The Mourinho Thread

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

Scored 9 goals in our first 2 league away games this season; Netted only 10 in following 8. No back-to-back away wins since August. This is somewhat worrying.

Everton game is a freak, happen once every 5 years or something. Also we only really gone forward a lot because Everton was hitting goals back continuously straight away. If it was for example 3-1 after 75th mins we would have parked it and play safe, but they scored twice after we scored twice so we continued to go forward. In the other games the other teams couldn't score as much so around 65-70th min we start to sit back and defend mostly.

[Milan 17,963]

[supporter 3,088]

It's really disgusting to see how take weeks the newspapers saying every day that our players take to the pool and simulated. They are the ones who attacked us for our alleged violence when we play and how they have persecuted Diego Costa.

With all those campaigns of lies about our team they just looking for a way in order to condition referees decisions,. Yes, OK, If we had now 10 points ahead of Manchester City's Premier League would be very boring ... But if Mourrinho not come to warn that we are not stupid and we know what happens, they would follow throwing lies about us.

I feel very proud watching my bench and watching Jose Mourinho who is not afraid to defend his team.

One of us

[The Chels 2,502]

Taylor is understood to have shouted down the officials’ headset: “Not a pen, not a pen, simulation.” But Cann shouted: “It is definitely not simulation.”

This reminds me of the Ramires penalty incident vs. United in the CL a few years ago - the official behind the goal said it was a penalty but the referee overruled him.

[Barbara 15,149]

Scored 9 goals in our first 2 league away games this season; Netted only 10 in following 8. No back-to-back away wins since August. This is somewhat worrying.

I honestly don't see anything concerning.

We played both Manchester teams and Liverpool away in addition to Newcastle and Southampton in that run. I wouldn't care less if we win 0x1 most of our away games, I don't care about it and I don't think that's where we should and will build and improve our GD.

Actually looking at those away fixtures I'm more than happy with the 19 points we got out of 30 possible, especially with 100% points won at home.

[The Chels 2,502]

Scored 9 goals in our first 2 league away games this season; Netted only 10 in following 8. No back-to-back away wins since August. This is somewhat worrying.

The biggest issue imo is our inability to keep clean sheets away from home - 2 out of 10 is really poor. A rather simplified breakdown:

Burnley - set piece, Terry individual error: failing to play offside trap

Everton - midfield porous and disorganised pressing

Palace - Filipe Luis individual error - lunging in when 1v1

City - Schurrle & Ivanovic individual errors - failure to track opponent's run

United - set piece, Ivanovic and arguably Zouma individual errors

Liverpool - midfield porous, disorganised pressing, defence unwilling to step up

Newcastle - individual errors from Cahill and Mikel

Southampton - Terry individual error: failing to play offside trap

Tactical and individual errors are inevitable because footballers (and Jose) are human after all but we tend to make a major one in every away game.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Referee Anthony Taylor apologised to Jose Mourinho for booking Cesc Fabregas for diving instead of awarding penalty

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2890588/Referee-Anthony-Taylor-apologised-Jose-Mourinho-failing-award-penalty-Cesc-Fabregas-trip-Southampton.html#ixzz3NKgYNsXR

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Taylor is understood to have shouted down the officials’ headset: “Not a pen, not a pen, simulation.”

But Cann shouted: “It is definitely not simulation.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/assistant-referee-said-chelseas-cesc-4890932

First article I've read that is actually about the incident and not completely about Jose's comments.

[Jase 43,479]

I honestly don't see anything concerning.

We played both Manchester teams and Liverpool away in addition to Newcastle and Southampton in that run. I wouldn't care less if we win 0x1 most of our away games, I don't care about it and I don't think that's where we should and will build and improve our GD.

Actually looking at those away fixtures I'm more than happy with the 19 points we got out of 30 possible, especially with 100% points won at home.

You can make excuses (I mean in a good way) for the two games in Manchester and the one at Liverpool but not sure about the others. Not saying we should be scoring plenty of goals to build up our goal difference but if we don't start getting more clinical in front of goal, then we are always living on a knife edge and giving opposition a chance of getting something against us, especially when we can't even keep clean sheet on the road. Case in point being the game at Newcastle or even Southampton. Not to mention, the more we drop silly points away from home, the more pressure there will be on us to win the home games, because let's face it, we aren't going to win all 19 matches at the Bridge.

The biggest issue imo is our inability to keep clean sheets away from home - 2 out of 10 is really poor. A rather simplified breakdown:

Burnley - set piece, Terry individual error: failing to play offside trap

Everton - midfield porous and disorganised pressing

Palace - Filipe Luis individual error - lunging in when 1v1

City - Schurrle & Ivanovic individual errors - failure to track opponent's run

United - set piece, Ivanovic and arguably Zouma individual errors

Liverpool - midfield porous, disorganised pressing, defence unwilling to step up

Newcastle - individual errors from Cahill and Mikel

Southampton - Terry individual error: failing to play offside trap

Tactical and individual errors are inevitable because footballers (and Jose) are human after all but we tend to make a major one in every away game.

