The Mourinho Thread

[Blue Armour 4,165]

I don't think its a coincidence that we have all 3 strikers producing the goods this season...There was something fundamentally wrong with our approach play over the past two years, with the midfielders being allowed to steal the show. I'd say Mourinho has fixed that particular problem..

[darrus 422]

I'd say not fixed, but is working on fixing definitely.

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

No worries

[Fernando 6,376]

I think he has realized how much we miss the width.

Not to mention that Lampard is better coming as a super sub then starting all games.

Mikel is good enough for now but I think Mourinho might want someone else this January or wait it out till the summer.

[Sheva. 5,373]

It's good to see us trying different things. Before we used to cross the ball endlessly for Torres to meet 1 out of 20.

Now we rarely cross the ball and instead go for cut-backs or low crosses. Only problem is that, Ivanovic is the only fullback who goes forward and only one who gets into those good positions, and he has 0% success rate.

Only a matter of time though before he finally finds someone, i hope

[Blue Armour 4,165]

The next time Jose goes all out on attack to chase a lead, I hope he opts for a front 3 along the likes of Schurrle-Torres-Eto'o, in a 4-3-3 instead of removing a defender. It's something like having Malouda-Drogba-Anelka, with Eto'o performing the roaming striker role like Anelka did.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Its always good to keep discipline and order, but this tactic is always super risky. Right now Mou is "playing" with Mata, Luiz and Hazard who were best players last season. Best. You dont just blame these players for having such poor games, but it also depends on coach. Mourinho will either suceed with these work hard and you will play or he will fail massively and we will lose Mata, Luiz and Hazard in summer because they will be unhappy.

I feel Hazard is type of player that will fully star only if he is given all freedom and be key/main player of team. Lots of balls to him etc. Players like him do stuff in attack, but only learn defensive duties when older. Much like Ribery. If Mourinho will retrict Hazard role, he will be unhappy.

There are also rumours about Luiz attitude and players are mad with him. Is that true?

As much Mourinho wants to create team of eleven hard workers, he will also reduce potential of our young talents.

But I have one thing to say if Mourinho will be putting Hazard or Luiz on bench all the time from now on, Im sure they will move to club where they will play all time. Mourinho will either make team realy strong or make half of our team unhappy. You just cant expect from someone like Hazard at his age when he wants to prove in pl by scoring goals, do fancy tricks and then tell him to track back like mad or mark players and stick back etc. He wont be happy bout this I feel. If he tracks back, he isnt in attacking position, he loses energy and most importantly over time he will get benched if he wont impress and lose all confidence.

And funny that Mourinho doesnt give any chance to Bertrand at all, except that cup game...he was brilliant and yet, Mourinho decided to play Iva.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Mourinho has a very good idea of what he wants for us (at least I like it), but we will need better fullbacks for it to work...

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Mourinho has a very good idea of what he wants for us (at least I like it), but we will need better fullbacks for it to work...

Unfortunely, there arent many top full backs available and Mourinho will stick to Iva and Cole for some time...too bad Shaw is soo young and Azpilicueta looks like very good fullback but will never be on level of Alves or Cole (i hope Im wrong).

Also Im curious why Mourinho never tried Luiz in midfield. If Luiz wont improve, Mou will never play him in CB position. Looks like Luiz loses his *extra talent* under Mou at CB. He is passive and lacks energy, doesnt realy run etc. He is orderer not to run forward and do tricks, making him average CB for us. I wonder why Is he so better for brazil...

[The_Flash 1,144]

Jose looked stressed before the game then was very jovial afterwards. I really want us to do well and I think he is the man to lead us there. He makes us feel complete.

P.s. it's not cause I fancy him, I think he is one of the best mangers in the world... Ok maybe a little

[Barbara 15,149]

Its always good to keep discipline and order, but this tactic is always super risky. Right now Mou is "playing" with Mata, Luiz and Hazard who were best players last season. Best. You dont just blame these players for having such poor games, but it also depends on coach. Mourinho will either suceed with these work hard and you will play or he will fail massively and we will lose Mata, Luiz and Hazard in summer because they will be unhappy.

I feel Hazard is type of player that will fully star only if he is given all freedom and be key/main player of team. Lots of balls to him etc. Players like him do stuff in attack, but only learn defensive duties when older. Much like Ribery. If Mourinho will retrict Hazard role, he will be unhappy.

There are also rumours about Luiz attitude and players are mad with him. Is that true?

As much Mourinho wants to create team of eleven hard workers, he will also reduce potential of our young talents.

