The Mourinho Thread

[Milan 17,835]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfk2OBVWuTY#t=43

[Ollie 4,400]

He's certainly back. Thought he was gonna be quieter and less controversial? No fucking chance. He's back and really getting stuck into Moyes and Man Utd. Fucking love him.

[NishC300 1,865]

[Liquidator 5,176]

He's got Moyes in his absolute back pocket for mind games. Moyes doesn't have the stature, experience or reputation to stand up to Mourinho. You can tell he's got right under his skin with his comments about Rooney, which is something Fergie wouldn't have stood for.

[╫rue Blue 47]

Mourinho himself said his system for this squad in 4-2-3-1. 4-3-3 is never a possibility, imo, unless we want to lose a game.

Sorry for the long post and for the mistakes.

really mou said that specifically ? Maybe i miss when he said that

because i think 4231 is mou main system, but 433 is still an option

really good post anyway

[Blue Armour 4,168]

You have to look back to Mourinhos first days: in his first hi used two systems, 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1. In both we had 3 physical players in the midfield, players that could create, but had defensive abilities as well. Makele, Lampard and Tiago was Mourinhos favourite trio. Up front he used to play two wingers (Robben, Duff or even Joe Cole) with a lone striker (Drogba or Gudjonsen), in the end of the season, tough, he was playing Joe Cole and Gudjonsen in the mid, and Didier as the CF.

In 05-06 we had the same pattern, Tiago left but Essies arrived, the we had Makele, Essien and Lampard. Still a very physical and solid midfield. There were the 4-3-3, with Robben, Duff, Wright Philips and Joe Cole as wingers, but he also used a 4-3-2-1, with Gudjonsen dropped to the mid, playing alongside Cole or Robben, and Drogba and Crespo rotating as strikers.

We had the same pattern in the mid after the WC, but now with Makelele (Mikel), Ballack and Lampard, with Essien now playing a lot of games as a RB, up front we had some confusion, and I think that Mourinho's static system was one of the reasons why Shevchenko failed at Chelsea. Mourinhos always used a static 4-3 system, and the dynamism was only changing from 4-3-3 to 4-3-2-1, and during that season he used a weird a 4-3-1-2, a system he created to accommodate both Shevchenko and Drogba, but at the end of the day we say Drogba and Kalou playing together in most part of the season.

The pattern followed the next 3 season, both Avran Grant and Ancelotti used even more static systems, Carlo tried to use some innovations, but at the end of the day Chelsea were playing in a 4-3-3 for 3 long seasons, with Makele, Lampard and Ballack, then Mikel (Essien), Ballack and Lampard as the "power trio" in the midfield, always a very physical mid. The system was so static, that even Anelka had to play as a winger, with Cole, Malouda and Kalou as the others "wingers". The problems started when we lost Ballack and bought Ramires to replace him, in 2011. Ancelotti kept the 4-3-3, but we did not have the kind of players to make the mid work in that system, you need players that can create and destroy at the same time, players like Xavi and Iniesta, or like Makele, Lampard and Ballack. Ramires was a different animal, he just dont have the same offensive abilities that Ballack had, and he lacked the presence the german had. Lampard was getting old, Essien was doomed with injuries, so Mikel was playing more games which means he was making more mistakes.

Our midfield was once a physical, strong and aggressive one, but it became slow, boring and the team's weak point. AVB's and RDM's tenure were chaotic, because both knew very little about the game, Benitez was there to fix the role, but now we have again a chance to create another team. Mourinhos is a very smart man, he knows his own architecture, we just dont have the players to play in a 4-3-3 system. Forget about those fantasy line-ups with Ramires, Oscar and De Bruyne playing in front of the defense in a 4-3-3 system. Playing in a 4-3-3 right now is the same as playing Essien, Joe Cole (Geremi) and Robben; Duff, Drogba, Kalou. Can you imagine we playing with this kind of formation against a big european side in a UCL semi-final?

With these players we need two players with a more defensive role, and thats why we will be seeing Lampard and Ramires playing most part of the season as starters. Perhaps there will be a 4-2-1-2-1, and thats almost as the same as a 4-2-3-1, but indicates that a players is playing in a number 10 position (Oscar/Mata), while you have two others playing more on the flanks. Mourinho himself said his system for this squad in 4-2-3-1. 4-3-3 is never a possibility, imo, unless we want to lose a game.

Sorry for the long post and for the mistakes.

Good post, but Mourinho said that while his team would always have a base 4-2-3-1, he also said it would transition between a 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 during the game depending on how the flow is. There are also still candidates for a conventional 4-3-3 like Lampard, Mikel, Essien, or MVG.

[Farid Ahmed 0]

This is good news for Chelsea that Mourinho returns. I Hope he wil gives us Barclays premier League 2013 and Uefa Championship ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Best of Luck for Mourninho,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Farid Ahmed 0]

This is good news for Chelsea that Mourinho returns. I Hope he wil gives us Barclays premier League 2013 and Uefa Championship ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Best of Luck for Mourninho,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[NishC300 1,865]

Agree with Mourinho, nothing wrong with the game plan. It's just that some of the passing was really sloppy

[Ollie 4,400]

I've missed this. We want 0-0, we get 0-0. Easy, job done. He's so good.

[zolayes 14,489]

I've missed this. We want 0-0, we get 0-0. Easy, job done. He's so good.

we just need to educate the children ,,,

[NishC300 1,865]

we just need to educate the children ,,,

Some children are intelligent....

[zolayes 14,489]

Some children are intelligent....

of course but they still need teaching

[Fernando 6,376]

I've missed this. We want 0-0, we get 0-0. Easy, job done. He's so good.

Well we have gotten that in the past.

RDM and his bus, Benitez at that pitiful game where we drew against City 0 to 0.

Does not take a genius to park the bus in front of the goal!

[Ollie 4,400]

Well we have gotten that in the past.

RDM and his bus, Benitez at that pitiful game where we drew against City 0 to 0.

Does not take a genius to park the bus in front of the goal!

Everyone parks the bus at Old Trafford, Few teams keep em at bay.

[Jase 43,479]

Well we have gotten that in the past.

RDM and his bus, Benitez at that pitiful game where we drew against City 0 to 0.

Does not take a genius to park the bus in front of the goal!

On paper, it looks easy but in reality, it's difficult to execute the plan to perfection. For instance, just look at how many teams that have tried that against Barca and failed miserably. Only a few teams, very few teams that have managed to keep them at bay for 90 minutes and get a result.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Well we have gotten that in the past.

RDM and his bus, Benitez at that pitiful game where we drew against City 0 to 0.

Does not take a genius to park the bus in front of the goal!

We did not park the bus and just let them have the ball in our half today. The genius of Jose's plans is that it stops the other team from even creating anything. He did it today just like he did it in the second half against Hull just like he did it countless times in his last stint here.

When you park the bus you need a lot of luck and a lot of last ditch defending because the other team will inevitably create chances. This is different, yes Benitez managed to do it in our home game against City but couldn't repeat the act at the Etihad. It's not as easy at it looks and it does take a tactical genius to pull off.

[Barbara 15,149]

Well we have gotten that in the past.

RDM and his bus, Benitez at that pitiful game where we drew against City 0 to 0.

Does not take a genius to park the bus in front of the goal!

we didn't park the bus at all today though.

We had a crazy solid defense, but we played with 4 AM most time. We tried to attack. The boys were uninspired maybe, but we didn't park the bus and that's the difference on knowing how to have a reliable defense that will allow you to play your game from relying your game by playing only your defense.

No criticism against Robbie from me, I'm just trying to praise Mourinho's work here because I think it's due