The Mourinho Thread

[Tomo 21,751]

I was literally about to include the exact same thing in my post but left it out. There's no reason why those Liverpool vs Chelsea battles should have been so closely contested. We just had comfortably more quality and talent than they did. But Benitez was happy to play Mourinho at his own game. Sit back, defend and play on the counter.

When Hiddink came and went for it more against them, we smashed them.

Benitez is in his element in one of knockout games, not only us he masterminded wins against Juve, Real, Arsenal, Inter. That's why I was gutted we got knocked out in group stage just after he took over, I think we could have had a genuine stab at retaining the CL with him.

Hiddink outsmarted him at Anfield but Rafa came back fighting at The Bridge and nearly turned it round.

[didierforever 7,349]

Did I read someone cribbing about baker and briwn?

So giving zouma, christensen and ake 90 minutes each is not enough? He should probably have put in a u-20 team.

Hopeless cribbing. Embarassing.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

.

[robdog 2,084]

Benitez is in his element in one of knockout games

Then why is Napoli playing in the Europa Liga? Sorry, I am not buying that

[Tomo 21,751]

Then why is Napoli playing in the Europa Liga? Sorry, I am not buying that

Because he hasn't done great with Napoli.

When he was at Liverpool the general consensus was he underachieved in the league but seemed to get his team tactically sound in CL knockout games, which is why the scum had a consistent CL record during him, bar the last season.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I like everything Jose said after the match. He knows what he is doing, teams are in good spirit. I couldn't ask for more. Qphaha and November cursed should be no problem.

[lionsden 4,689]

I agree with the argument against Jose. His inability to learn from his previous mistakes and overly cautious approach is rather annoying i.e giving quality opposition the ball and inviting intense pressure in closing minutes is a stupidly risky strategy that relies on sheer luck and complete concentration from the entire defence/team and the worst part is when it backfires (like it did against united) there's an air of inevitability about it, you can see it coming.

There are other less risky ways to see out a (big) game or any game for that matter like pressurizing the opponent higher up the pitch, closing down passing lanes which forces the opposition into punting the ball forward or going back to the GK, time wasting and keeping possession of the ball which can only happen with high pressing and pushing bodies forward and most often that not, closing stages of the match is the best time to induce the final, killer blow when the opponent are extremely vulnerable at the back due to committing men forward in chase of the equalizing or winning goal. instead of defending like a pussy, get in their faces and go for the jugular either that or keep posession of the ball and waste as much time as possible and stop them from transitioning the ball into areas that can hurt us.

I was hoping he would have learned his lesson against Bayern in the super cup.

[chelseafc9010 224]

The 6-3 at Everton was a mistake, Mikel was warming up already at 2-1, Jose was going to try and rely on a 1 goal difference again with over 30 mins to go. Also @MrExcallibur100 the match at the Etihad was completely different this season than last season. This season we was very cautious and basically parked the bus. Last season, I don't know what happened, maybe Jose took something before the game? But our team attacked and took the game to City, we actually dominated them in their own stadium and won.

[Rom2013 446]

Did I read someone cribbing about baker and briwn?

So giving zouma, christensen and ake 90 minutes each is not enough? He should probably have put in a u-20 team.

Hopeless cribbing. Embarassing.

It's not. They think we have in the younger team the new Maradona.

By the way... the other squads give a lot of oportinities to their young players.Here are the starting elevens of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool in this competition.

Arsenal 1-2 Southampton

David Ospina, Calum Chambers, Héctor Bellerín, Isaac Hayden, Francis Coquelin, Tomás Rosicky, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby, Alexis Sánchez, Joel Campbell, Lukas Podolski

(3 players under 21)

Liverpool 2-2 Middlesbrough

Simon Mignolet, Javier Manquillo, Kolo Touré, Mamadou Sakho, José Enrique, Lucas Leiva, Adam Lallana, Marković, Jordan Rossiter, Raheem Sterling, Rickie Lambert

4 players under 21 (2 of them already stablished players)

Liverpool 2-1 Swansea

Brad Jones, Glen Johnson, Javier Manquillo, Kolo Touré, Dejan Lovren, Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson, Lazar Marković, Rickie Lambert, Fabio Borini

(2 players under 21, 1 of them cost 22M£)

MK Dons 4-0 Manchester United

David de Gea, Jonny Evans, Michael Keane, Reece James, Marnick Vermijl, Saidy Janko, Kagawa, Anderson, Nick Powell, Chicharito Hernández, Danny Welbeck

( 3 players under 21 and 2 more that are 21/22 years old and not stablished players).

