Jose Mourinho

[Japhet]

I hope Bale and Reguilon can give the place a lift because we certainly need it. Generally speaking, I think the football we've played has been mind bogglingly dull with the odd bright spot here and there. To start with, Mourinho was blowing smoke up Dele's arse and it looked like he was trying to build the team around him, but we know that you can't do that with a 'streaky' player like Dele. A short time later, Dele is apparently available to loan.

He continues with a CM2 even though we're lacking creativity and dynamism in there, and our best performances have invariably come with more bodies in CM. We now have a group of players crying out for 3 in midfield in some shape or form but I'm not convinced we'll see it.

Our forward play has been a major concern for me. In this style, chances are few and far between, but our forward line have butchered chance after chance either through selfishness or lack of awareness. Everybody wants to be the hero but not passing to each other becomes a loop that perpetuates itself. That is a coaching issue and something Mourinho has to get to grips with.

I want Mourinho to succeed, not because I like him or ever wanted him here, but for the sake of the club and the supporters.

 

[VegasII]

Jose needs to take the handbrake off and get us scoring more goals. Bit extreme but

 

[Shadydan]

I just watch us and it's clear that we need to move the ball quicker and need an injection of ideas in the middle because the ball just keeps constantly coming back to get recycled and at that point the opposition's defences have gotten into shape. I think a fully motivated Ndombele and a fully fit Lo Celso change this team dramatically, they are able to move the ball quicker and more incisive and see passes that our other players don't, they're also both very good at holding off the press.

 

[rossdapep]

I hope Bale and Reguilon can give the place a lift because we certainly need it. Generally speaking, I think the football we've played has been mind bogglingly dull with the odd bright spot here and there. To start with, Mourinho was blowing smoke up Dele's arse and it looked like he was trying to build the team around him, but we know that you can't do that with a 'streaky' player like Dele. A short time later, Dele is apparently available to loan.

He continues with a CM2 even though we're lacking creativity and dynamism in there, and our best performances have invariably come with more bodies in CM. We now have a group of players crying out for 3 in midfield in some shape or form but I'm not convinced we'll see it.

Our forward play has been a major concern for me. In this style, chances are few and far between, but our forward line have butchered chance after chance either through selfishness or lack of awareness. Everybody wants to be the hero but not passing to each other becomes a loop that perpetuates itself. That is a coaching issue and something Mourinho has to get to grips with.

I want Mourinho to succeed, not because I like him or ever wanted him here, but for the sake of the club and the supporters.

In Jose's defence the two most creative players we have are Ndombele and Lo Celso. We've been starved of both of them for a good percentage of Jose's reign, even Lo Celso was carrying a knock by the end of last season and we all know about Ndombele.

If Ndombele continues to improve, Lo Celso starts to cement his place further and we STILL see poor performances then we should worry.

But right now a midfield consisting of Winks, Sissoko, Hojbjerg and Alli is absolutely no barometer to rate Jose and creativity in his team. Even if you're Pep you are having problems with creativity.

Lastly, creativity in today's game can also come indirectly from your full backs. Of your FBs can beat a man and advance high up the pitch it creates underlaps or overlaps and of course crossing opportunities. We've been stuck with Davies and Aurier for the past year, neither of whom have the ability to pin defenders back and neither excell in crossing or intelligent play in the final play (Aurier slightly better)

Having Doherrty and now Reguilon will increase those possibilities.

Give them a few games and I'm sure we'll start to see it coming together.

My concern now will be the defence. We need less errors and better concentration.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I hope Bale and Reguilon can give the place a lift because we certainly need it. Generally speaking, I think the football we've played has been mind bogglingly dull with the odd bright spot here and there. To start with, Mourinho was blowing smoke up Dele's arse and it looked like he was trying to build the team around him, but we know that you can't do that with a 'streaky' player like Dele. A short time later, Dele is apparently available to loan.

He continues with a CM2 even though we're lacking creativity and dynamism in there, and our best performances have invariably come with more bodies in CM. We now have a group of players crying out for 3 in midfield in some shape or form but I'm not convinced we'll see it.

Our forward play has been a major concern for me. In this style, chances are few and far between, but our forward line have butchered chance after chance either through selfishness or lack of awareness. Everybody wants to be the hero but not passing to each other becomes a loop that perpetuates itself. That is a coaching issue and something Mourinho has to get to grips with.

I want Mourinho to succeed, not because I like him or ever wanted him here, but for the sake of the club and the supporters.

I think much of what concerns you can be remedied by the three man midfield which finished yesterday’s match.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Fuck me are you BC in disguise?

Lol who or what is BC mate?

Hope you liked the analysis

 

[Japhet]

I think much of what concerns you can be remedied by the three man midfield which finished yesterday’s match.

