The Mourinho Thread

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Perhaps if you took some time to read & digest my post then you would understand that I didn't blame Mikel I actually put that at José door - comprehend? Good grief!

As for the other comments on here that José can't do right for wrong, well we were in total control of that game until he went negative again & brought on a DM, we weren't playing open expansive football & going gung ho leaving spaces in behind for them to exploit, chances are we would of scored a second if he had not decided to make a change, Utd like City & Shalke before them took the initiative, we were then playing infront of our own 18 yard box as opposed to theirs, just a matter of time before they scored.

So what would you have done, genius? We had the youngest bench we've had in years, all three of our DM's were on yellows and our only options off the bench were schurrle(who came on) and salah(who wouldn't offer anything in defending) guys were clearly tired and we lacked the presence on the bench to change them and keep the same approach.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I would agree with everyone saying to continue attacking and kill the game off, but I don't agree with that at all in this case.

We were better than them in the second half but it's not like we were opening them up continuously and creating lots of chances. Even before any defensive subs, we had good control but we didn't really look like scoring. So to try and attack more when we didn't really look like scoring is just asking for trouble. Furthermore, this is the first time in a long time United were actually playing on the counter at home, so attacking them would be playing right in their hands.

I think it was a good idea to play cautious towards the end because it seemed like we weren't really going to get a second and United didn't like they would even manufacture a chance (they didn't do shit in the 2nd half). What I didn't like was the substitutions, not the tactics. Substituting Willian and Hazard considering they both are probably top 3 (along with Matic) at actually holding onto the ball in our entire team was the mistake imo.

[chelseafc9010 224]

So what would you have done, genius? We had the youngest bench we've had in years, all three of our DM's were on yellows and our only options off the bench were schurrle(who came on) and salah(who wouldn't offer anything in defending) guys were clearly tired and we lacked the presence on the bench to change them and keep the same approach.

We had basically a full squad against Shalke and City and did the same genius.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Off topic from the current discussion:

I think to go the next level we need to prioritize buying or bringing through CBs who are reasonably quick and good on the ball. This is a controversial opinion but I think our CBs are holding back the full potential of this team.

I'm not saying they are bad, Terry and Cahill have been fantastic and Zouma is a great talent but I don't think they fit the playing style Jose really wants. Our CBs don't complement our defensive philosophy of high pressing. It's honestly a huge testament to the players and the coaching staff how good they've made it work. A more competent CB pairing will help considerably in controlling games and further improve our pressing because it's almost stupid to be pressing high with a medium to low defensive block. You're forced to ask the midfielders to cover a lot of ground.

A quicker and CB pairing better on the ball will improve our pressing considerably considering we'd be able to play a high line and it would improve our ball possession considerably as well. We severely lack a CB that could bring the ball out of defence, especially when teams try to congest the midfield and man mark Cesc.

[Chelsea? 892]

It's one of the best moments every game imo.

also enjoyed the 'is there a fire drill' chant when some united fans started exiting.. unfortunately we didn't win but it was still a funny chant

[chelseafc9010 224]

Off topic from the current discussion:

I think to go the next level we need to prioritize buying or bringing through CBs who are reasonably quick and good on the ball. This is a controversial opinion but I think our CBs are holding back the full potential of this team.

I'm not saying they are bad, Terry and Cahill have been fantastic and Zouma is a great talent but I don't think they fit the playing style Jose really wants. Our CBs don't complement our defensive philosophy of high pressing. It's honestly a huge testament to the players and the coaching staff how good they've made it work. A more competent CB pairing will help considerably in controlling games and further improve our pressing because it's almost stupid to be pressing high with a medium to low defensive block. You're forced to ask the midfielders to cover a lot of ground.

A quicker and CB pairing better on the ball will improve our pressing considerably considering we'd be able to play a high line and it would improve our ball possession considerably as well. We severely lack a CB that could bring the ball out of defence, especially when teams try to congest the midfield and man mark Cesc.

Completely agree.

Kalas is a big favourite of mine, he is young, fast, powerful, great on the ball and knows when to tackle, and he has guts. But I'm not sure about him because you know how we are with youngsters.. we never give them a chance and Kalas is on a horrible loan deal at the moment.

The deal with our centre backs at the moment, is like already been said; they are rather slow on and off the ball. This means we can't play a traditional back 3 or 2 like most top teams do these days on the attack. For example, the fulbacks push up, the defensive mid sits deeper between two centre backs who push wide. This enables more width and numbers in attack, I'm sure an attacking left back would improve Eden as well. With Terry and Cahill, they aren't that type of covering defender, more of sitting defenders, old school defenders.

