Jose Mourinho

[Archibald&Crooks]

Locked while I deal with this crap. When we re-open, the trolling and snide abuse nonsense needs to stop.

 

[sparx100]

I fully expect a 5-5-0 formation going forward with turgid football playing on the counter (poorly), waiting until the 70th minute to actually decide to play football before losing and people claiming that we should write the season off and to judge next season.

Absolute horseshit. We should have an identity, a plan, a way of playing but we don't. We shouldn't be playing defensively to inferior teams and gifting them the bulk of possession and chances.

Very reactive post I appreciate, but I stopped watching the game against Chelscum as it was torrid and totally unambitious. The results have masked our performances to date. It feels like we have gone no further forward since Poch left.

 

[Shadydan]

I could understand saying he left a mess for Mourinho to clean up if he had walked but he was pushed out whilst trying to muck through. Ultimately it looks like the right decision for all parties as Jose looks like he's got the energy for a rebuild and I think Poch was burnt out.

Not the way I saw it, he was mentally done after the CL final, pretty much gave up this season and was waiting for his pay off.

 

[G Ron]

You know... Chelsea finished 10th or something the year before they regrouped and won the prem the following year.

I wonder...

Just typical that City will also be able to focus solely on the PL and domestic trophies. You couldn’t write it!

 

[allatsea]

I fully expect a 5-5-0 formation going forward with turgid football playing on the counter (poorly), waiting until the 70th minute to actually decide to play football before losing and people claiming that we should write the season off and to judge next season.

Absolute horseshit. We should have an identity, a plan, a way of playing but we don't. We shouldn't be playing defensively to inferior teams and gifting them the bulk of possession and chances.

Very reactive post I appreciate, but I stopped watching the game against Chelscum as it was torrid and totally unambitious. The results have masked our performances to date. It feels like we have gone no further forward since Poch left.

We have climbed up the league table and that is the best we can hope for in current circumstances. It is all about bedding new players in (Fernandez, Lo Celso, Ndombele and Bergwijn) and getting to the bottom of the squad as to who can do what and who can be relied on. Hopefully we start next season with fit players and some new players who Mourinho has selected.

 

[Kiedis]

This "Mourhino long merchant " must stop now that the official premier league list of teams with the most long passes shows us in fact is we are 18th out of twenty on the list of long balls . You can call it boring or you can call it defensive but the facts are there and not so many long balls as people make out . So give the " long ball Mourhino " a rest and find something else to have a moan about .

The stats quoted doesn't show any context. There's a difference between the fullback to fullback switches of play that Liverpool do all the time and a hopeful punt in the general direction of an isolated striker. The stats shown doesn't even take into consideration if the pass was completed or not.

An interesting stat could be how do we work the ball into the final third, and how many times do our attackers get the ball in the final third. Or something like that. But stats like that are generally paywalled.

 

[topper]

Just typical that City will also be able to focus solely on the PL and domestic trophies. You couldn’t write it!

So might we!

 

[sparx100]

We have climbed up the league table and that is the best we can hope for in current circumstances. It is all about bedding new players in (Fernandez, Lo Celso, Ndombele and Bergwijn) and getting to the bottom of the squad as to who can do what and who can be relied on. Hopefully we start next season with fit players and some new players who Mourinho has selected.

Lo-Celso and Bergwijn look like they are settling and will have good roles within the team but N'Dombele (who I think is mustard) still looks lacklustre off the ball (despite his new regime) and we still need to figure out what Fernandez does.

Not having Kane and Son as a focal point for up front is massive I absolutely get it (I would argue Son is not a striker either and his form under Mourinho generally has been poor) but does that mean that we have to forget to play any resemblance of football during that time?

There is a worry I have that we strip the squad, bring in some Mourinho signings for shitloads of money, see more of the same football and another manager will be given the rest of next season for bedding new players in and getting to the bottom of the squad as to who can do what and who can be relied on.

