Jose Mourinho

[rossdapep]

Most (not all) of the players have are good enough IMO, the problem is the players we don't have. If we'd had a capable DM, pacey fullbacks capable of defending pacey attackers, or a second-choice striker then today would have been a fundamentally different match. We've got quality players but the squad as a whole is lacking in key areas.

You're right, you can see some things working but when you've got a RB who makes stupid decisions defensively, CMs who are not adjusted covering the defence and no focal point in attack it leads to very inconsistent performances.

Same thing happened when Poch came in and we had Paulinho, Stambouli and Capoue as our midfield options, Fazio and Chiriches adopting to a high press, Naughton and a struggling Walker as RB options, Soldado and Adebayor (useless and lazy) strikers.

We won't lool like a team until Jose has had serious time to imprint his style and bring in the missing components.

 

[SugarRay]

My thoughts:

• I think Levy was right to sack Poch and we'd be in a relegation battle if he'd stayed on as the players were not playing for him.
• I think that Mourinho cannot really be fairly judged until he has had a full summer to shape and train the squad to suit his philosophy.
• I do have serious doubts that Mourinho will be successful with us for a number of reasons:
  • I believe football managers have a decade at the very top* before football moves on. Mourinho's decade was 2004 - 2014.
  • I do not think Levy will spend the money on the experienced players Jose undoubtedly will want as they will not have sell on value: e.g.
    • A dominant / leader CB aged 28-30 (e.g. Koulibaly (29 this summer) for £90M).
    • A world class DCM (e.g. Kante (29 this summer) for £80M).
    • An athletic and physically dominant target man in the image of Drogba (Victor Osimhen (22 this summer) for £60M).
• I think investing in a younger manager who is in the ascendency (like Nagelsmann) would be a better, long term move.

*Fergie being the exception.

There’s no need to spend that sort of money to address our issues. We could improve massively by buying players off of Norwich, Brighton and Watford. We have some serious talent in the squad but we have awful balance and a serious lack of leadership and physicality, especially in defence.


I’m not saying we should buy these players but I have no doubt at all we win that game today if we had Aarons, Dunk, Doucoure and Cantwell in our squad. I don’t think we necessarily need to spend £200m on three ‘top class’ players ( who don’t know the league )
Smart investment, good dependable players who fit what we need can be relied upon etc and more importantly get the absolute best out of the top, top class talent we already have in the squad.

 

[Thewobbler]

Poor people? What? What are you even on about?

No matter, bigger fool me for even questioning it.

The fuck was I thinking.

Your right, poor choice of words from me, working class I should have said. The price of tickets are insane, but its not my business so why should I care about that side of it.

 

[Wsussexspur]

Not having Kane or any kind of target man up front actually puts our defenders under a shit load of pressure.

Not having a natural DM for best part of 18 months has put our defence under tremendous pressure.

 

[rossdapep]

maybe you have a point re: quality/mentality.

agree with you about attacking. didn’t think the performance today was too bad. would have expected Jose to tighten up the defence by now.

I think you have to look at the real lack of continuation in that defence.
He's tried....
Jan and Toby - too slow, too easy to beat.
Sanchez and Toby - better but Toby not as good in a low block
Toby and Tanganga - same as above
Sanchez, Dier and Tanganga - struggled massively

There's a reason people say a settled back four leads to stability. The issue is Jose is still figuring out what is best and he's probably trying to do that without it being a detriment to the attack....and because Kane and Son are out he's opted for a back 5 to try give us more attacking intent due to what we've lost.

The whole situation is a mess of epic proportions and if anyone comes on here claiming to know the answer to our current problems besides a fresh reset in the summer is a liar.

 

[SugarRay]

Why would people care about the atmosphere when selling there ticket? Most people only care about how much money they get and who can blame them. I bet levy and lewis don't care about the atmosphere when they are pricing working class people out of going to games. Tourists are willing to pony up becasue its usually a one time thing

I suspect they don’t care and that’s their choice. I’ve got a bloke next to me who has a season ticket and attends 4/5 games at most a season. That’s his choice of course just seems weird to me. He’s a proper miserable bastard too so I don’t miss him that much anyway!

I’m not telling anyone how to use their season ticket but I’m certainly telling members who buy it and then subsequently sell it on to away fans to fuck right off. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets a kicking at one of these games because of this.

 

[Trix]

He's identified everything he believes we need in the summer(and it's not unrealistic). From what I hear we won't be reliant on one choice for each position either so that's a head start at least.

He has to be given that plus a pre season before he can really be judged imo.

 

[Teddy Klinsmann]

Honestly don’t think this is on Mourinho, yet. Squad has been dead for some time. A lack of investment over 3 years has killed all momentum. A huge overall of the team is required. Happy to give Jose the time, don’t see any other alternative. All on levy and all Enic to back him. 5 first team players minimum needed to change current slide. Centre back, left back, right back, defensive midfielder, striker.

 

[Teddy Klinsmann]

He's identified everything he believes we need in the summer(and it's not unrealistic). From what I hear we won't be reliant on one choice for each position either so that's a head start at least.