Kalas is a no brainer but I doubt he will be given the chance, Zouma is more of a Terry type of defender it seems.

[Chelsea? 892]

Imagine the furore if Mourinho did this...

https://vine.co/v/OhLYiq6eKLF

https://vine.co/v/OhLVjZYVIv2

Pep is one stressed out Mofo

[The Chels 2,502]

Off topic from the current discussion:

I think to go the next level we need to prioritize buying or bringing through CBs who are reasonably quick and good on the ball. This is a controversial opinion but I think our CBs are holding back the full potential of this team.

I'm not saying they are bad, Terry and Cahill have been fantastic and Zouma is a great talent but I don't think they fit the playing style Jose really wants. Our CBs don't complement our defensive philosophy of high pressing. It's honestly a huge testament to the players and the coaching staff how good they've made it work. A more competent CB pairing will help considerably in controlling games and further improve our pressing because it's almost stupid to be pressing high with a medium to low defensive block. You're forced to ask the midfielders to cover a lot of ground.

A quicker and CB pairing better on the ball will improve our pressing considerably considering we'd be able to play a high line and it would improve our ball possession considerably as well. We severely lack a CB that could bring the ball out of defence, especially when teams try to congest the midfield and man mark Cesc.

I agree. The first one-on-one chance RVP had against Courtois was because Terry didn't push up quickly enough and the second time was Mikel not pushing up quickly enough. City play the high-line offside trap really well whereas we can't because of the lack of pace at the back (mostly Terry, as good as he is).

Completely agree.

Kalas is a big favourite of mine, he is young, fast, powerful, great on the ball and knows when to tackle, and he has guts. But I'm not sure about him because you know how we are with youngsters.. we never give them a chance and Kalas is on a horrible loan deal at the moment.

The deal with our centre backs at the moment, is like already been said; they are rather slow on and off the ball. This means we can't play a traditional back 3 or 2 like most top teams do these days on the attack. For example, the fulbacks push up, the defensive mid sits deeper between two centre backs who push wide. This enables more width and numbers in attack, I'm sure an attacking left back would improve Eden as well. With Terry and Cahill, they aren't that type of covering defender, more of sitting defenders, old school defenders.

Kalas is a no brainer but I doubt he will be given the chance, Zouma is more of a Terry type of defender it seems.

I said something similar in the Zouma thread. I think Kalas/Christensen have higher ceilings because they're technically very good and would be able to play themselves out of danger/build from the back (unlike Zouma) but Jose's already chosen Zouma as the one he wants to develop.

[Fernando 6,376]

Off topic from the current discussion:

I think to go the next level we need to prioritize buying or bringing through CBs who are reasonably quick and good on the ball. This is a controversial opinion but I think our CBs are holding back the full potential of this team.

I'm not saying they are bad, Terry and Cahill have been fantastic and Zouma is a great talent but I don't think they fit the playing style Jose really wants. Our CBs don't complement our defensive philosophy of high pressing. It's honestly a huge testament to the players and the coaching staff how good they've made it work. A more competent CB pairing will help considerably in controlling games and further improve our pressing because it's almost stupid to be pressing high with a medium to low defensive block. You're forced to ask the midfielders to cover a lot of ground.

A quicker and CB pairing better on the ball will improve our pressing considerably considering we'd be able to play a high line and it would improve our ball possession considerably as well. We severely lack a CB that could bring the ball out of defence, especially when teams try to congest the midfield and man mark Cesc.

This has also been costing us and why we can't set up shop.

We need defenders like Ramos.

I for one would like to try the experiment of moving azpi to cb.

Mourinho did it with Ramos at Madrid and that was amazing why not here?

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

This has also been costing us and why we can't set up shop.

We need defenders like Ramos.

I for one would like to try the experiment of moving azpi to cb.

Mourinho did it with Ramos at Madrid and that was amazing why not here?

I don't think you can get away with having a CB that can't win headers in the PL. I'm guessing that's partly the reason Jose is trying to develop Zouma since Christensen and Kalas are both lightweight compared to your typical EPL centre-back.

We need guys like Varane, Benatia, Boateng etc. Tbh, there is a huge dearth of top class CBs nowadays.

[Styles 9,790]

Off topic from the current discussion:

I think to go the next level we need to prioritize buying or bringing through CBs who are reasonably quick and good on the ball. This is a controversial opinion but I think our CBs are holding back the full potential of this team.

I'm not saying they are bad, Terry and Cahill have been fantastic and Zouma is a great talent but I don't think they fit the playing style Jose really wants. Our CBs don't complement our defensive philosophy of high pressing. It's honestly a huge testament to the players and the coaching staff how good they've made it work. A more competent CB pairing will help considerably in controlling games and further improve our pressing because it's almost stupid to be pressing high with a medium to low defensive block. You're forced to ask the midfielders to cover a lot of ground.