I hope it works out like that. Mourinho has though been pretty resistant to using 3 in CM and we've been constantly out-performed in there by all levels of opponents. Last season we were crying out for somebody to play the holding role, and we had Skipp who has never let us down but never got a sniff. IMO, we just needed another body in there, not a super star, but just someone to even up the numbers and give us a fighting chance, but Mourinho obviously didn't see it that way. I hope he changes his tune, or at least deploys Hojbjerg in a holding role rather than chasing the ball around like a demented Jack Russell.

 

[Japhet]

Lol who or what is BC mate?

Hope you liked the analysis

BC (Bus Conductor) was a member of SC who would go into great analytical detail of performances, players, formations, youth setup, blah blah blah. Think he got himself banned and defected to the dark side though.

 

[Legacy]

BC (Bus Conductor) was a member of SC who would go into great analytical detail of performances, players, formations, youth setup, blah blah blah. Think he got himself banned and defected to the dark side though.

I miss Bus Conductor. It's rare to be able to enjoy reading somebody's posts while also disagreeing with almost all of it.

 

[Grey Fox]

Lol who or what is BC mate?

Hope you liked the analysis

Old poster who used to write diatribes on tactics, formations etc, no worries mate just kidding

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

BC (Bus Conductor) was a member of SC who would go into great analytical detail of performances, players, formations, youth setup, blah blah blah. Think he got himself banned and defected to the dark side though.

Ah got ya thanks mate, I was a bit stumped. I thought he'd made a typo and meant to say JC as in am I joao sacramento

 

[Spurs_Bear]

I thought this might be interesting for some of you to see and think about when you talk about Jose’s style of play and tactics, what you like, don’t like and what you expect to see and think we will see as he moulds the squad to his liking:

1)this is a match from 04/05 vs Newcastle:
Now this is 15 years ago and football has changed and we will come onto that in video 2 but there are still some clear principles of play in video 1 which resemble how he’s trying to get us to play today with most the attacks coming from transitions.

People who say Jose has no clue how to set-up an attack etc are kind of correct in a way but looking at it the wrong way. Jose as he’s said in the AON docco is all about “if you don’t concede goals then you can win matches” that is his mantra so his whole ethos is built around firstly stopping teams scoring. He does this by zonal and positional defending and then attacking in transitions and counter attacks. The best example of this so far was when we played Leicester last season and won 3-0. Jose’s approach is almost the reverse approach to Pep.

What we lack compared to this Chelsea team is:
World class defenders : Cech, Terry, Carbaliho, Makalele
Main thing : a CM who can create the transitions (Ndombele will be perfect) AND a goal scoring AM like lampard (dele and lo celso could be this) but lampard was

Wingers and attackers who are clinical on transitions (Son is pretty good but Lucas is so far off what Duff and Robben were which is why Bale will be a huge help for Jose)

We also miss another striker option as although drogba was brilliant, Gudjihnson was extremely important to Jose that season.



2) Chelsea vs Arsenal 2-0 14/15 season 4-2-3-1 formation

here what we have been missing is simailr to the above but here the formation and style of play is more modern and similar to how he’s trying to get us to play now:

Defenders they had were world class, ours aren’t bad especially with Doherty and Regulion additions but think we are still a top top class CB away from being as water right as Jose would like so can see why he still wants to bring one in.

CM creativity , they had fabregas who was so ideal for Jose in that role, again TN could be the man to play this role fingers crossed but we need him to step up ASAP

Quality in the attacking unit: Hazard Oscar schurlee/ Willian & costa. Until now dele hasn’t been on form and sorry but is no where near as dangerous as Oscar was that season, son needs to step up to be hazard levels and Lucas just isn’t producing goals or assists in the PL (no goals in 21 games!) so again schurlee & Willian mikes ahead of his quality but that is where bale comes in.



So in summary:
• Jose’s football has pretty much always been pragmatic and focused first and foremost on not conceding as as so much importance is placed on that its natural that the attacking side of things will suffer a bit. It’s why Jose teams rarely thrash teams 4,5-0 but when they are a well oiled machine, if they go 1-0 up it’s basically game over which is quite demoralising for the opponents.
The first Chelsea team he won the league with only lost one match and only conceded 15 goals which is remarkable, but even with the quality of lampard, duff, robbed drogba, they only scored 72 but that was enough to get 29 wins and 95 points! I know football has changed a bit but his 2nd title win only 5 season ago has shown that this style can still be very effective.
So, be prepared to be a bit ‘bored’ but if he gets us playing well then try and enjoy the way we ‘control’ games in a different way by controlling the space and areas of play and waiting like a tiger to counter punch, it may be a little boring for sure but it can be incredibly effective and as we’ve won zilch for years why not mabye get behind him for a bit and let’s see how it goes as he looks to mould the squad to his liking

•When Jose took over our squad was a mess and was miles away quality wise from the types of teams and squads he’s had where he’s won titles and trophies in the PL. BUT we’ve done a hell of a job at addressing the weaknesses :
RB : Doherty
LB : Regukion
DM : PEH
AM : Bale
And we will add at least a striker, so the squad has gone from say a 4-5/10 to now being about a 7-8/10 to where Jose needs it to be.

remember that klopp and pep both took a good 2-3 seasons to get the players in to suit the way they wanted to play. At Utd Jose spent a lot bit his squad had some huge weaknesses still and he wasn’t properly backed with his ideas whereas levy is clearly fully backing him and that could make a big difference.