Manchester City 7-0 Sheff Wed

Caballero, Sagna, Kolarov, Mangala, Demichelis, Fernandinho, Lampard, Y Touré, Milner, Jesús Navas, Dzeko

(0 under 21 players)

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[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

correct me if I'm wrong but Chelsea have the best record overall in Europe right now, right?

This crusade against the Special One is laughable... 9 games played and a near perfect record in the toughest league, the only blemishes occurred in the dying seconds of two tough games.

Wow some Chelsea supporters don't know how good they have it, bitching, moaning and complaining about a manager who has us undefeated and playing some incredible football. This is where the love of video games has ruined the reality of football. When you play Football Manager you can save your progress and if you lose reload the game and try again, this 'redo as many times until you get it right' style of game play has warped a lot of peoples minds.

Jose knows what he's doing people, you are making yourselves look like idiots complaining about two draws in an undefeated season. Not one loss in roughly 15 games played, that is incredible and the manager deserves a ton of credit for it.

Nothing but respect for Jose Mourinho!

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Gary Neville is an intelligent analyst

In that entire segment he spoke of how Chelsea sat off and didn't go for the kill but then showed 2 or 3 scenarios where we did look positive but couldn't find that telling ball. He said we stopped pressing and showed a segment where we pressed better than we did in the first half.

Its all nitpicking, he says we invited them onto us but isn't that precisely what counter attacking teams do?

I'm not at all bothered by our tactics, certain games call for certain tactics and while he focussed on the drop off in position he didn't speak at all about the average position Utd took up. They weren't hurting us at all... We had chances to kill it and couldn't find the final ball big deal.

[Tomo 21,751]

I agree with the argument against Jose. His inability to learn from his previous mistakes and overly cautious approach is rather annoying i.e giving quality opposition the ball and inviting intense pressure in closing minutes is a stupidly risky strategy that relies on sheer luck and complete concentration from the entire defence/team and the worst part is when it backfires (like it did against united) there's an air of inevitability about it, you can see it coming.

There are other less risky ways to see out a (big) game or any game for that matter like pressurizing the opponent higher up the pitch, closing down passing lanes which forces the opposition into punting the ball forward or going back to the GK, time wasting and keeping possession of the ball which can only happen with high pressing and pushing bodies forward and most often that not, closing stages of the match is the best time to induce the final, killer blow when the opponent are extremely vulnerable at the back due to committing men forward in chase of the equalizing or winning goal. instead of defending like a pussy, get in their faces and go for the jugular either that or keep posession of the ball and waste as much time as possible and stop them from transitioning the ball into areas that can hurt us.

I was hoping he would have learned his lesson against Bayern in the super cup.

There's an element of risk whatever you do.

We press high and go for the second then Matic or Cesc lose it in the centre mid or worse do a Gerrard? goalscoring opportunity right there.

Speaking of Gerrard, Brendan needed a draw against us and the title was in his hands with two games left, he decided to attack us and play high up, a decision that cost him the title.

Sometimes sitting on a lead will work sometimes it won't, Arsenal were starting to build momentum at The Bridge, Jose brings on Mikel and that is that. Even yesterday it served it's purpose as United created next to nothing until the late free kick.

If there was a "right way" to defend a one goal advantage every manager would use it and 99 percent of games would end 0-0 or 1-0. Go for a second or hold what you have? neither approach is bulletproof, both can and do backfire and when they do it usually ends with the manager criticised for not taking the other approach.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

The 6-3 at Everton was a mistake, Mikel was warming up already at 2-1, Jose was going to try and rely on a 1 goal difference again with over 30 mins to go. Also @MrExcallibur100 the match at the Etihad was completely different this season than last season. This season we was very cautious and basically parked the bus. Last season, I don't know what happened, maybe Jose took something before the game? But our team attacked and took the game to City, we actually dominated them in their own stadium and won.

