The Mourinho Thread

[The Skipper 20,609]

• We only leave London THRICE from now till the end of the season. Hull, Leicester and WBA. Pretty incredible stat. I can't remember something similar happening, at least to us.
• We have 8 more home games and 6 more away games. Of those 6 away games, all of them except away to Arsenal and West Ham are vs the 3 bottom sides (Leicester, QPR and Hull) and to 15th placed West Brom. Yes, they're fighting for their lives, but I'll rather we face these teams than top 6 teams away from home. There's a reason why they are in the relegation zone, because they're crap.
• We face all top 10 sides at home, including Man United, Liverpool and Southampton.
• We're 7 points clear of our nearest rivals, who are closer to 4th placed Man United than they are to us. We have to lose two games and draw one for them to overtake us.
• Man City still have to go away to Stoke, Man United, Liverpool and a resurgent Tottenham. Even assuming they stop dropping points at home from now till May, that's a very very tough away schedule.
• We have the best squad of players and by far the best manager.

Weirder things have happened, yes, but taking all those bullet points into consideration, it will be an absolute travesty if we don't win it from here now. On paper and in reality, the 1st half of the season with all those tough matches away from home we've had was much more difficult than this 2nd half. Unless we get dicked over by the refs, we really should be (deserving) Champions this time. </p>

Thank you for articulating my thoughts.

[lionsden 4,689]

• We only leave London THRICE from now till the end of the season. Hull, Leicester and WBA. Pretty incredible stat. I can't remember something similar happening, at least to us.
• We have 8 more home games and 6 more away games. Of those 6 away games, all of them except away to Arsenal and West Ham are vs the 3 bottom sides (Leicester, QPR and Hull) and to 15th placed West Brom. Yes, they're fighting for their lives, but I'll rather we face these teams than top 6 teams away from home. There's a reason why they are in the relegation zone, because they're crap.
• We face all top 10 sides at home, including Man United, Liverpool and Southampton.
• We're 7 points clear of our nearest rivals, who are closer to 4th placed Man United than they are to us. We have to lose two games and draw one for them to overtake us.
• Man City still have to go away to Stoke, Man United, Liverpool and a resurgent Tottenham. Even assuming they stop dropping points at home from now till May, that's a very very tough away schedule.
• We have the best squad of players and by far the best manager.

Weirder things have happened, yes, but taking all those bullet points into consideration, it will be an absolute travesty if we don't win it from here now. On paper and in reality, the 1st half of the season with all those tough matches away from home we've had was much more difficult than this 2nd half. Unless we get dicked over by the refs, we really should be (deserving) Champions this time.

This is the ideal situation but those small teams scare the heck out of me more so than the top 7 teams because this is the business end of the season and they will be fighting for survival and will park that bus harder and better than ever.

[didierforever 7,349]

• We only leave London THRICE from now till the end of the season. Hull, Leicester and WBA. Pretty incredible stat. I can't remember something similar happening, at least to us.
• We have 8 more home games and 6 more away games. Of those 6 away games, all of them except away to Arsenal and West Ham are vs the 3 bottom sides (Leicester, QPR and Hull) and to 15th placed West Brom. Yes, they're fighting for their lives, but I'll rather we face these teams than top 6 teams away from home. There's a reason why they are in the relegation zone, because they're crap.
• We face all top 10 sides at home, including Man United, Liverpool and Southampton.
• We're 7 points clear of our nearest rivals, who are closer to 4th placed Man United than they are to us. We have to lose two games and draw one for them to overtake us.
• Man City still have to go away to Stoke, Man United, Liverpool and a resurgent Tottenham. Even assuming they stop dropping points at home from now till May, that's a very very tough away schedule.
• We have the best squad of players and by far the best manager.

Weirder things have happened, yes, but taking all those bullet points into consideration, it will be an absolute travesty if we don't win it from here now. On paper and in reality, the 1st half of the season with all those tough matches away from home we've had was much more difficult than this 2nd half. Unless we get dicked over by the refs, we really should be (deserving) Champions this time.

mark my words, we will leave london 7 times from now till the end of the season!!! (if you know what i mean)

[manpe 10,861]

We shall see if mourinho from now on refuses to use zouma as a starter and will op for cahill.

Just because you play a younger player in one important game doesn't mean much.

It's continuation what matters.

One clever fella made a point in the Zouma thread about him having started only in home games. If Zouma starts the next home game and Cahill next away game, then I say he pretty much nailed it. When Zouma starts starting away games too and performing in them, then I say there is a real chance of him permanently displacing GC. The fact that Zouma performed in two consecutive BIG home games hints towards Mourinho taking steps in bedding him in, but maybe he feels he's not quite yet ready to do it away in front of hostile crowd. I have a feeling Zouma is Mou's next Varane, based on the way he talks about him and how he already trusted him.

[Fernando 6,585]

One clever fella made a point in the Zouma thread about him having started only in home games. If Zouma starts the next home game and Cahill next away game, then I say he pretty much nailed it. When Zouma starts starting away games too and performing in them, then I say there is a real chance of him permanently displacing GC. The fact that Zouma performed in two consecutive BIG home games hints towards Mourinho taking steps in bedding him in, but maybe he feels he's not quite yet ready to do it away in front of hostile crowd. I have a feeling Zouma is Mou's next Varane, based on the way he talks about him and how he already trusted him.

We shall see.

Because just by starting him in one big game don't mean much if you don't follow it.

Rodgers has done that with some younger players that he play them in one important game and then after that not much is seen.

So for me consistency is the key. Otherwise it might be another KDB type case.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

This is the ideal situation but those small teams scare the heck out of me more so than the top 7 teams because this is the business end of the season and they will be fighting for survival and will park that bus harder and better than ever.