That is true but like I said to Barbara above, if we don't start taking our chances in front of goal, then we are always going to give opposition a chance of taking something against us. The game at Newcastle is an example - we didn't score from the many opportunities we had in the first half and then got sucker punched, twice, in the second.

[The Chels 2,502]

That is true but like I said to Barbara above, if we don't start taking our chances in front of goal, then we are always going to give opposition a chance of taking something against us. The game at Newcastle is an example - we didn't score from the many opportunities we had in the first half and then got sucker punched, twice, in the second.

There is almost an inevitability when we keep missing chances that we will concede but that hasn't actually happened too many times this season. The Newcastle game was one example - the game became stretched as we became more desperate looking for a goal and conceded on the break. In the vast majority of cases, however, we've conceded in a normal phase of the game where we should still have defensive stability (Burnley, Everton, Liverpool, Southampton) or when we've tried to shut up shop (Palace, City, United). It is very concerning and imo our defensive system just isn't that good as we allow the opposition near our box, where individual errors are costly, too easily and too often.

[Muzchap 8,966]

I think Jose is under some serious pressure right now and the difference between him and first time round is noticeable...

He used to have an air of utmost confidence, not seeing that at the minute and his team selections have been poor.

He's still the right man for the job, but this not winning anything has seriously put a monkey on his back

Just hope we can win the worthless cup quickly and then it will be gone and his confidence will bounce back, followed by a decent FA Cip run and the league - anything in the CL will be icing on the cake.

Need a good result against the Spuds - that will give us the lift we need right now... A 3-0 win would be perfect

[Barbara 15,149]

You can make excuses (I mean in a good way) for the two games in Manchester and the one at Liverpool but not sure about the others. Not saying we should be scoring plenty of goals to build up our goal difference but if we don't start getting more clinical in front of goal, then we are always living on a knife edge and giving opposition a chance of getting something against us, especially when we can't even keep clean sheet on the road. Case in point being the game at Newcastle or even Southampton. Not to mention, the more we drop silly points away from home, the more pressure there will be on us to win the home games, because let's face it, we aren't going to win all 19 matches at the Bridge.

That is true but like I said to Barbara above, if we don't start taking our chances in front of goal, then we are always going to give opposition a chance of taking something against us. The game at Newcastle is an example - we didn't score from the many opportunities we had in the first half and then got sucker punched, twice, in the second.

I still disagree.

This is a very competitive league, teams won't make 95+ points.

We may drop a few points at the Bridge, but so will everyone else. City just drew with Burnley at the Etihad.

I don't know why people are nitpicking so much and putting everything under the microscope.

Wake up call, there's no perfect team, teams draw, lose, players make individual mistakes, even great defenses concede and sometimes the ball just won't get into the net. There's nothing new there.

What Real Madrid have been doing this season is out of the world (and mind), even if the Spanish league doesn't have many competitive teams. Most teams play against Barça and RM already knowing they'll lose and they don't even try. The few that do try, don't have many chances and end up losing too, with a sporadic draw and even more rare win. Still 21 (last time I checked) win streak is crazy. In England that will never happen. Not anymore anyway.

The team has areas to improve - some of which with a lot of room (such as finishing, diminishing defensive mistakes, players in the bench completely out of form, etc). I believe with time things will get better. Remember when everyone was saying that there was no defensive stability with Fabregas in the team and that we were adopting a way too offensive approach that came with conceding more goals? At the time I said I'd wait a couple of months before worrying. We don't have system or collective issues anymore, except the odd match where we just don't get at all (maybe for tiredness or lack of interest, I can't say), we haven't been offering our opponents many chances to score against us. And if we're going to blame the manager, the system and the team as a whole for individual mistake, we'll jump the shark.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Just take a look a series of away matches we have :

Everton, City, Palace, MU, Liverpool, Sunderland, Newcastle, Stoke, Soton

F***ing hell, look at those names, probably we have already went through all the top 7 most difficult away matches in every season already. Don't really concerned about our goals scored in those matches really. Even before the season start everybody knew we will not score plenty against those teams away.

Also it leaves us with an away against Spurs, West Ham, Leicester, QPR, Swansea, Villa, WBA, Arsenal, and Hull. The contrast is near stupid.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

The biggest issue imo is our inability to keep clean sheets away from home - 2 out of 10 is really poor. A rather simplified breakdown:

Burnley - set piece, Terry individual error: failing to play offside trap

Everton - midfield porous and disorganised pressing

Palace - Filipe Luis individual error - lunging in when 1v1

City - Schurrle & Ivanovic individual errors - failure to track opponent's run

United - set piece, Ivanovic and arguably Zouma individual errors

Liverpool - midfield porous, disorganised pressing, defence unwilling to step up

Newcastle - individual errors from Cahill and Mikel

Southampton - Terry individual error: failing to play offside trap

Tactical and individual errors are inevitable because footballers (and Jose) are human after all but we tend to make a major one in every away game.

