The Mourinho Thread

[The only place to be 11,313]

I can say exact same thing about you.

You'd be on your own.

Yes, but according to you there's still an 'elite' set of Chelsea fans; those who can go to the Bridge on most occasions.

They're not fucking special forces, but there are certainly supporters who I have thanked for keeping this club alive for me to enjoy.

And you think others on here wouldn't do the same if they had the chance?!?

Listen, you've made your position very clear in the past. There's not much point in you trying to sugar coat it now because I'm going into a big debate about it. I'm going out to watch the second half of the Newcastle game anyway.

Had the chance? Sorry mate but most people I know don't choose to support this club. They do it because it was passed down to them. It isn't always enjoyable and there aren't always commemorative football shirts to order with little trophies on, but they cheer us on through the sun and rain.

[borriske 330]

Can we please stop discussing who's the better supporter? Make a separate thread about it if you want (and bring a ruler) but i thougt we were here to discuss the manager.

[Barbara 15,149]

I hope you're right about this. But if it's all about vision, then why buy all these players of one type ('small' technical players suited to a more fluid passing game) and then a coach who stands for the exact opposite (defensive discipline and counter)?

there's another change in the philosophy. We're signing younger players because we want to mold the players ourselves. That's the biggest mark in Barcelona and what Bayern has been trying to emulate. This interview (actually I've watched it, not read as I said before, as now I remember it better) Bayern's president was talking how he went to Barcelona's academy and saw how it's done. It's about you having a philosophy and teaching it to your players since very young age. First we need to create the philosophy (what kind of football do we want to be known by? Possession? Counter-attack? Total football? Attacking? Defensive). Once you establish that you start working in your academy and with your young players in the main squad to make sure they think, breathe and sweat that philosophy. That's why we've changed drastically the kind of players we've been signing. We see Eto'o signings for very specific needs, but the tendency is for us to keep signing Piazons, Lukakus, Oscars, Hazards, van Ginkels until we can identify those players like we did with Traoré, when they're 15, 16 (or even younger) and we mold them in our philosophy from the beginning. I wish Roman was interviewed like other owners and presidents were so he could talk more clearly about his plans. But based on what Emenalo and Mourinho have been saying, that's the conclusion I came. Maybe I'm wrong, but there are too many evidences of that in their interviews.

[The only place to be 11,313]

there's another change in the philosophy. We're signing younger players because we want to mold the players ourselves. That's the biggest mark in Barcelona and what Bayern has been trying to emulate. This interview (actually I've watched it, not read as I said before, as now I remember it better) Bayern's president was talking how he went to Barcelona's academy and saw how it's done. It's about you having a philosophy and teaching it to your players since very young age. First we need to create the philosophy (what kind of football do we want to be known by? Possession? Counter-attack? Total football? Attacking? Defensive). Once you establish that you start working in your academy and with your young players in the main squad to make sure they think, breathe and sweat that philosophy. That's why we've changed drastically the kind of players we've been signing. We see Eto'o signings for very specific needs, but the tendency is for us to keep signing Piazons, Lukakus, Oscars, Hazards, van Ginkels until we can identify those players like we did with Traoré, when they're 15, 16 (or even younger) and we mold them in our philosophy from the beginning. I wish Roman was interviewed like other owners and presidents were so he could talk more clearly about his plans. But based on what Emenalo and Mourinho have been saying, that's the conclusion I came. Maybe I'm wrong, but there are too many evidences of that in their interviews.

Again, spot on.

Mourinho formed an identity and it existed long after he left and led us to Champions League triumph. Ancelotti never built one and no-one else had the time.

Now Jose is building another identity, a slightly different one and people are questioning him in November? Have we learnt nothing?

[Blue Traveler 256]

The amount ridiculity of some comments in this forum is just preposterous.

Jose not the right man for the job?! Then who is? Guardiola? And you lot think you can get him? And he is willing to come here? And let’s say we did. You think he can turn us around ASAP in no time? And if he couldn’t, what next? Should we go for Avram Grant again? FSW?

Man City spending just like we do if not more they has more players at their peaks than us. Are they top of the table at the moment? Manure is sitting at middle of the table, looking shit this term aren’t they the team won the PL last season under SAF?

