. time enough to make changes which HE has not made.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Well even if we finish second I still would sack him for such reasons I mentioned many times before.

A. He can't help us play attacking futbol, his best at being pragmatic.

B. He has a poor habit of trusting more on older players then younger players. Case in point Ivanovic. If Mourinho had the same amount of love and patience for someone like KDB, Lukaku, Bertrand and what not he would have gems in his hand.

C. Controversial manager, don't like this.

So after seeing the end of the 3 season, is it really worth to keep going for more years?

For me no, it's not worth all the noise he brings.

We can do the same work with all this less fuss with a manager like Klopp or whoever.

Because every manager will always have bad seasons, but in the bad seasons you want to see progress.

With Mourinho there is no progress with youth or attacking futbol. He rather run his mouth, which frankly gets boring after 3 years.

I'll take your post point by point.

A. He can't help us play attacking futbol, his best at being pragmatic.

Who has ever played this 'attacking football' that we keep talking about when it comes to Chelsea? Carlo, AVB, RdM, etc all played the same brand of football we've been playing for a while. I do accept that our approach to certain matches is undesirable, but if they all lead to one objective (trophies) isn't that worth it? We didn't play this boring football all through the 2014-15 season, it only really started when we had our slump.

B. He has a poor habit of trusting more on older players then younger players. Case in point Ivanovic. If Mourinho had the same amount of love and patience for someone like KDB, Lukaku, Bertrand and what not he would have gems in his hand.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it? But as I recall, and I'm sure this has been stated over and over again, Lukaku and KDB chose to leave. Mourinho said a few weeks ago that KdB kept knocking on his door asking to leave.

With Ivanovic, I'll give you that. That will continue to confuse everyone, Mourinho is 100% wrong in his continous selection and there isnt's any excuses for it. The only hope is, the Serb's days are numbered.

C. Controversial manager, don't like this.

Now we're just being pedantic lol. I remember the days of Carlo here, the proverbial 'yes-man', we hated it. We wanted someone to stand up to the board for example, to defend the club in the media, that's what Mourinho does. Creates the whole siege mentality.

Again I point to SAF. Controversy was his forte, loved to do it. Remember when RvP "could have been killed"? He did that week-in week-out, United fans loved it and adored it.. Are they both so different? Someone mentioned that SAF recommeneded against Mourinho, but I'm sure that's not true. From what I read, Bobby Charlton was the one who said no to the idea.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,738]

I was thinking about thats, imagine a cynic strategy. The team end in 3rd in group stage, just to have e genuine chance of winning EL and getting into UCL next year.

THIS side isn't winning the Europa league.

[manpe 10,855]

Both, to be totally honest.

Fair enough, so am I. I never believed I could be pushed far enough as to feel what I'm feeling right now towards Mourinho. I think it's fair to say we are all kinda lost as in what to feel and think. On one hand this is a man who walked into the club in a god-like status, but on the other hand if you take the history, sentimentality and unconditional adulation away what do we have left? We have hope, because it is always the last thing to die, but other than that... I don't know.

[laura90 556]

He inherited decent team from Rafa. Not great one, it lacked DM , CM, winger( KDB?) and a STRIKER. That was a team which under impossible circumstances won CL. Those players (young ones) were winners in the making. They won two Europe cups in two years ( Even EL is tough cookie this days - whould you bet on Arsenal winning it?) and were average in PL because of non existent striker. He needed to upgrade that team, but instead he dismantled it. If he had to sell before buy, he should have sold Oscar not Mata. Nevertheless, he dismantled that team and created vulnerable atmosphere that was sustainable while we were 'improving' or winning but it was bound to crash as soon as things turn sour.

He won the league and the cup, but in the long run his reign will do us more harm than good. I realised that in the begging of 2014 and I wasn't the only one.

Not because he sold Mata, but because he said that Oscar is his number 10, and a player to build the team around. (And stopped playing him in the important games soon enough).

Now, can this team he built, way better than the one he inherited win the Europa League again and get us that CL spot?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

There's a reason Ferguson is the only example you or anyone can present. Mourinho is not Ferguson. There's only one Ferguson.

Very true, there will always be one Ferguson I suppose. But you can extrapolate certain traits between them, can you not?

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

THIS side isn't winning the Europa league.

Gonna get a football master class taught to us by Dortmund/Sevilla...etc when we meet them.

[dee25 1,044]

Why is the club a shambles?

You literally took the words right out of my mouth. How can anyone say the club is in shambles without acknowledging that Mourinho is essentially to blame for that? Is he not the one that mishandled the situation with Eva? The whole team has been atrocious, yes but he's the manager! He's the one that coaches these players, he's the one that selects them, he's the one that sets up the team.... yet there's this reluctancy to reprimand him. If the club is in shambles then it's because the manager himself is in shambles.

[Styles 9,790]

@DYC., Do you remember when I said Mourinho doesn't have many options after Chelsea?

His post-match interview reeked of somebody who knows his options are limited.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

Very true, there will always be one Ferguson I suppose. But you can extrapolate certain traits between them, can you not?

Apart from winning trophies, which traits is that? falling out with your own staff in the public? isolating your players to avoid criticism of yourself? In fact Sir Alex said in his auto bio that he refused to quit MU in 2001 because he didn't want his assistances to lose their job as well or when fans wrote him letter telling him to resign in protest of the Glazers. While Sir Alex did fell out with many players like RVN, Rooney, Beckham...etc he had the balls to bench them and eventually sell. Mourinho cannot even dare to drop his fucking boss Ivanovic, let alone selling.