I agree but away from home is away from home in the PL. 80% of those games listed are against difficult teams or/and at difficult grounds. My problem with our away performances in the PL are not so much the goals conceded but the conservative nature of our play. We tend to respect the opposition too much. At home, we express ourselves very well (okay most of our home fixtures have not been vs the current top 10 I think) but away, we don't play with as much freedom. Maybe we'll see better away performances when we face easier opposition in the 2nd half of the season.

[The Chels 2,502]

Just take a look a series of away matches we have :

Everton, City, Palace, MU, Liverpool, Sunderland, Newcastle, Stoke, Soton

F***ng hell, look at those names, probably we have already went through all the top 7 most difficult away matches in every season already. Don't really concerned about our goals scored in those matches really. Even before the season start everybody knew we will not score plenty against those teams away.

Also it leaves us with an away against Spurs, West Ham, Leicester, QPR, Swansea, Villa, WBA, Arsenal, and Hull. The contrast is near stupid.

The thing is is we're more likely to beat the likes of United and Southampton than QPR/Villa/WBA. It feels like déjà vu - before the Villa game last year everyone was talking about how easy our remaining fixtures were and how we'd stroll to the title but ignored the fact that we are generally better against the big teams and struggle away to the smaller sides.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Ultimately, it's only 1 defeat in the entire first half of the season and even more wins than in 2004/2005, so in theory, it's Chelsea's best ever PL start to a season and probably best ever start, period. What's even more amazing is that from memory, I could be wrong, but we've never looked 2nd best in any game this season. We've never been in

trouble or in danger of losing, even in the 1 game we lost vs Newcastle, we were the better side. That's perhaps what has impressed me most about this team.

Unfortunately, looking at the table, it seems our top of the league clash vs Man City will be sandwiched between our two-legged league cup tie vs Liverpool. They'll have at least 10 days of rest, we'll have far less. Hopefully, we can finish the job at Anfield.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

The thing is is we're more likely to beat the likes of United and Southampton than QPR/Villa/WBA. It feels like déjà vu - before the Villa game last year everyone was talking about how easy our remaining fixtures were and how we'd stroll to the title but ignored the fact that we are generally better against the big teams and struggle away to the smaller sides.

Yes one or two would not be easy, but they are not as good as they are last season, I think, and ours are even better this season. Not to be cocky, but that is a reality. Of course there might be a couple of draw results, but majority I think we will win those.

[The Chels 2,502]

Ultimately, it's only 1 defeat in the entire first half of the season and even more wins than in 2004/2005, so in theory, it's Chelsea's best ever PL start to a season and probably best ever start, period. What's even more amazing is that from memory, I could be wrong, but we've never looked 2nd best in any game this season. We've never been in

trouble or in danger of losing, even in the 1 game we lost vs Newcastle, we were the better side. That's perhaps what has impressed me most about this team.

Unfortunately, looking at the table, it seems our top of the league clash vs Man City will be sandwiched between our two-legged league cup tie vs Liverpool. They'll have at least 10 days of rest, we'll have far less. Hopefully, we can finish the job at Anfield.

We were definitely 2nd best in the City game. There was absolutely no chance of us winning that game when it was 11v11 and we still didn't win against 10 men.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Also what Jose want to 'fixed' from last season by bringing the like of Cesc and Costa is to win against this lesser teams. We have already a decent records against big clubs since last season, without creative and passing master player and even without real striker. So as long as Matic, Cesc, Costa stay fit most of the time, I think we will be comfortable.

[illmatic 901]

Also it leaves us with an away against Spurs, West Ham, Leicester, QPR, Swansea, Villa, WBA, Arsenal, and Hull. The contrast is near stupid.

Meanwhile Shitty : Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, United and Everton.

[Tomo 21,751]

You can make excuses (I mean in a good way) for the two games in Manchester and the one at Liverpool but not sure about the others. Not saying we should be scoring plenty of goals to build up our goal difference but if we don't start getting more clinical in front of goal, then we are always living on a knife edge and giving opposition a chance of getting something against us, especially when we can't even keep clean sheet on the road. Case in point being the game at Newcastle or even Southampton. Not to mention, the more we drop silly points away from home, the more pressure there will be on us to win the home games, because let's face it, we aren't going to win all 19 matches at the Bridge.

.

Its came close to happening by teams in recent years.

City got 17 home wins last year and 18 in 2012, United 18 in 2011 (which allowed them the title despite a measly 5 away wins) we got 17 in 2010 and 18 in 2006.

Winning all our home games will be a big ask, however 17 or possibly 18 is definitely doable and if we get there we will probably only need 4 or 5 more wins on the road between now and May.