The Mourinho Thread

[Soul Caliber X 27]

I am Jose Mourinho and I don't change. I arrive with all my qualities and my defects.

-Jose Mourinho

[kellzfresh 7,229]

I cant understand why the left back doesnt attack under mourinho. This is begining to look like its part of his tactics. It is very stupid against teams that park the bus because we need them to be unsettled on both flanks so that we can break them down. Arsenal and mancity allow their fullbacks to bomb forward, but with us our left backs just seem to wait back.

I'm just hoping this is not his tactics because its been terrible so far.

[Kojo 4,676]

Really? Alex > Luiz.

Luiz on form may well be able to orchestrate the attack but he's still prone to mistakes and has been since we bought him.

Congratulations, this is the first time you have replied to me and haven't been a complete arse hole, keep it up.

[Reddish-Blue 2,510]

I cant understand why the left back doesnt attack under mourinho. This is begining to look like its part of his tactics. It is very stupid against teams that park the bus because we need them to be unsettled on both flanks so that we can break them down. Arsenal and mancity allow their fullbacks to bomb forward, but with us our left backs just seem to wait back.

I'm just hoping this is not his tactics because its been terrible so far.

To be fair in Azpi's case, I'm not sure if he's suited to the LB position. I feel we are wasting his attacking instincts by not playing him at RB.

Would really like to see Bertrand get a proper run at LB...every time i've seen him play, it's like a breath of fresh air.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

I cant understand why the left back doesnt attack under mourinho. This is begining to look like its part of his tactics. It is very stupid against teams that park the bus because we need them to be unsettled on both flanks so that we can break them down. Arsenal and mancity allow their fullbacks to bomb forward, but with us our left backs just seem to wait back.

I'm just hoping this is not his tactics because its been terrible so far.

Azpi sitting deep leaves Ivan with most of the ball when we decide to go wide. Rest we know.

Mour might be working on a system where the RB gets forward at every opportunity and LB sits deep pans defend against counters... One of the reason to pick Azpi instead of Bertrand.

More like a 3 man defense where Ivan runs up and down the pitch where our formations changes constantly during attack and defense, for the worse.

Such monotonous attacks seldom works and was proven yesterday.

[Jase 43,479]

Azpi sitting deep leaves Ivan with most of the ball when we decide to go wide. Rest we know.

Mour might be working on a system where the RB gets forward at every opportunity and LB sits deep pans defend against counters... One of the reason to stay Azpi instead of Bertrand. More like a 3 man defense where Ivan runs up and down the pitch.

Such monotonous attacks seldom works and was proven yesterday.

As Blue Armour said in the Ivanovic thread, if Mourinho is gonna play Azpi out of position at LB and Ivanovic at RB, we might as well just switch their position. Get Azpi at RB and Ivan at LB since the former doesn't get forward anyway at LB. That way, Mourinho can be happy and keep his favorite son in the team still and at the same time having a way better RB as an attacking outlet in Azpi. Granted, Azpi's crossing is not exactly the best either TBF but looking at his performances there last season, he certainly combines way better with the attacking players, more mobile and has higher intelligence and versatility in his offensive play to cause damage!

[Sidzeret 2,257]

To be fair in Azpi's case, I'm not sure if he's suited to the LB position. I feel we are wasting his attacking instincts by not playing him at RB.

Would really like to see Bertrand get a proper run at LB...every time i've seen him play, it's like a breath of fresh air.

Is not like he has a great left foot.

[Jase 43,479]

Is not like he has a great left foot.

But the fact is Bertrand is a proper left back and from his performances, he has shown he can be a solid and dependable left back both offensively and defensively. Offensively, as we are speaking about here, he may not be the best but he gets forward a lot and willing to take on players and get to the byline (which is something we don't see from Cole!) and as a result of this, it creates space for others to work with (like how Hazard seem to enjoy more when he gets that with Bertrand behind him) and also make himself available for a passing option or combination to cause problems for the opposition.

[NishC300 1,865]

What happened to that football we played in the 1st half vs Hull and 1st 20 mins vs Villa? It just disappeared?

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Azpi sitting deep leaves Ivan with most of the ball when we decide to go wide. Rest we know.

Mour might be working on a system where the RB gets forward at every opportunity and LB sits deep pans defend against counters... One of the reason to pick Azpi instead of Bertrand.

More like a 3 man defense where Ivan runs up and down the pitch where our formations changes constantly during attack and defense, for the worse.

Such monotonous attacks seldom works and was proven yesterday.