The whole appointment feels short term in nature and when you look at Man United and the squad he had at his disposal there coupled with the general performances under him, I am just concerned we will follow the same route.

We are paying this man a huge sum of money as one of the top managers in the world to fix the team. All I hear is excuses that he needs time and wants to wait until the summer to get a pre-season under his belt.

I hope I am forced to grovel and apologise to all when we suddenly start showing a resemblance of a group of player who can pass the ball, dominate games and challenge for trophies, but currently as a fan there are hardly any green shoots (Lo-Celso has found his groove and looks an able/better replacement for Eriksen and Tanganga has come from nowhere and grabbed his chance). I was just expecting more.

 

[Metalhead]

Lo-Celso and Bergwijn look like they are settling and will have good roles within the team but N'Dombele (who I think is mustard) still looks lacklustre off the ball (despite his new regime) and we still need to figure out what Fernandez does.

Not having Kane and Son as a focal point for up front is massive I absolutely get it (I would argue Son is not a striker either and his form under Mourinho generally has been poor) but does that mean that we have to forget to play any resemblance of football during that time?

There is a worry I have that we strip the squad, bring in some Mourinho signings for shitloads of money, see more of the same football and another manager will be given the rest of next season for bedding new players in and getting to the bottom of the squad as to who can do what and who can be relied on.

The whole appointment feels short term in nature and when you look at Man United and the squad he had at his disposal there coupled with the general performances under him, I am just concerned we will follow the same route.

We are paying this man a huge sum of money as one of the top managers in the world to fix the team. All I hear is excuses that he needs time and wants to wait until the summer to get a pre-season under his belt.

I hope I am forced to grovel and apologise to all when we suddenly start showing a resemblance of a group of player who can pass the ball, dominate games and challenge for trophies, but currently as a fan there are hardly any green shoots (Lo-Celso has found his groove and looks an able/better replacement for Eriksen and Tanganga has come from nowhere and grabbed his chance). I was just expecting more.

He does need the summer window and a preseason though. I think that is a fair way to judge him. He knows that he won't be getting Man U level transfer budgets so one has to assume that he's factored that in before agreeing to the job. He certainly seems more settled here than at United. The fact that he lived in a hotel whilst at United was an indication that it was never going to be a long term job.

 

[dudu]

This "Mourhino long merchant " must stop now that the official premier league list of teams with the most long passes shows us in fact is we are 18th out of twenty on the list of long balls . You can call it boring or you can call it defensive but the facts are there and not so many long balls as people make out . So give the " long ball Mourhino " a rest and find something else to have a moan about .

Also, you can find plenty of games from the last 5 seasons where we have played as many long balls as we are now.

 

[G Ron]

So might we!

If you read the post I was responding to you’ll see that’s what I was getting at. Basically in a different season being out of European competition can really help a title challenge (see Leicester, Chelsea etc), but in typical Spurs fashion Man City will also be in the same position due to the ban.

 

[sparx100]

He does need the summer window and a preseason though. I think that is a fair way to judge him. He knows that he won't be getting Man U level transfer budgets so one has to assume that he's factored that in before agreeing to the job. He certainly seems more settled here than at United. The fact that he lived in a hotel whilst at United was an indication that it was never going to be a long term job.

Don't get me wrong and I do agree he needs time to bring his players in but he cant get a tune out of the current ones. We aren't going to be replacing 10, we are likely to bring in 3 or 4 (max).

Football is an emotional game. At the moment I am fairly frustrated that's all.

 

[buckley]

It seems some are selecting which stats to believe or give reasons why some stats are wrong because it does not fit their anti Mourhino stance . You have the premier league stats for long balls played this season and plenty are giving reasons why the stats are faulty and they may be right but I am right that if the stats had said they were the team that played the most long balls of any team you would not have heard a squeak from them except to say " there you go the stats prove me right " Sad cases .

 

[Metalhead]

Don't get me wrong and I do agree he needs time to bring his players in but he cant get a tune out of the current ones. We aren't going to be replacing 10, we are likely to bring in 3 or 4 (max).