But I have one thing to say if Mourinho will be putting Hazard or Luiz on bench all the time from now on, Im sure they will move to club where they will play all time. Mourinho will either make team realy strong or make half of our team unhappy. You just cant expect from someone like Hazard at his age when he wants to prove in pl by scoring goals, do fancy tricks and then tell him to track back like mad or mark players and stick back etc. He wont be happy bout this I feel. If he tracks back, he isnt in attacking position, he loses energy and most importantly over time he will get benched if he wont impress and lose all confidence.

And funny that Mourinho doesnt give any chance to Bertrand at all, except that cup game...he was brilliant and yet, Mourinho decided to play Iva.

disagree with every single word.

First, Hazard didn't play because he missed a training session, not because he was all of the same as the rest of the team against Newcastle. We don't know if Mourinho would have started or benched him otherwise, and he already assured he's back on Saturday, either starting or in the bench. if there's one player no one can complain about receiving chances is Eden. When he was playing really bad he still started every match. He only missed matches when he was injured, in League Cup matches and now yesterday for the reason I just said.

Luiz has been playing bad, what do you expect the manager to do? Cahill is playing better, I don't care about what's going on in Luiz's head when Mourinho has been giving chances for him and he has improving only slightly. Against the teams we played lately, having a CB in bad shape could have led to a loss, and it certainly led to conceding goals. So why is he supposed to play Luiz based on his form last season if his form this season can compromise? No one (or very few) questions that Luiz in form is better than Cahill, but he's not in form and Cahill is...

Now I guess your post was really about Mata (given many others you've written in the subject) and you added two very bad examples to make it 'general', but the problem is Mata. Mata played enough in October imo and while he was good in some matches, he wasn't great in any. So wasn't Oscar imo - who dropped his level from the start of the season - which could have worked for Mata, but he didn't capitalize imo. Thing is when neither are creating plenty of chances, and they haven't in their last few matches, (although Oscar did create a couple against City, and two real/clear chances in the match against Newcastle, and Mata created a couple against Arsenal) Oscar gives more stability to the midfield than Mata does. So it's yet another case where the player (Mata) hasn't performed that amazingly and someone more useful (not necessarily better) has been chosen. Then one could say it's the lack of matches. Look at Willian and give me that argument. Guy hasn't played for months before joining us, has barely featured in September (I only remember the Swindon match) and then he played very well for us in October, although he isn't the shadow of who he was for Shakhtar yet...

So I don't get why professional players will behave so unprofessionally (especially Luiz and Hazard in your example) and leave the club when they have been given plenty of chances (Luiz) or even been selected when others were playing better (Hazard). As for Mata, I think he's been playing fairly enough and I think Saturday's match is perfect for him... he's the only one that would have something to complain about, but even then, not that much if you ask me, as he didn't capitalize any of his chances - especially when Oscar dropped his initial level - with outstanding performances.

Another primary mistake in your post is questioning why Bertrand - who was injured - didn't play.

I guess you didn't get your facts right through and through. And question Mourinho about those three, especially the first two, seems out of place imo. There's no tactical reason or change in the system that justifies Luiz's dip in form, so how can you blame Mourinho for him making the same kind of mistakes he's always done? Or how is Mourinho responsible for his dig in form? Hazard is widely known as someone who takes a while to build form (slow starter), so how come Mourinho is the one detracting his performances? Mata was injured and missed pre-season and struggled to recover his best form ever since, which can't be blamed on Mourinho.

Instead I see Terry, Torres, Ramires, Oscar, Mikel playing better since Mourinho is here. Terry, Oscar, Mikel and Schürrle went out there and credited Mourinho on their improvements. So I really can't agree with your post when I see players in bad shape because of reasons that aren't related to Mourinho and also see Mourinho recovering players that some have already even written out partially or completely.

So we can agree to disagree.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

The next time Jose goes all out on attack to chase a lead, I hope he opts for a front 3 along the likes of Schurrle-Torres-Eto'o, in a 4-3-3 instead of removing a defender. It's something like having Malouda-Drogba-Anelka, with Eto'o performing the roaming striker role like Anelka did.

Agreed on the formation but don't think that Eto'o and Torres compliment each other like Schurrle and Torres or even Hazard for that matter.

If go with Shurrle-Torres-Hazard instead.

That's one solid lineup on its own and to think Oscar and Rami behind on either sides is just testifying for opposition defenses.

[Special Juan 27,103]

What will boil my piss is if he drops Willian for the West Brom game, that would be wrong as Willian has showed everything Jose was asking of Mata when he was facing barrages of questions as to why he left him out.

