Alfonso wrote:

Fully agree Jazz esp ur last sentence.

Back then they would be so hard to break down and if a team did get through Cech was unbeatable at times, then Duff & Robben used to murder teams down the wings, Drogba would hold things up and Lampard would bomb forward. This league had seen nothing like it, they were a defensive side who used to pick teams off with devastating effect. They had really battlers in that team and players who didn't give a shit what it took to win, a team that imo reflected his own image. The likes of Terry & Drogba loved being hated, made them stronger.

He has a very different team now, the mentality is different among these players and unlike then when he had players at their peak. This team is more of a project and he has to develop these players, not have ready made players like last time. I think as a great as a coach he is, if he wants to be regarded like Fergie (which is his ultimate ambition) he needs to build a team and dominate with them.

y va marquer wrote:

Mourinho didn't develop a siege mentality anywhere other than in different factions of the dressing room in his last season in Madrid.
Spanish press hated him and he couldn't cope.

He lost the dressing room that's why. Was trying to get the Spanish players to bad mouth the Barca lot but they weren't having it. He had a lot of friction with Ramos & Casillas. Only reason he even won La Liga imo was because Barca had a bad year compared to their usual standards in recent years. That Barca team is a freak of nature!

JazzG wrote:

F'kin 'ell

What was he even angry about? Made no sense to me. I wonder what he's saying

"KLOPP MAAAAAD. BALL IN WRONG NET! ARRRRGH!"

It's a great attempt at a hulkout until you realise that he doesn't turn green and rips his pants.

Holy crap.

Would love to have seen Klopp V Fergie.

JazzG wrote:

"KHURRNTT GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrh BLURGGGH!".

JazzG wrote:

Mourinho has gone from Terry, Carvalho & Makelele in their prime to Luiz, Cahill & Mikel. That is a big downgrade in their defensive spine imo, Gallas who was a world class CB at the time couldn't get a game in the middle for them! I'm surprised he didn't bring in another CB and DM tbh. Mikel seems to be stuck at his current level for years and Cahill has looked suspect since the day he joined, looks great when they park the bus and he needs to put in last ditch blocks etc but he seems bamboozled at the sight of clever movement from a striker in normal play. I remember my mate laughing we signed Per instead of him but fuck me he would of looked like a pub defender for us considering how bad we have been defensively at times.

I suppose if anyone can get them playing better defensively it is him so he must have faith in them. Early days still and they will improve unfortunately, too cosy with the media at the moment. They are licking his arse but I think he is the type of guy who needs to be hated and his team to be hated to work up a siege mentality in his squad.

The entire makeup of this team is different than what he had last time around, even in spite of the fact that Cech, Terry, and Cole are there. It's much younger, and (IMO) a little softer. Like you said, Mourinho thrives when his squads face siege mentality- this team is way too soft to gain that kind of reuptation

Do a core of guys like Luiz, Oscar, Hazard, et al fit in to a typical Mourinho side? I'm not sure yet.

I'll say this: Mourinho would never sign David Luiz

Indeed this is not a Jose team, just the crap bequeathed to him.

Last time he won things with Chelsea it was with Ranieri's "crap" ...

Let's see how he fares with the dregs of a few years of Abramovich Mission: Aborted.

Hazard and Mata aren't crap.

There are other players that he bought too - Willian, Eto, Schurrle.

There is a lot of talent in that squad. Mourinho will eventually get them to come good so long as he doesn't succumb to Abrahamovic's desire to see Chelsea play attractive football because those 'tactics' Mourinho doesn't know.

this is wonderful. for whatever ridiculous reason, Mourinho has decided that his best player should be consigned to the bench. he has the worst start of any Chelsea manager in the Abramovich era. hope his position becomes untenable and they implode. of course, that'll mean they win a European final. boo!

These aren't Mourinho players, he probably doesn't really know what to do with them.

Their central midfield and defence is pretty crap, not surprising that he tried to offload Luiz.

Personally think they should line up like this:

-----------------Eto'o
Hazard-----------------------Mata
--------Lampard---Ramires
-----------------Mikel
Cole-----Terry----Ivanovic---Azpiculeta

Similar to the Lamps, Tiago, Makalélé midfield, with Duff and Robben. Still missing a Drogba though.

Saying it's not a Mourinho team is a massive cop out anyway. Surely one of the benifits of having a tactical and defensive master mind would be that you'd be less reliant on spending millions to have a team with a specific set of top class defenders and midfielders.

He had plenty of time and money to make it a Mourinho team in any case. Instead he spent 55m on two more attacking players when he already had Mata, Oscar and Hazard.

Ultimately I think he'll do ok, but it's a mistake coming back because he'll lose the aura that he's managed to build around him.

Had to happen some time, unless he had just taken an extended break from management. Being unable to achieve a thorough supremacy over Barcelona has already cracked his facade of infallibility.

Pretty soon he'll just be another jobbing manager like Ancelotti or Benitez.

otfgoon wrote:

Saying it's not a Mourinho team is a massive cop out anyway. Surely one of the benifits of having a tactical and defensive master mind would be that you'd be less reliant on spending millions to have a team with a specific set of top class defenders and midfielders.

He had plenty of time and money to make it a Mourinho team in any case. Instead he spent 55m on two more attacking players when he already had Mata, Oscar and Hazard.

Ultimately I think he'll do ok, but it's a mistake coming back because he'll lose the aura that he's managed to build around him.

Sorry if I come off like a conspiracy theorist, but you have to wonder if he was the sole decision maker in their transfer dealings this summer. I'm especially thinking of the Willian transfer - that was all kinds of bizarre. There's nothing to suggest the other dealings weren't his- so you definitely have a point

Ah poor Jose, lumbered with dregs like Hazard, Oscar and Mata
I see some Spanish newspapers were wondering when he's going to drop Cech.