Football is an emotional game. At the moment I am fairly frustrated that's all.

We all are frustrated mate - totally understandable. At the back of my mind I had it in mind that a while before taking the job there was talk of him being interested in a more 'modest' project. It might be that there were already conversations taking place about the job but that would reinforce the idea that he is on board with the fact that this job will not command the types of budget that he has been used to apart from Porto.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

If you read the post I was responding to you’ll see that’s what I was getting at. Basically in a different season being out of European competition can really help a title challenge (see Leicester, Chelsea etc), but in typical Spurs fashion Man City will also be in the same position due to the ban.

I doubt Kane will be satisifed with having a season out of the CL though...

 

[Kiedis]

It seems some are selecting which stats to believe or give reasons why some stats are wrong because it does not fit their anti Mourhino stance . You have the premier league stats for long balls played this season and plenty are giving reasons why the stats are faulty and they may be right but I am right that if the stats had said they were the team that played the most long balls of any team you would not have heard a squeak from them except to say " there you go the stats prove me right " Sad cases .

Seeing as I made the post about how we should add context to the most basic of basic stats, I think you may be talking about me. I can assure you that me being able to a perform minimum of critical thinking doesn't hinge on who the manager is.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Jose seems to be cast as the villain by the media and many fans for playing a defensive five at the back , as if he is the first manager in history to employ these tactics , I don't think so.
Contrast this to the defensive strategy we employed against Dortmund at Wembley , Dortmund had 68% possession but we had Harry & Sonny up front , we won the game and Poch is a hero but just check out the heatmap to see how defensive we were .
Play defensively and lose your the villain , play defensively and win your a hero.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41216382

 

[Paul Gascoigne]

Brian Clough said that a club should give any manager 5 years. Now that it far fetched these days, but come on give the bloke a chance. I think he is hated because of Chelsea link. He took an aged team to the ECL final and won. I will never forget the game in Barcelona when, against all odds, they triumphed. He is not tired or burnt out. OK he failed at Man U, but that included winning an FA Cup and a Europa Cup !, but he was not alone in that.
I loved Poch and Harry and Jol but now we have JM and hopefully a bright future.

 

[jackson]

Jose seems to be cast as the villain by the media and many fans for playing a defensive five at the back , as if he is the first manager in history to employ these tactics , I don't think so.
Contrast this to the defensive strategy we employed against Dortmund at Wembley , Dortmund had 68% possession but we had Harry & Sonny up front , we won the game and Poch is a hero but just check out the heatmap to see how defensive we were .
Play defensively and lose your the villain , play defensively and win your a hero.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41216382

If you're (we're) going to play defensively, then you need to be very good/solid defensively and clinical on the counter attack, we're currently neither. That's the issue I'm having with it. If we're going to play like that, which I'm not adverse to against certain teams, then we need to be a whole lot better at it. Otherwise we just look like a very poor side.

I'm sure more people would be onboard with Jose's tactics if we didn't look like conceding for long periods and then countered with real intent.

 

[dudu]

If you're (we're) going to play defensively, then you need to be very good/solid defensively and clinical on the counter attack, we're currently neither. That's the issue I'm having with it. If we're going to play like that, which I'm not adverse to against certain teams, then we need to be a whole lot better at it. Otherwise we just look like a very poor side.

I'm sure more people would be onboard with Jose's tactics if we didn't look like conceding for long periods and then countered with real intent.

The question remains then, how does he play?

The problem is that any system is still going to hampered by the same ageing/up and coming central defence, inadequate full-backs (though I am still happy Ben Davies is back) disjointed and inexperienced premier league central midfield.

Are we equipped to play another way that I am missing? We play a super high line and press and we will get picked to shreds.

I actually think with a fit and settled side we have all the tools to play incisive counter-attacking football but you are right, at the moment we are falling short. Time and hopefully a few smart additions in the summer will change this dramatically i feel.