Its crazy. I remember in madrid, he allowed marcelo to go forward at all times on ronaldo's wing. But arbeloa never went forward, never.

It was wierd but, I didn't think it was a serious problem because they were scoring goals anyway. Now he has come to the EPL where teams don't even bother moving forward just to take a point. He has to let one more person join the attack, to provide width on the other flank. Its stupid if he isn't seeing this.

As Blue Armour said in the Ivanovic thread, if Mourinho is gonna play Azpi out of position at LB and Ivanovic at RB, we might as well just switch their position. Get Azpi at RB and Ivan at LB since the former doesn't get forward anyway at LB. That way, Mourinho can be happy and keep his favorite son in the team still and at the same time having a way better RB as an attacking outlet in Azpi. Granted, Azpi's crossing is not exactly the best either TBF but looking at his performances there last season, he certainly combines way better with the attacking players, more mobile and has higher intelligence and versatility in his offensive play to cause damage!

The ivanovic attacking weakness is just part of the problem, another problem is:

For 3 years now our left wing is our most active part of our attack combinations. Lampard, ashely cole and hazard/malouda/anelka were more attacking than the other side. Mourinho is now totally changing to the other flank and telling our former attacking flank to defend. Its going to take a very long time for us to adapt because that is a massive change.

The second problem is his constant changing of the starting 11. Only terry, hazard and ramires are sure starters. That is outrageous considering we are in november, he just has to stick to one 11 till they get things right.

[Jase 43,479]

The ivanovic attacking weakness is just part of the problem, another problem is:

For 3 years now our left wing is our most active part of our attack combinations. Lampard, ashely cole and hazard/malouda/anelka were more attacking than the other side. Mourinho is now totally changing to the other flank and telling our former attacking flank to defend. Its going to take a very long time for us to adapt because that is a massive change.

The second problem is his constant changing of the starting 11. Only terry, hazard and ramires are sure starters. That is outrageous considering we are in november, he just has to stick to one 11 till they get things right.

If you are looking at the bigger picture, then yes. I'm inclined to agree with you but just examining the current situation as it is, we would be better of just switching Azpi and Ivanovic's fullback position since Mourinho is so insistent on sticking with the latter all the time.

[TrippingStep 336]

its simple: we indeed did get what we wanted. mou is a simple counter-attacking coach. get used to it, that if we win this games, we'll win them through individual class and not by game patterns or moves or learned attacking schemes. the team has absolutely no clue how to attack, when we have the ball and the opponent is sitting deep. every chelsea fan in this freaking board was knowing that we lacked a creative DM, who can acutally build-up a play but Jose who was satisfied with his options- his fault.

Mou is and probably never will be a coach for the long-term idea. he was talking alot of stuff, like getting in young players etc, changing the game. I cant see ANYTHING of it. just bla bla from Mou. futhermore, thanks to him, Hazard is playing s#it, Mata is playing s#it. so, not only we play as bad as under Benitez, but futhermore two of our best players look destroyed by Mourinho- especially Mata. hopefully we will be able to turn this around or otherwise, we should be happy with a Top 4 spot. we've been laughing at United with Moyes, but if they win tommorow, they'll be 1 point behind us. and that without a good midfield nor a great defense, nor a great coach. thats kinda embarassing.

Mou should stop talking and start acting. you talk so much about meritocracy, well, then actually go by it. why is Ivanovic playing as a RB? why is Lampard playing? why is Oscar playing atm? So many questions. And I am afraid of the future. the pressure is immense. everybody thinks Mou will turn us into beasts...in fact, he hasnt got a clue what or how he wants us to play as it seems.

I agree with you but with Benitez, we were seeing clear patterns in the build up and attacks, at least I had an idea of what we were trying to do to hurt the opposite defences while this year, I and the players seems to have no idea what they are doing in possession.

Last year, I've seen many attacking moves that were clearly prepared during the training session, that looked like basketball system, with blocks, triangle plays, runs to draw defenders, there was a purpose in what they were doing.

Except a few games, even in some of our draws in defeats, we created many more clear chances than on the matches we have played this year.

Until now, what is happening is what I had fears when Mourinho was announced as our coach, we don't have the deep midfielders and powerful players in front for his tactic and the premier league teams are much better than before defending deep.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

If you are looking at the bigger picture, then yes. I'm inclined to agree with you but just examining the current situation as it is, we would be better of just switching Azpi and Ivanovic's fullback position since Mourinho is so insistent on sticking with the latter all the time.