He has to be given that plus a pre season before he can really be judged imo.

Interested to see what positions he believes need upgraded? IMO everything bar 1 or 2 are up for grabs in terms of upgrade.

 

[midoshairband]

I think you have to look at the real lack of continuation in that defence.
He's tried....
Jan and Toby - too slow, too easy to beat.
Sanchez and Toby - better but Toby not as good in a low block
Toby and Tanganga - same as above
Sanchez, Dier and Tanganga - struggled massively

There's a reason people say a settled back four leads to stability. The issue is Jose is still figuring out what is best and he's probably trying to do that without it being a detriment to the attack....and because Kane and Son are out he's opted for a back 5 to try give us more attacking intent due to what we've lost.

The whole situation is a mess of epic proportions and if anyone comes on here claiming to know the answer to our current problems besides a fresh reset in the summer is a liar.

do you know what, i think you’re right. once you take the emotion of losing out of it, and have someone else give a different slant on things it makes you think.

i think whats most frustrating is that we are effectively writing this season off when it was a crucial season for us to get CL footy. and thats a very achievable goal given the teams around us. all we had to do was be a little less shit and we could be in a strong position to finish top 4.

i do worry about the summer, and i hope Jose and Levy get it right.

 

[midoshairband]

He's identified everything he believes we need in the summer(and it's not unrealistic). From what I hear we won't be reliant on one choice for each position either so that's a head start at least.

He has to be given that plus a pre season before he can really be judged imo.

i hope this is true,

forgive me for being pessimistic though, we’ve heard similar before.

 

[Univarn]

He's identified everything he believes we need in the summer(and it's not unrealistic). From what I hear we won't be reliant on one choice for each position either so that's a head start at least.

He has to be given that plus a pre season before he can really be judged imo.

I think that's fair. I think it's also fair for some fans to be wary of us getting stuck in a perpetual short term solution loop if the summer goes poorly and we miss targets or we do and he really isn't the right man to fix the issues at the club.

 

[SugarRay]

Your right, poor choice of words from me, working class I should have said. The price of tickets are insane, but its not my business so why should I care about that side of it.

You should care absolutely. We all should.
I can afford a season ticket luckily and the small increase of £33 or whatever it is for next season didn’t kill me but when I kicked off about it I had a few here shouting me down a bit! Saying it’s not that much of an increase considering it works out at £2 a game.

My point is it’s way too expensive anyway so any increase is a kick in the teeth. Ticket prices exclude people from the game as you say, that’s not right at all. It doesn’t matter if I have a ticket or not, I think it’s a disgrace the prices in this country ( and we’re the most expensive )

 

[Trix]

i hope this is true,

forgive me for being pessimistic though, we’ve heard similar before.

I'm not saying he will get it. I'm saying he has to be given that before he can really be judged.

 

[SugarRay]

He's identified everything he believes we need in the summer(and it's not unrealistic). From what I hear we won't be reliant on one choice for each position either so that's a head start at least.

He has to be given that plus a pre season before he can really be judged imo.

We need names...

Or at least the location of where these players currently play ( domestic based? )

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

Whether he wins trophies with us is still to be seen, but writing him off after just a few months in charge of a squad where the rot had well and truely set in is madness.
[/QUOTE]
Hmmm. He usually has a couple of promising or successful seasons before going horrifically off-beam in his third and then walking or getting kicked out.
Sadly he seems to have gone directly into his third season form with us.

 

[rossdapep]

do you know what, i think you’re right. once you take the emotion of losing out of it, and have someone else give a different slant on things it makes you think.

i think whats most frustrating is that we are effectively writing this season off when it was a crucial season for us to get CL footy. and thats a very achievable goal given the teams around us. all we had to do was be a little less shit and we could be in a strong position to finish top 4.

i do worry about the summer, and i hope Jose and Levy get it right.

It's frustrating, no doubt about it. I'm not enjoying this period at all and I do find myself feeling pretty dismayed about everything. But I also remember going though the same motions under Poch in his first season, only difference is we have the new stadium and had one of the best teams in the country over the last few years.

 

[Thewobbler]

Whatever you think of jose, he needs a proper transfer window. He will know his budget in the summer and im sure he and the transfer committee have started to identify targets. The question is will levy splash the cash getting them all in.

 

[panoma]

We where the better team today and had many chances. It's not Mourinho's fault we defend this poorly. With our poor defenders and lack lf a quality DM we will continue to concede easy goals.

We've showed top 4 form since Mou took over and the amount of slagging off he get's is unmatched since the Sherwood era.

Is it always entertaining? No it is not. Is it effective? Yeah it kind of is. Best get behind the team and the manager as Mou is going nowhere.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Son and Kane being unavailable isn't the reason why our defense is rubbish

Yes it's not just about Sonny & Harry, not sure everyone appreciates just how much Sissoko's strength and defensive covering is missed from his midfield position, apart from his lapses giving away penalties in CL final and away Man U.