Willian couldn't of staked his claim any better than his performance last night, for me it was nigh on perfect.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

disagree with every single word.

First, Hazard didn't play because he missed a training session, not because he was all of the same as the rest of the team against Newcastle. We don't know if Mourinho would have started or benched him otherwise, and he already assured he's back on Saturday, either starting or in the bench. if there's one player no one can complain about receiving chances is Eden. When he was playing really bad he still started every match. He only missed matches when he was injured, in League Cup matches and now yesterday for the reason I just said.

Luiz has been playing bad, what do you expect the manager to do? Cahill is playing better, I don't care about what's going on in Luiz's head when Mourinho has been giving chances for him and he has improving only slightly. Against the teams we played lately, having a CB in bad shape could have led to a loss, and it certainly led to conceding goals. So why is he supposed to play Luiz based on his form last season if his form this season can compromise? No one (or very few) questions that Luiz in form is better than Cahill, but he's not in form and Cahill is...

Now I guess your post was really about Mata (given many others you've written in the subject) and you added two very bad examples to make it 'general', but the problem is Mata. Mata played enough in October imo and while he was good in some matches, he wasn't great in any. So wasn't Oscar imo - who dropped his level from the start of the season - which could have worked for Mata, but he didn't capitalize imo. Thing is when neither are creating plenty of chances, and they haven't in their last few matches, (although Oscar did create a couple against City, and two real/clear chances in the match against Newcastle, and Mata created a couple against Arsenal) Oscar gives more stability to the midfield than Mata does. So it's yet another case where the player (Mata) hasn't performed that amazingly and someone more useful (not necessarily better) has been chosen. Then one could say it's the lack of matches. Look at Willian and give me that argument. Guy hasn't played for months before joining us, has barely featured in September (I only remember the Swindon match) and then he played very well for us in October, although he isn't the shadow of who he was for Shakhtar yet...

So I don't get why professional players will behave so unprofessionally (especially Luiz and Hazard in your example) and leave the club when they have been given plenty of chances (Luiz) or even been selected when others were playing better (Hazard). As for Mata, I think he's been playing fairly enough and I think Saturday's match is perfect for him... he's the only one that would have something to complain about, but even then, not that much if you ask me, as he didn't capitalize any of his chances - especially when Oscar dropped his initial level - with outstanding performances.

Another primary mistake in your post is questioning why Bertrand - who was injured - didn't play.

I guess you didn't get your facts right through and through. And question Mourinho about those three, especially the first two, seems out of place imo. There's no tactical reason or change in the system that justifies Luiz's dip in form, so how can you blame Mourinho for him making the same kind of mistakes he's always done? Or how is Mourinho responsible for his dig in form? Hazard is widely known as someone who takes a while to build form (slow starter), so how come Mourinho is the one detracting his performances? Mata was injured and missed pre-season and struggled to recover his best form ever since, which can't be blamed on Mourinho.

Instead I see Terry, Torres, Ramires, Oscar, Mikel playing better since Mourinho is here. Terry, Oscar, Mikel and Schürrle went out there and credited Mourinho on their improvements. So I really can't agree with your post when I see players in bad shape because of reasons that aren't related to Mourinho and also see Mourinho recovering players that some have already even written out partially or completely.

So we can agree to disagree.

My point was actualy about Luiz and Hazard. I only mentioned Mata because he is in same situation aswell.

Thing is that we saw Messi play bad. Was he benched? We saw Ribery play inconsistently years ago, was he benched? We saw Rvp play average in the begining, was he benched after bad performance? Such players must be given play time, they were all in bad times, but THEY HAD TRUST FROM COACH. here, you play bad and you dont play next time...as I said, this tactic will either be good and players will learn discipline or they will become unhappy and leave.

No matter how bad you play, Hazard is type of player who needs play time ahead of anything else. He is young and cant be benched. Besides, I see that he missed training? YEAH because media is so reliable...because Mourinho is most honest man right? He is playing mind tricks and people still believe everything he says? And so apropriate Hazard missed trainig after bad performance and with high chance that he will be dropped. Perfect excuse for Mourinho to keep him out of team that could be.

You say punishment must be made for Hazard? Will he realy *change* after one missed game? Right...

And yes, Hazard is known to be late starter, but he played better last year in first PL season than now. Luiz was always mistake prone, but he was also something special when on ball. Now he is just mistake prone.

You like Mourinho too much if you believe everything he does will result in perfection. He has his good and bad points aswell. I never mentioned that its Mou fault for bad players form, but his decisions to bench them all time will have either +/- result. But if he will keep doing this to our main players, we have no stability anyway. Every winning team has 11 players who play best. We have 23 players that only 2 are certain starters.