A quicker and CB pairing better on the ball will improve our pressing considerably considering we'd be able to play a high line and it would improve our ball possession considerably as well. We severely lack a CB that could bring the ball out of defence, especially when teams try to congest the midfield and man mark Cesc.

If Mourinho wanted a certain playing style/type of player he would almost certainly have it. This is the team Jose wants.

[Styles 9,790]

I don't think you can get away with having a CB that can't win headers in the PL. I'm guessing that's partly the reason Jose is trying to develop Zouma since Christensen and Kalas are both lightweight compared to your typical EPL centre-back.

We need guys like Varane, Benatia, Boateng etc. Tbh, there is a huge dearth of top class CBs nowadays.

Christensen is lightweight now but he's not a small player and will put on size as he gets older. He's listed at 6'2.

Technically he is exactly what you're talking about, his ability to pass and bring the ball out is superb.

[Jase 43,479]

Pep is one stressed out Mofo

Notice how he tried to put his hands on the female official while trying to complain about an incident. You don't usually see managers doing that when they are moaning about something to the officials on the sideline.

[GodZola 630]

So what would you have done, genius? We had the youngest bench we've had in years, all three of our DM's were on yellows and our only options off the bench were schurrle(who came on) and salah(who wouldn't offer anything in defending) guys were clearly tired and we lacked the presence on the bench to change them and keep the same approach.

Look Sherlock, I've already given a clear explanation of 'what I would of done' but again you don't seem to have the ability to read, however to reply to the rest of your post, if anyone 'was tired' then that would of been Drogba at 36 who has had very little 'game time' if Oscar was tired which I certainly didn't see it, then bring on Schurrle as virtually like for like to keep the momentum we had where we were totally 'controlling' the game. I could understand the change if we were playing a class side where we were going to be up against it like Real, Bayern or poss Barca but playing a team that is clearly lacking in confidence who have had the worst start for 20 odd years and were very much second best at the point were José made the change was asking for trouble...........oh yeah that's right we conceded!!! If we did not have 'the presence on the bench' as you put it then why the fuck change it?!

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Not been around a lot here, but I'm pretty sure that there is a bit of negativity around here as usual.

The red card cost us, not the part where we decided to defend our way out of the game after going a goal up. If Ivanovic stayed, we would never have had to reorganize. That's the problem with modern zonal and man marking. If we stuck to the theoretical man-marking, we could easily have replaced Iva's cover with a specific player. That does not happen in today's scenario, and that cost us. Lack of time to re-organize and the amount of built up tension.

It's understandable to go out and score another goal, but psychologically, United always wanted to win this more than us. We just can't help that. They played pretty good and it shows that they've been been playing without heart for quite a long time. Hopefully this win gives them the confidence to go on and beat City.

Once again if that silly red card didn't occur, RVP wouldn't be banging in that goal.

[Jase 43,479]

These two screenshots may be interesting.....

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

We had basically a full squad against Shalke and City and did the same genius.

No it wasn't! Our "defensive" substitutions were not made at 65 against either team. They were made when we needed to tighten up and look to hit them on the break. You guys act as if footballers are robots, like fatigue, both physical and mental aren't things that you need to account for in the management of games.

We drew city away and utd away, at city perhaps would've been better to be more attacking since they were reduced to a man but utd had no control of the game and we had multiple yellows. You guys keep ignoring the simple facts of the game in favour of the football manager-like ridiculous suggestions.

What smart manager in their right mind, up a goal on the road with six yellows is not gonna sub one of the at risk players for another player in a similar position?

This is simple X's and O's fellas.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

These two screenshots may be interesting.....

That says it all really. Jose needs to understand that this team isn't built to defend a lead against top teams despite our strong defense. It's not like the 2004-05 /2005-06 teams. We have too many flair, technically gifted players who aren't used to sitting back and holding a lead. Hazard, Willian, Fabregas, Oscar even.

You could say we were unlucky with the foul vs Man United, but against City, no way we should have been defending deep when they had only 10 men. In the 2nd half vs Arsenal, we also sat back at home and waited on the counter, but they didn't have the quality to score against us.

Jose needs to show he can make the team more proactive when we have the lead vs the top sides. Real Madrid vs Liverpool didn't sit back vs Barcelona until the final 10 mins and that was with a 2 goal cushion. Against Liverpool, they kept on trying to score more goals.

I think this is a very fair and legitimate criticism of some of Mourinho's tactics.