What I was looking at is not just the bigger picture, but the immediate solution. Even if he switches azpi there, it will be better, but it won't improve by much. Teams can easily figure out its the same pattern and sit deep, leading to almost the same situation.

The only way to effectively increase our chances is to allow the left back to join the attack.

If he doesn't do this, then we might as well start our matches with 3-5-2 since that's the only time we attack like a big team.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

If you are looking at the bigger picture, then yes. I'm inclined to agree with you but just examining the current situation as it is, we would be better of just switching Azpi and Ivanovic's fullback position since Mourinho is so insistent on sticking with the latter all the time.

What I was looking at is not just the bigger picture, but the immediate solution. Even if he switches azpi there, it will be better, but it won't improve by much. Teams can easily figure out its the same pattern and sit deep, leading to almost the same situation.

The only way to effectively increase our chances is to allow the left back to join the attack.

If he doesn't do this, then we might as well start our matches with 3-5-2 since that's the only time we attack like a big team.

[Jase 43,479]

What I was looking at is not just the bigger picture, but the immediate solution. Even if he switches azpi there, it will be better, but it won't improve by much. Teams can easily figure out its the same pattern and sit deep, leading to almost the same situation.

The only way to effectively increase our chances is to allow the left back to join the attack.

If he doesn't do this, then we might as well start our matches with 3-5-2 since that's the only time we attack like a big team.

But the problem is Mourinho is either reluctant or just doesn't want to do like what you said. Hence why I was looking at the scope in terms of what he's doing now only.

And about the constant changes to the starting XI, not sure you can really blame him for that when we have such a large squad with at least 2 players for each position. He is bound to be rotating them to keep the team fresh and players happy as well.

[bushman 2,043]

All I read here, switch him, play him there, everywhere.

Currently, the so called Jose´s project is useless. We all can see it.

The team, was extremely lucky in the past several games.

Jose´s experiments are in vain. Mata was punished, Luiz too. Both are sitting around. Bertrand, Essien, KDB are not getting chances to play. Today, I read Jose is willing to sell Luiz. Whether, it´s true or not, I do not know. However, how much longer is Roman going to bankroll this team, but...?

[yuvala 2,167]

All I read here, switch him, play him there, everywhere.

Currently, the so called Jose´s project is useless. We all can see it.

The team, was extremely lucky in the past several games.

Jose´s experiments are in vain. Mata was punished, Luiz too. Both are sitting around. Bertrand, Essien, KDB are not getting chances to play. Today, I read Jose is willing to sell Luiz. Whether, it´s true or not, I do not know. However, how much longer is Roman going to bankroll this team, but...?

Well it is a PROJECT, not a 3 month job..

It will take a lot of time to build something great around here.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I had two big concerns about Mourinho being appointed.

1) Fans attributed too much of our earlier success to him rather than the massive spending that Roman brought with him (we were outspending our rivals 10-1) and thought that we could repeat our dominance which is simply not possible now that many teams spend big. (Managers tend to only make a minor difference anyway) so expectations would be out of control.

2) Mourinho is a very good manager but he isn't suited to the players we have. We bought players to build a fluid, attacking system. Suddenly switching to a defensive-minded counter-attacking system didn't make sense with with the players we had. It's still a concern I think;

To be fair, our team is an absolute jumble right now. We have so many different kinds of players who don't really fit together that any system we play will be flawed. Why we spent so much money and still didn't buy a proper central midfielder or any players who provide width will never make sense to me.

[bushman 2,043]

Well it is a PROJECT, not a 3 month job..

It will take a lot of time to build something great around here.

It will take.....how long, 2-3-4-5-6...years ?

[borriske 330]

Not really buying the 'new system takes time'. Including pre-season we've had around 25 games, and attacking wise there has been no sign of any improvement, plan or system and we still haven't a fixed starting eleven. Some here say 'give it time', but at what point do you conclude that problem isn't just players' form but more systemic? Especially when we don't seem to have the players needed to play this type of football.

Further more, mourinho has had a whole transfer window to adress the most obvious problems in our squad - and besides looking for a world class striker, he didn't. No reinforcements in central midfield (!!) or in defence, and by his own words - we didn't need them. Instead, we spent some ridiculous money on Willian (with all due respect to the lad, he's not worse than our other AM options, but also not that much better), and our now playing players out of position in defence.

Maybe I'm wrong - and I hope I am - and in the next weeks we will start to see some solid team-based victories, but until then it does seem Jose has made some glaring mistakes.