[Rmpr 8,977]

The amount ridiculity of some comments in this forum is just preposterous.

Jose not the right man for the job?! Then who is? Guardiola? And you lot think you can get him? And he is willing to come here? And let’s say we did. You think he can turn us around ASAP in no time? And if he couldn’t, what next? Should we go for Avram Grant again? FSW?

Man City spending just like we do if not more they has more players at their peaks than us. Are they top of the table at the moment? Manure is sitting at middle of the table, looking shit this term aren’t they the team won the PL last season under SAF?

The amount of illiteracy of some members in here is just ridiculous!

Can you quote a single person saying Jose is not the right man for this job?

[borriske 330]

The amount ridiculity of some comments in this forum is just preposterous.

Jose not the right man for the job?! Then who is? Guardiola? And you lot think you can get him? And he is willing to come here? And let’s say we did. You think he can turn us around ASAP in no time? And if he couldn’t, what next? Should we go for Avram Grant again? FSW?

Man City spending just like we do if not more they has more players at their peaks than us. Are they top of the table at the moment? Manure is sitting at middle of the table, looking shit this term aren’t they the team won the PL last season under SAF?

True it's been a crazy season so far with us, both the manchester clubs and spurs dropping points left and right. And the two teams that are topping the table and are generally playing the best football atm are arsenal and liverpool (you know, the exact two teams that would never ever win anything again), with southampton (!) in third.

[Fernando 6,488]

Every manager born makes mistakes Jose just makes less ,still very early days , progress in Europe secured and well positioned in the league ,he needs to be the power at the club because our managers recently were always looking over their shoulders,this needs to be at least a four year plan and in four years time Chelsea will be a dominant power ,a lot of new supporters who have just jumped on a bandwagon have no patience. In a period of change and transition we are doing just fine and Mourinho is the long term manager for Chelsea .

It is very easy to manage a team and make the right decisions after a game and even then they will not have been seen to have been proven right or wrong .

I don't think this is a point.

For me it's the identity and philosophy the manager wants to bring to the club.

Mourinho when he came he said he was all about youth and playing good futbol. But after a couple of months I'm scratching my head.

I still think it's too soon, so is best to wait till the season finish.

But I will say this, if come the end of the season we are still a counter attacking team that can't do shit against team that park the bus then he is clearly the wrong man for the job. You can't be a passive team for like 60 minutes of the game and then pick it up when things go against you.

The identity that the club wants is that of an attacking team, and I'm sure Mourinho was well aware of that when he sign on.

[sutro 1,026]

What im afraid of is that Mourinho is trying to change all of our attacking players like hazard,Mata ,etc to his style of play.

You can say that they are not in form but is it realy that? Or is it the type of play they are forced to do?

Past years we bought players for a certain type of football,is Mourinho the coach for that?or will he force them to play to his style and by this stop their development to the players they could be

So many questions.......hopefully i got it wrong and we can see some sexy football soon

[borriske 330]

What im afraid of is that Mourinho is trying to change all of our attacking players like hazard,Mata ,etc to his style of play.

You can say that they are not in form but is it realy that? Or is it the type of play they are forced to do?

Past years we bought players for a certain type of football,is Mourinho the coach for that?or will he force them to play to his style and by this stop their development to the players they could be

So many questions.......hopefully i got it wrong and we can see some sexy football soon

Don't know if we're ever gonna see 'sexy' football with mourinho, but some effective and comfortable wins would be nice indeed .

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

I always thought that the appointment of Mourinho was a marriage of convenience rather then this divine plan from the stars as some people like to put it across.

The last couple of years we have been buying players intended to mold us into a team suited for playing a more attacking style of football. And if reports are to believed (and it does seem true) that we were hell bent on appointing Guardiola and possible others like Klopp. When those failed and because Mourinho was the only one high profile manager that was going to be free in the summer that this reunion was made.

And as other members have said its showing in our performances,with some of the players we brought looking rather subdued and confused on what they are suppose to do,

[Rmpr 8,977]

The overreactions about people overreacting have become bigger than the overreactions themselves!

[The only place to be 11,313]

And as other members have said its showing in our performances,with some of the players we brought looking rather subdued and confused on what they are suppose to do,

Could be said about the other two teams with new managers. New systems take time.