Read the explanation I gave on the difference between our performance at Etihad this season in the league and last season. Jose tried to make the team do the same thing and it backfired. We couldn't counter-attack because they didn't commit many bodies to attack and they pressed our forwards high up the pitch. It was similar to our loss there in the FA cup.

[Madmax 9,219]

Did I read someone cribbing about baker and briwn?

So giving zouma, christensen and ake 90 minutes each is not enough? He should probably have put in a u-20 team.

Hopeless cribbing. Embarassing.

Ah yes, we should worship the ground he walks upon for playing a £12m signing and the best defender in the academy when 3 of our only 5 senior defenders are a. suspended or b. 34 year old. Bravo Jose, such big balls.

I only spoke about Baker and Brown because he put them on the pedestal with his comments about English players. What good did Oscar, Salah and Schurrle do today? I get not starting 5 of them together but did Schurrle and Oscar justify getting the full 90? Would Salah have even come off had they not equalised? Was there such a massive need to play Solanke in the u-21 while Drogba had to slog on and on?

Yes it would have been nice and romantic for us to play all the under 21s and won 4-0, but in reality if we played those 3 to go with the 3 teenagers already on, we could quite well have lost.

I said pre-match that I'd have been fine had we lost while giving genuine game time to Ake, Baker and the lot. Now that we are in the QF, do you think even Ake will get a game unless it's against Bournemouth? This was the chance to do it but he backtracked over his earlier comments. I'm disappointed about this and the arguments so far can't convince me otherwise.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

I do agree about Neville though. He's by far the best football analyst this country's got and I like him a lot, but I think he's starting to get worried by us; He's worried by the squad we now have at our disposal and how that will affect his beloved Man United in the long run. He seems to have Chelsea on his mind a lot nowadays.

First, it was the Fabregas issue on how he contributes little defensive cover to the defense and how playing a double pivot with him will cost us. I thought it was weird since it was so early in the season and Fabregas and Matic were still building their partnership. They've since made the right adjustments with (Oscar playing a vital role) and have both been brilliant.

Now this talk about how this squad is not able to see out games and drawing comparisons with the 2005 squad, which is silly since we've drawn two games at Old Trafford and the Etihad and won the remaining 7. Yet, he comes to the pre-mature conclusion that this team lacks the ability to see out games. How'd you do that, Garry? For one, this team has far more attacking flair than that one and we play a different style. The ruthlessness of this team lies in it's ability to outscore the opposition, the fact we're averaging almost 3 goals this season is testament to that fact.

[tiby2979 175]

Some people begin to look like Barcelona Fans obsessed with the possession.

[DH1988 1,348]

correct me if I'm wrong but Chelsea have the best record overall in Europe right now, right?

This crusade against the Special One is laughable... 9 games played and a near perfect record in the toughest league, the only blemishes occurred in the dying seconds of two tough games.

Wow some Chelsea supporters don't know how good they have it, bitching, moaning and complaining about a manager who has us undefeated and playing some incredible football. This is where the love of video games has ruined the reality of football. When you play Football Manager you can save your progress and if you lose reload the game and try again, this 'redo as many times until you get it right' style of game play has warped a lot of peoples minds.

Jose knows what he's doing people, you are making yourselves look like idiots complaining about two draws in an undefeated season. Not one loss in roughly 15 games played, that is incredible and the manager deserves a ton of credit for it.

Nothing but respect for Jose Mourinho!

Respect? Of course but quite a deluded post and I'd like to make a bet right now that in the later stages of the CL/season, but especially the CL its going to cost us, again.

[didierforever 7,349]

It's not. They think we have in the younger team the new Maradona.

By the way... the other squads give a lot of oportinities to their young players.Here are the starting elevens of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool in this competition.