And finaly, why is Hazard playing all time? Because we payed 35 mio for him, thats why. Because he is our biggest talent thats why. Because you dont bench 22yrs old player after poor game and put even more pressure on him thats why. Its not like Hazard would be fail or sth. He is massive talent and he proved it already. He is also inconsitent because he is young.

[Barbara 15,149]

dude, totally not the point... Hazard missed a training session, it shouldn't go unpunished. Everyone agrees on that but you... That's the only reason he missed the match as far as we know and that's reason enough. And please, are you now comparing Messi and Ribery to Hazard, who you said yourself, is too young to be consistent?

As I said, we disagree. Hazard missed a match as he should, so he'll think twice before accepting commitments abroad after a terrible (collective) match and ahead of a very important match. I'm sure he will, as accidents like the one that happened to him, happen and he may not want to risk it in the future.

[darrus 422]

No matter how bad you play, Hazard is type of player who needs play time ahead of anything else. He is young and cant be benched.

Surely calling a club and a coach outright liars and saying that a player should play every match regardless of his form because he is young (is 22 really "young" in football terms anyway? Messi won his first Golden Ball at 22 if you're using Messi as an example) and cost 35 m to us is taking it a bit too far?

Anyway, what is more important, having a team play well and getting results or playing Hazard/Luiz/Lampard/Messi/MrBin to keep a player happy and confident? If there is a player for the same position playing well why should coach give a nod to someone arguably more talented but performing below par?

[kellzfresh 7,226]

My point was actualy about Luiz and Hazard. I only mentioned Mata because he is in same situation aswell.

Thing is that we saw Messi play bad. Was he benched? We saw Ribery play inconsistently years ago, was he benched? We saw Rvp play average in the begining, was he benched after bad performance? Such players must be given play time, they were all in bad times, but THEY HAD TRUST FROM COACH. here, you play bad and you dont play next time...as I said, this tactic will either be good and players will learn discipline or they will become unhappy and leave.

No matter how bad you play, Hazard is type of player who needs play time ahead of anything else. He is young and cant be benched.

You say punishment must be made for Hazard? Will he realy *change* after one missed game? Right...

You said this, and then replied with this

And finaly, why is Hazard playing all time? Because we payed 35 mio for him, thats why. Because he is our biggest talent thats why. Because you dont bench 22yrs old player after poor game and put even more pressure on him thats why. Its not like Hazard would be fail or sth. He is massive talent and he proved it already. He is also inconsitent because he is young.

So you basically answered yourself, hazard is playing every time and missed the training for the match. Im sure he cant play a match without training for it thats for sure. It'll make the other 5 players fighting for that spot feel bad.

And you said there are few players that have gotten better under mourinho. (oscar, rambo, terry, cahill, iva, torres all say hi ​ )

He is young and cant be benched. Besides, I see that he missed training? YEAH because media is so reliable...because Mourinho is most honest man right? He is playing mind tricks and people still believe everything he says? And so apropriate Hazard missed trainig after bad performance and with high chance that he will be dropped. Perfect excuse for Mourinho to keep him out of team that could be.

You say punishment must be made for Hazard? Will he realy *change* after one missed game? Right...

And yes, Hazard is known to be late starter, but he played better last year in first PL season than now. Luiz was always mistake prone, but he was also something special when on ball. Now he is just mistake prone.

Now it looks like your trying to find a negative about mourinho at all cost

Hazard has played more matches than anyone bar cech under mourinho. Just calm down, it was just one game.

:cfc:

[Barbara 15,149]

Besides, I see that he missed training? YEAH because media is so reliable...because Mourinho is most honest man right? He is playing mind tricks and people still believe everything he says? And so apropriate Hazard missed trainig after bad performance and with high chance that he will be dropped. Perfect excuse for Mourinho to keep him out of team that could be.

somehow I've missed this comment the first time answering to you... I can't believe you're suggesting Mourinho is lying and the press is creating something that doesn't exist when there were reports even in Belgium - where no press would be interested in staining his image - about his passport loss.

Did you see pics of him in France? I did... not sure if those were manipulations though as you seem so convinced Eden didn't miss training.

If you did some research before saying nonsense you'd see that Mourinho tried to avoid saying what really happened as much as he could. He wasn't looking for an excuse... but well, it seems like kellzfresh just said... you're looking something bad to say about Mourinho here, so now you're even bending the truth... I guess this discussion is officially done.