General Mirth wrote:
This isn't an attack on Mourinho because he does what he thinks will guarantee results, which should be a manager's number one priority and certainly if I was willing to invest millions of pounds into a club, my first port of call would be Mourinho.
But I don't buy the admiration for the way his team approach games because they can and have shown glimpses of playing scintillating football but those spells tend to be in the opening weeks of the season, when he can afford to be brave. As soon as the wind turns a little south, he's the first to batten down the hatches and make every game he plays a turgid, cagey affair.
I think comparing him to George Graham is unfair, by all accounts the Arsenal team back then had a shoestring budget and predominately had to live within their means. Chelsea are one of the most financial well off clubs in Europe and have one of the best group of footballers in the world. Despite that, they are easily the most defensive and dour team in European football. I was watching Juventus – Real the other night and even Juventus, arguably the most ‘pragmatic’ of all the top clubs, started the game on the front foot and actually tore at Madrid – despite Madrid being notoriously lethal on counter attacks. As soon as Juventus went a goal up, with 15 minutes to go, they shut up shop and effectively killed the game by going for 5 at the back.
I think that’s when football becomes chess – that constant balance between attack and defence, when tactics start being interesting. Playing 11 men behind the ball and sucking the intensity out of the game on the other hand, does not impress me.
I can’t argue that it’s an effective way of getting results, but just as we accuse Wenger of being needlessly frugal with the money he has at his disposal, I think Mourinho is equally frugal with the talent he has. I don’t think it’s an achievement to park the bus, it’s not unique or the by-product of talent or ingenuity. Half the clubs at the bottom of the premier league execute it in the same manner, the differences is that they don’t have Terry, Courtois, Ivanovic, Matic and Cahill. Not that many can replicate the football that this very same Chelsea team showed between September to November.
I'm just glad that that the rest of Europe don't view football the way Mourinho does.
