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Jose Mourinho

How do you feel about Mourinho appointment

  • Excited - silverware here we come baby

    Votes: 666 46.7%
  • Meh - will give him a chance and hope he is successful

    Votes: 468 32.8%
  • Horrified - praying for the day he'll fuck off

    Votes: 292 20.5%

  • Total voters
    1,426

Sophos151

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2016
792
2,559
A few points:

1. Mourinho’s Nov 2019 comment that our squad is fantastic and he doesn’t need new players, I doubt he ever truly believed - he just wanted to build up confidence in the squad, and to motivate the players to prove him right.

2. Our poor first half against Southampton wasn’t really that poor. Alan Shearer basically said on MOTD that our goal at the end of the half was deserved, because we’d consistently got in behind Southampton, only to be denied by narrow offsides. Of course, we definitely improved in the second half.

3. Someone mentioned that our build-up under Pochettino was a lot more structured and consistent, but I think that was actually a weakness in big games - Mourinho probably thought so as well, considering how he utterly shut us down in the final and semi-final we Poch against his Chelsea and United sides.
 

fishhhandaricecake

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2018
18,702
46,941
Didn’t José say our squad was great and almost didn’t need new players back in November last year?
He was always going to say that when he came in to give the players confidence. I think the squad hasn't performed quite as well as he would've hoped but I think he's not stupid and he will have realised that there is a re-build needed.
 

fishhhandaricecake

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2018
18,702
46,941
I get the feeling that Jose is doing to Dele the same as he has done to Ndombele.
Yep, I don't think he's going anywhere. It is kind of working with TN now to be fair.

Hope Dele can come back firing as a Lampard type CM in a 4-3-3 as that saves us having to buy a CM then we just need ST and CB. Would rather Dele found his form from 2-3 seasons ago than we sold him.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
Yep, I don't think he's going anywhere. It is kind of working with TN now to be fair.

Hope Dele can come back firing as a Lampard type CM in a 4-3-3 as that saves us having to buy a CM then we just need ST and CB. Would rather Dele found his form from 2-3 seasons ago than we sold him.

Big ask that, I don't expect him to completely turn his form around from 2017 and what's more I don't think he's ever really played as a CM in a 4-3-3 at this level.
 

wishkah

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
4,790
14,449
the Wingbacks did get merked quite a lot, which i think individually is poor but i did question why they and the CB were left so exposed yesterday. why were they getting run at so often. The second ball situation was also atrocious.

So for me it came down to the CM 3, but i think it was more a CM2 with nDom playing higher up. I couldn't believe that they were being out run, out muscled and out passed. PEH was taken out of the game far to often with either a turn or a one-two. Winks was a ghost. I had to start questioning what was going on in the middle of the park. We didn't have the ball for more than 30 seconds before long-balling it up the park.

What worried me most was that this is Southampton, not Liverpool or Chelsea. We wouldn't even give those guys a game in the middle of the park. And noting southampton, we had the better players - their ex-captain for f sake. This is why, for me, it started to come down to Jose and his tactics. We should have been a few goals down before we started to run away with it, a better team would have killed us.

Given the importance of the Midfield in shielding the back 4, and linking the front 3 (who looked a bit bored for a while) i am really worried here. Our CM 3 should not have been overrun by a CM2.

I hope it's Jose's tactics bedding in. I wasn't this calm yesterday watching it though.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,550
FWIW I don't think we will sell Dele I think it's just a kick up the backside by leaving him out the squads but this post is madness simple as that
I hope this is right but I also wouldn't be sad to see Dele leave. If he stays and gets a chance in the XI again, it really is last chance saloon for him. Mourinho got a reaction from most of the team as soon as he took over, Dele especially stood out in those initial games but that appears more and more like a short blip in a steady decline from his 2015-18 form.

There just doesn't seem to be a natural place for Dele in the team now. He can't play wide, he has tried to play as an 8 under both Poch and Mourinho and it hasn't worked out, and really Jose's system doesn't suit a second striker.

I won't cry if he goes, I'll thank him for his first three wonderful years with us and hope he rebuilds his career at another (hopefully foreign) club.
 
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Locotoro

Prince of Zamunda
Sep 2, 2004
9,326
13,915
Just to add to my last post on this...

Here you can see the UCL Winners, Bayern, most recent match where they have steamrolled a very capable opponents. Look at the goals, most from quick transitions, direct vertical passing where they have condensed the pitch. By all media accounts, Bayern are playing swashbuckling, penetrative attacking attractive football -their style has been likened to a well oiled efficient machine.




Now look at our highlights from the match against Southampton. There is a distinct similarity between what both teams are trying to achieve in terms of style of effectiveness. Its the same quick vertical passing, deep block followed by an opportunistic press. Whilst Bayern are considerably more effective at this style, our team has been described as turgid, boring, relinquishing possession etc. I suspect if we get a few more highscoring victories the narrative may change.

 

Maxtremist

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2014
1,530
3,300
Just to add to my last post on this...

Here you can see the UCL Winners, Bayern, most recent match where they have steamrolled a very capable opponents. Look at the goals, most from quick transitions, direct vertical passing where they have condensed the pitch. By all media accounts, Bayern are playing swashbuckling, penetrative attacking attractive football -their style has been likened to a well oiled efficient machine.




Now look at our highlights from the match against Southampton. There is a distinct similarity between what both teams are trying to achieve in terms of style of effectiveness. Its the same quick vertical passing, deep block followed by an opportunistic press. Whilst Bayern are considerably more effective at this style, our team has been described as turgid, boring, relinquishing possession etc. I suspect if we get a few more highscoring victories the narrative may change.



I get your general point from this post... But Schalke currently as capable opponents?
Since football returned after the corona break, Schalke have played 10 Bundesliga games. In those 10 games: 0 wins, 2 draws, 8 losses; 5 goals scored, 28 conceded. Been horrifically bad.
 

Locotoro

Prince of Zamunda
Sep 2, 2004
9,326
13,915
I get your general point from this post... But Schalke currently as capable opponents?
Since football returned after the corona break, Schalke have played 10 Bundesliga games. In those 10 games: 0 wins, 2 draws, 8 losses; 5 goals scored, 28 conceded. Been horrifically bad.
Let's not forget this Bayern team did the same thing to Us and Barca.

They've put through 4 or more goals past an opponent in 17 of the last 34 games (with a lot of the other games scoring 3). That's half of the games they play they score at least 4 goals. That is a ridiculous stat
 
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