The overreactions about people overreacting have become bigger than the overreactions themselves!

Actually funny.

[borriske 330]

The overreactions about people overreacting have become bigger than the overreactions themselves!

Disagree, you're clearly overreacting here

[Strike 7,254]

Are you serious? I mean transition doesn't mean lack of titles, just a phase between two places. This is not an excuse for the lack of titles (why we're talking about titles in November is beyond me, but okay). Of course we have a shot this year, so does Arsenal, ManCity and who knows maybe even ManUtd and Liverpool. And so does Bayern, Barcelona, RM, Dortmund among others in Europe. Transition isn't an excuse for not winning, it's just addressing the obvious no matter how in denial people can be. Mourinho was hired to deliver a job: create a football identity to this club, not only this team. He's been saying he'll chase titles the best he can while he does that, but his boss asked him something very clear, something his boss thinks the club can now work with: a style of football that will be a legacy. Of course there will be pressure to win, but I'm sure when Roman looks to the last few years when we won nearly randomly and he knows it can't get worse than that. He looks back and to when we don't win the national league or even fight for it since 2010, when we were underdogs winning UCL and struggled with weak sides to win a second tier european title and he thinks, if we're going to win things without ever being real contenders, I better at least invest into making Chelsea a powerhouse in football. It's not like we've been top dogs in England or Europe lately...

Are they any doubts Roman is a smart man? You don't build an empire like he did if you aren't. He bought a club and the titles came, so he proved this team can be big in terms of title. Then he looked at teams like Bayern and Barcelona and studied their recent history to know or learn how they reached the level they're now. Barcelona isn't the biggest team in Spain and a few titles in the 2000's didn't turn them into that. RM is by a fair lead the biggest team in that country, but Barça are closing the gap. They were in a much inferior position and now they're fighting to prove they can the biggest team in history in Spain. Roman looked at how a team that while always had history never came close to be a powerhouse like Madrid, worked around and became the biggest team this century in that country. He saw a legacy being passed from manager to manager, as players came and left. Then he looked at Bayern and saw the same (except Bayern bought their way into greatness in the 70's, something very similar to what Chelsea did with Roman now in the 2000's). But he saw a philosophy that took years to be built. Last year I remember reading an interview from Bayern's president (forgot his name) where he said he looked at Barcelona and decided to copy their model (he didn't say it as straight as that, but he did say he looked at them and if I remember correctly he even said he went to Barcelona and talked to their president about the philosophy there). He decided to replicate it at Bayern and he paid the price. The team - even when facing lesser title contenders in Bundesliga - struggled and lost and I'll tell they're not done yet, they didn't reach their final goal yet. The fact that until Dortmund became a real contender, Bayern still struggled to win (and lost) titles in the Bundesliga when they had much more money should be taken into consideration. They paid a price and now they're collecting the results of a long term project.

I assume based on everything we read Roman decided to do the same. We already won every title (of importance) that was there to win, we don't have to prove anything to anyone, but we could take it to the next level and that's what they're trying. Mourinho won't be fired because of results and lack of titles, he will be fired if he shows Roman he's the wrong man to create an identity, to deal with those still young eggs and their limitations and fragility. Maybe Mourinho is the wrong man to the job, I'm not saying he's the right man, but then he's wrong for creating an identity and that can only be measured a couple of years down the road, not a couple of months. He'll be fired and proved the wrong man to the job when it's possible to evaluate his job and the message is clear, the job is to create a legacy, not to win titles off the bat as we did for years now, struggling a lot, being completely inconsistent (such as winning UCL and ending 6th in the national league) and unpredictable. When was the last time we were considered favorite to win EPL and real contenders to win UCL? We won the former as contenders (not favorite and there's a difference) and the latter as underdogs. That's not what Roman wants, and as he's smart and also not deluded, he knows you don't build a team like that in a couple of seasons (let alone 4 months) because he knows he didn't become a millionaire within a couple of years. He's a business man, a very successful one, so he won't make rookie mistakes with football, now that he's familiar with the hurdles and challenges of this specific business. It's long a term investment and process and he knows it. Denying that we'll go through a transition that will last a couple of years is refusing to see what's happening and reading between the lines.