Tottenham vs Leicester 3-0 last season :
I know Leicester we’re depleted with injuries but for me this game is the closest I’ve seen us play to how an well oiled Jose mouriniho machine team can operate and to be honest I found this game fairly exciting and fine to watxg



So all in all yes it can be a bit boring at times but it’s very exciting how Jose is RW-moulding the squad and if we can get say a ST and CB in the rest of this window he will have about 90% of what he needs, the team and squad will be chalk and cheese compared to last season.

So get used to games being close as thats the way Jose approaches matches in a pragmatic way so we shouldn’t ever be too open but we also will rarely blow teams away, BUT if we can become a hard working organised solid unit and can then use the pace and quality of the full backs, the creativity of GLC/TN and the pace power and quality of : Son, Bale, Dele, Bergy, Kane and a new striker then it could and should be very effective and get us lots of wins and points. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea (and I’m talking to myself a bit as well here) let’s try to have a little patience as once the new signings start to settle in we should see quite a different and effective Spurs and you just never know, the year does end in 1 after all..

COYS!

That is a top post.

 

[Locotoro]

Old poster who used to write dribble on tactics, formations etc, no worries mate just kidding

Fixed your post

only kidding, i did enjoy reading his posts even where i disagreed

 

[RichieS]

Fixed your post

only kidding, i did enjoy reading his posts even where i disagreed

The BC, @Spurs_Bear feud was quality stuff.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Mourinho now has probably the most balanced starting 11 on paper, and 100 % the best attack, at Tottenham since Redknapp.

 

[Shadydan]

So looks like Jose is to be given the tools that he needs to work with because he was always gonna struggle to get anywhere with the majority of our current crop, he just isn't that kind of coach to coach players to their maximum, he's better with ready made players. I won't lie I do like the squad and I think we are genuinely equipped to win trophies now if not the worst case scenario push on and get back to the levels of 3 years ago or so.

What I expect is for us to be difficult to break down, we saw glimpses of that post lockdown last season, being hard to break down and organised at the back, lost of communication between the defenders, we need to enjoy defending and embrace it as much as Jose does, not just the back line but as a team. What does concern me thought is the form of our centre backs, we really don't have anyone outstanding back there, Toby is declining, Dier is very hit and miss and Sanchez who I think has the highest celling tends to have brain farts but I still think he needs someone to hold his hand. If we could get another CB (a leader) like Dias then he'd transform our defence much like Van Dijk did for Liverpool. That said I still think the form of Sanchez is key, he has the pace and strength to become a real handful for attackers, if he improves, we improve.

Our midfield has the potential to be scary in both ways, scary because an injury to Lo Celso and Ndombele to lose interest again and we're left with a midfield that we saw against Everton which is completely useless, not much creativity to get the ball to our forwards. Having said that keep these two fit and interested and you have potential 3 players who fit Jose's counter attacking/non possession based tactic. Hojbjerg is adept at reading the game and winning the ball back which will bring much needed relief to our defence. Ndombele and Lo Celso are both press resistant/quick release players who play accurate and well timed balls to the forwards and like to carry the ball forwards whilst dribbling, they can open up so much space for other players because they are excellent and beating the press. We could actually do with a creative midfielder I think to supplement Lo Celso and Ndombele because I don't think we can rely on them to play 90 mins constantly especially the latter.

As for the attack well we just generally have to accept that Jose isn't as good or doesn't hold as much interest as much as a Pep for example on how to setup an attack as much Pep doesn't have that much interest or nous in how to setup a defence as Jose. I'm okay with that in Kane, Bale and Son we have 3 match winners and even if they're all not on the pitch at the same time, having any 2 of those on the pitch at the same time will still cause damage, this has been said many times...to win matches you need a good attack, to win titles you need a good defence.

Verdict a Centre back, creative mid and a backup striker needed and it's all over to Jose to do what Jose does best.

 

[ajspurs]

I just hope Jose can get it all to click now because that's one thing we have very rarely been able to do since he arrived, and admittedly for a period before that in all honesty. We are weeding out the mediocre players from the first 11 and starting to raise the general quality. I still just think we need that additional creative central player to help knit everything together, but from looking very far to having a decent enough team this season, we're looking just a few players away from having an incredibly talented squad.

 

[Locotoro]

The BC, @Spurs_Bear feud was quality stuff.

Like Ali v Frazier

 

[LeParisien]

I’m so excited to see the turgid football Mourinho serves up with this exciting squad.

 

[RichieS]

Like Ali v Frazier

IIRC, one wanted Rodgers and the other wanted Lambert.