Arsenal 1-2 Southampton

David Ospina, Calum Chambers, Héctor Bellerín, Isaac Hayden, Francis Coquelin, Tomás Rosicky, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby, Alexis Sánchez, Joel Campbell, Lukas Podolski

(3 players under 21)

Liverpool 2-2 Middlesbrough

Simon Mignolet, Javier Manquillo, Kolo Touré, Mamadou Sakho, José Enrique, Lucas Leiva, Adam Lallana, Marković, Jordan Rossiter, Raheem Sterling, Rickie Lambert

4 players under 21 (2 of them already stablished players)

Liverpool 2-1 Swansea

Brad Jones, Glen Johnson, Javier Manquillo, Kolo Touré, Dejan Lovren, Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson, Lazar Marković, Rickie Lambert, Fabio Borini

(2 players under 21, 1 of them cost 22M£)

MK Dons 4-0 Manchester United

David de Gea, Jonny Evans, Michael Keane, Reece James, Marnick Vermijl, Saidy Janko, Kagawa, Anderson, Nick Powell, Chicharito Hernández, Danny Welbeck

( 3 players under 21 and 2 more that are 21/22 years old and not stablished players).

Manchester City 7-0 Sheff Wed

Caballero, Sagna, Kolarov, Mangala, Demichelis, Fernandinho, Lampard, Y Touré, Milner, Jesús Navas, Dzeko

(0 under 21 players)

------

We had 3 players under-21 excluding salah who is 21. Arsenal lost, united lost cos of excess youth. Pool had to go thru a massive penalty match to win.

I think we are doing quite well when compared to others.

[lionsden 4,689]

There's an element of risk whatever you do.

We press high and go for the second then Matic or Cesc lose it in the centre mid or worse do a Gerrard? goalscoring opportunity right there.

Speaking of Gerrard, Brendan needed a draw against us and the title was in his hands with two games left, he decided to attack us and play high up, a decision that cost him the title.

Sometimes sitting on a lead will work sometimes it won't, Arsenal were starting to build momentum at The Bridge, Jose brings on Mikel and that is that. Even yesterday it served it's purpose as United created next to nothing until the late free kick.

There's an element of risk however some strategy are less risky and more logical than others.

Regarding the risk of our midfielders getting caught up in posession, the whole point of pressing hugh up is to force the opponent to either turn the ball over, kill their attacking momentum (Not many teams can hold onto the ball and create chances under heavy pressure) and capitalise on their mistake and spaces. And you are thinking of the worst possible scenario anyway as pressing high up doesn't mean committing everyone forward in the opposition half (no one does that except when chasing a lead or equaliser)

And what's the relevance between methods to seeing out a game and the Liverpool game? completely different and unrelated cases in the sense that we backed off Liverpool right from the blow of the whistle and as a result Liverpool weren't put iunder any offensive pressure at all by us whereas my original point was a better method to stiffling the opposition and preventing goals to see the game out.

Look at Atletico at the bridge last season, they were 2-1 up and one leg into the finals and could easily have retreated and surrendered posession to us Jose style but instead they kept attacking us, keeping possession and pressing high up the pitch which resulted in a very very comfortable victory in the end. Atleti never felt threatened after they went ahead but they would have if they had retreated and surrendered possession to us. that's the right and best way to do it.

If there was a "right way" to defend a one goal advantage every manager would use it and 99 percent of games would end 0-0 or 1-0. Go for a second or hold what you have? neither approach is bulletproof, both can and do backfire and when they do it usually ends with the manager criticised for not taking the other approach.

Managers can't and don't do it consistently with success because there are other variables that determines the result of a football match like the quality and form of the team and the opposition, injuries and suspension, the overall team's performance on the day, referees and officiating, the fine margins otherwise known as luck, defensive or individual mistake (s), profligacy in front of goal and so on. However when you have the right players, a well executed and logical strategy can improve a team's chances of winning matches or getting the desired result whatever that may be.

[lionsden 4,689]

And why's he throwing his players under the bus AGAIN. That's just bad management plain and simple. number one rule of management is to accept responsibility as the leader and always protect your team in public.