Also, people who became fans during the Roman era (nothing wrong with that) only know this Chelsea, they don't know the old Chelsea. That alone has been a transition... Just look to ManCity to see how difficult it is to make a transition in your status. One year you're a mid-table team, maybe fighting relegation (after being relegated too many times) and the next you have a squad that is worth half a billion. If anything I'm very surprised we've won so much in such a short time. We were in CL SF and finals in a matter of a few years. Again, the problem is we've got spoiled... and I wonder what will happen to this club's support if we ever go through what Liverpool and Arsenal have been through the last few years and fear not, we will, every team goes a period of time when they don't win. Just look at history.

Also, let's talk about titles or the lack of them either when we don't have chances of winning any or when we've already won any. No one could predict Chelsea to win the UCL in 2012 and we haven't been contenders to EPL since we won it. Not to say last year we didn't even make UCL round of 16. So I'd say the expectations about titles for Chelsea are very low for years now, and the people who need to be realistic about it, are, so I'm not worried at all and I'm sure Mourinho is much less.

I disagree with the main point. Lower fan expectation? This is a team which finished 3rd last year. Added more players and brought in a great manager. Expectations are to do better than last year and that's normal. Doesn't mean the fans are spoilt. Sure, the fans should have more patience but the expectations of challenging for the title are fine. Not over-ambitious at all

Ofcourse the gameplay can be a lot better and with time, it will be, but transition isn't an excuse for not doing better in the league this year. Jose wants to build a dynasty but we shouldn't take a step backwards from last year. It's pretty much the same team, only better now. Oscar, Mata, Hazard have had a year of English football under their belt. Schurrle, Willian were added to challenge them/give depth. Pretty much no other changes and with the same base formation 4-4-1-1 or 4-2-31 whichever it is

[The Mak 4,459]

Had the chance? Sorry mate but most people I know don't choose to support this club. They do it because it was passed down to them. It isn't always enjoyable and there aren't always commemorative football shirts to order with little trophies on, but they cheer us on through the sun and rain.

What are you even on about now? Another 'special' set of Chelsea fans who are better than others?

I was talking about if some people on here had the same opportunities as you they would go to the games just as much as you, but whatever. Just forget about it. I can see you'll drag something else up to deflect attention away from you discriminating against Chelsea fans by using your own 'real supporter' measures and i'll get nowhere.

[Kojo 4,676]

Spot on mate.

Mourinho is leading us through this transition and I think he is exactly the right man for this club. I don't think I'm alone. If people don't think he is then that's fine and they can start a Jose Out petition for all I care. But my view is that we're building something here and it's going to take time. When we're winning stuff it's easy to jump on the bandwagon, but it's also important not to go overboard when things aren't going quite as smoothly.

I really thought a poster like you would have more sense, transition are you fucking mental?

It's our 3rd season we haven't challenged for the title and you're trying to convince me we are in transition?. Hazard, Mata and Oscar have already played a full season with u.

But I get it now, so if we buy a new striker next season, we will need another season of finishing 3rd and 4th because we need another transition don't we? Or in your case another 4 seasons because that's how long a transition takes for you guys.

Some people on here just make excuses upon excuses, you are worse than the people calling for Mourinhos head.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I really thought a poster like you would have more sense, transition are you fucking mental?

It's our 3rd season we haven't challenged for the title and you're trying to convince me we are in transition?. Hazard, Mata and Oscar have already played a full season with u.

But I get it now, so if we buy a new striker next season, we will need another season of finishing 3rd and 4th because we need another transition don't we? Or in your case another 4 seasons because that's how long a transition takes for you guys.

Some people on here just make excuses upon excuses, you are worse than the people calling for Mourinhos head.

Yes, transition. We won the Champions League playing very much the same football we were playing under Mourinho with almost the same spine. Years of failing to develop a new identity or even an evolution of the old has left us with a gap that we're still trying to bridge.

The funny thing is I think we're still very much in the title race, and we're almost certainly going to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League so quite why the need for panic when the team we were all expecting to be challenging for the title have lost to Cardiff and lost to us, are currently losing to Sunderland I don't know.