The Mourinho Thread

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

Has he been sacked yet?

[Kojo 4,676]

I would say that Alex (back then) was more solid than Luiz....and Duff was underrated as an old-fashioned winger.

Our lack of width is very concerning...Hazard & Willian love to cut/dribble inside, Cole doesn't have the legs anymore and Ivanovic gives away the ball too often when trying to push forward.

And then there's also the problem in our CM/DM positions. Lampard doesn't have the legs to track back and Mikel just isn't aggressive enough.

I really feel we should of signed Strootman for 25 million, Roma got a bargain.

Alex was a solid centre back, but he wasn't as good as Luiz, Luiz on form is something special. He gets the game going forward, he orchestrates the attack by moving up and picking out the player in space, something which is vital to our formation. He adds so much dimensions because we don't just need the pivot players to pass forward.

Duff wasn't in the class as Hazard or Willian, you can't downplay them like that, and they are not Robben or Ribery, I've never seen them cut inside too often, actually never seen that at all.

[Henrique 9,133]

Same old excuse. Every season we are in transition...United in past 20 years had many "transitions" but the winning record was intact.

Fact is Mourinho is not that special anymore.

[Atlas Lion 1,223]

Same old excuse. Every season we are in transition...United in past 20 years had many "transitions" but the winning record was intact.

Fact is Mourinho is not that special anymore.

Two words.

Manager stability

[bababoom 4,478]

Alex was a solid centre back, but he wasn't as good as Luiz, Luiz on form is something special. He gets the game going forward, he orchestrates the attack by moving up and picking out the player in space, something which is vital to our formation. He adds so much dimensions because we don't just need the pivot players to pass forward.

Duff wasn't in the class as Hazard or Willian, you can't downplay them like that, and they are not Robben or Ribery, I've never seen them cut inside too often, actually never seen that at all.

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.

[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 2,489]

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.