Don't forget they'll also be fighting for 3 points; Wins. Draws will no be longer be good enough to beat the drop, so hopefully that works in our favour. Also, with the added power of Fabregas, Matic and Costa this season, not too many teams have succeeded in parking the bus against us. For instance, we've spent most of this season leading matches, more so than any team in Europe, bar Real Madrid (and the difference is negligible).

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Eden Hazard hasn't signed his new contract yet because I am buying a nice pen, claims Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has joked that the only thing stopping Eden Hazard from signing a new deal at Chelsea is the lack of a 'nice pen'.

'I need a bit of time to go to Sloane Street and buy a proper pen. I just need time to buy the pen and after that I think there is not a long time to go!'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2948952/Eden-Hazard-hasn-t-signed-new-contract-buying-nice-pen-claims-Chelsea-boss-Jose-Mourinho.html

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

Managers dont often get enough credit for pushing all the righ buttons, but JM did tonight.

Nice starting eleven, started Cuadrado & played Willian centrally, brought on the right reinforcements with (Cesc & Drogba).

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Managers dont often get enough credit for pushing all the righ buttons, but JM did tonight.

Nice starting eleven, started Cuadrado & played Willian centrally, brought on the right reinforcements with (Cesc & Drogba).

I'm not sure about that. Obviously, I'm not in a position to know the fitness of Fabregas, but I was surprised he wasn't on at half-time. The reinforcements that came on did nothing special to add to the win as well. I was surprised Remy was brought off when we were chasing the game.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

BT sport trying to get Ivanovic banned. Not a mention about the stonewall penalty by Naismith. Absolutely disgusting. I'm glad Jose didn't give them the time of day.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I'm surprised there is no one moan about 'only 1-0' win yet.

[Barbara 15,149]

I'm not sure about that. Obviously, I'm not in a position to know the fitness of Fabregas, but I was surprised he wasn't on at half-time. The reinforcements that came on did nothing special to add to the win as well. I was surprised Remy was brought off when we were chasing the game.

I disagree.

I think he was spot on. He's been delaying subs all season long imo, but I don't have a problem with the time Cesc got into the game, even if the change was immediate when he was brought. It's better to take it step by step to make sure we don't have yet another player with physical issues.

Oscar is sustaining a light muscular injury, Hazard isn't far from the same imo - or at least is very tired, Willian is made of steel, his energy rivals Ramires and Cuadrado will definitely feel the difference in the league physically. So I don't have a problem with sparing Cesc some minutes instead of a whole 45 minutes.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

I disagree.

I think he was spot on. He's been delaying subs all season long imo, but I don't have a problem with the time Cesc got into the game, even if the change was immediate when he was brought. It's better to take it step by step to make sure we don't have yet another player with physical issues.

Oscar is sustaining a light muscular injury, Hazard isn't far from the same imo - or at least is very tired, Willian is made of steel, his energy rivals Ramires and Cuadrado will definitely feel the difference in the league physically. So I don't have a problem with sparing Cesc some minutes instead of a whole 45 minutes.

Yeah, I'm not against delaying the Fabregas decision, like I wrote, I'm not a club physio, so I don't know the situation. Maybe our physios told Jose 20-25 mins was the maximum today.

My main point, Barbara, was that I didn't see anything that Mourinho did today to impact the outcome of the game. That's not a criticism, I just think it was all about the player's desire to win tonight. Admittedly, I was slightly perplexed why he didn't go two up top with Remy and Didier. In the past, he probably would have.

[Muzchap 8,966]

Lol Jose bossed that post match conference

'Dont make me laugh' on Ivanovic headbutt

[supporter 3,088]

I think with an advantage of +7 compared to Manchester City and would have been unnecessary force Fabregas and risk of a relapse of muscle injury again. Totally unnecessary.

Jose has waited the change of Fabregas until the last minute he could. We played with fire, yes, but we have an advantage in Premier League enough to risk.

If today Fabregas played 90 minutes we had we would have been at risk of losing Fabregas for a month or more, and that would be a tragedy for us.

Regarding the approach, IMO Jose has begun to prepare the match against PSG with a false defense of 5 defenses Square - Ivanovic - Zouma - John Terry (c) - Azpilicueta. Our counterattacks against PSG may decide the tie for us.

I trust fully, totally, 100%, absolutely in Jose. He has controlled the situation.

Regards to ALL.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I think with an advantage of +7 compared to Manchester City and would have been unnecessary force Fabregas and risk of a relapse of muscle injury again. Totally unnecessary.

Jose has waited the change of Fabregas until the last minute he could. We played with fire, yes, but we have an advantage in Premier League enough to risk.

If today Fabregas played 90 minutes we had we would have been at risk of losing Fabregas for a month or more, and that would be a tragedy for us.

Regarding the approach, IMO Jose has begun to prepare the match against PSG with a false defense of 5 defenses Square - Ivanovic - Zouma - John Terry (c) - Azpilicueta. Our counterattacks against PSG may decide the tie for us.

I trust fully, totally, 100%, absolutely in Jose. He has controlled the situation.

Regards to ALL.

433, park the bus, play counter attack, come back safely with smile

[supporter 3,088]

433, park the bus, play counter attack, come back safely with smile

Hi!

Yes, exactly. 0-1 in a perfect counterattack and everyone is happy.

The Bridge will be definitive.

Regards friend.

[Barbara 15,149]

I didn't agree with DD coming for Remy (or for everyone tbh), but I think he made a great team selection today.

[Pseudo 92]

Left a bit late with the substitutions.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I didn't agree with DD coming for Remy (or for everyone tbh), but I think he made a great team selection today.

Really? I thought we looked more threatening the instant Drogba came on.