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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]500585[/split]
When he was there he got into arguments with other clubs managers and Presidents ands the media hated him. He disrespected everyone and made a handcuff gesture during a game before. He courted plenty of controversy there (there is so much stuff that I could dig up if I was arsed it is not even funny). I can only assume you did not follow him much in Italy because there was not much difference from what he was like there and in Spain.
Even during his first Chelsea stint he got into trouble with the referee in the Barca CL game. This is how he reacts when things don't go his way and the media question him. Perhaps there was less controversy in his first Chelsea stint because he won comfortably in his first two seasons and the media in England have a weird infatuation with him and give him more leeway but the media in Italy and Spain did not treat him in such a way. In his last season in England he regularly complained about United being favoured by referees and called Ronaldo "uneducated". He hasn't really changed much over the years. What changes is how successful his teams are and how the media are with him. As soon as his teams begin to struggle a bit and he comes under a bit if criticism and pressure then the real Jose emerges.
He is the best manager in the world IMO and I am a fan of his, but he has always been this way.
Fair points, I mainly followed him in the CL in his time at Inter. His time in England and Spain I watched him a lot more closely. At Madrid I feel like he completely lost the plot, poking other managers in the eye? I mean I get shifting attention off your team and onto you and whatever other cute psychological tricks he has, but there's a point where things like that start becoming laughably stupid. I mentioned it already, but it would be insane if anyone else did it. The footballing community's absolution of the worst of Mourinho is a little puzzling. I accept the controversial stuff, but putting his hands on other managers and insinuating to the media that UEFA or the FA are after his teams...again, if other managers did it people would lambast them.
Bolded line was definitely crossing the line, even by Jose standards. He's only human, after all, although he would never admit it.
But again, what I think I enjoy about Mourinho, the manager, most of all, is the fact that he's not afraid to win by playing a style which is not necessarily pleasing on the eye. I mean, sure, when it gets to some of the dirty levels it got during a lot of the Madrid-Barca derbies while he was manager over there, it's too much. But that Barca-Inter 2nd leg tie at the Camp Nou in the latter's CL winning season is the perfect example of what I'm referring to, I think. It stands in stark contrast to the messianic, over the top, appreciation that's been directed towards Barca's 'pure' way of playing football over the last decade.
I enjoy the contrast between him and Pep as well - I rate the latter very highly too, but sometimes I just think he thinkers too much, and gets lost in that aforementioned 'pure' concept of playing football, while Jose is not afraid to resort to the very basics in order to win a match and, indeed, titles. Football is about the end result at the end of the day and I think Mourinho perfectly incapsulates that philosophy, despite his many theatrics.
At the end of the day, don't we watch to be entertained though? I can appreciate the notion of Mourinho's win percentage and all that, but as viewers the whole point is we're spending that 90-120 minutes to enjoy it, right? I like a hero vs villain narrative as much as the next guy, but I feel like the media praise Jose gets is ridiculous. With his second spell at Chelsea he's nothing more than Sam Allardyce with a cheque book. All the hate Barca gets makes me laugh, because objectively they have the best model to follow and they actually tend to play relatively attractive football - bar the last season of Pep's where his obsession with possession made him as bad as Mourinho's ultra conservative style. I find it strange that Mourinho gets praised for a style that makes people call managers like Pardew or Allardyce sticks in the mud. Mourinho take's off two attacking midfielder's for a CDM and a CB to protect a 1 goal lead and it's "inspired" tactics. It looks like fear to me. I appreciate people with different perspectives though, I suppose it would get a little tedious if every manager had Pellegrini's composure and never spoke their minds completely. You are right though, Mourinho's utilitarian style has its merits. I just pray he never sits in the Old Trafford hot seat. People complained when Moyes came with his dreary approach. Trophies or not, I wonder how long United fans would be willing to watch Mourinho turn "Attack, Attack, Attack" into "Score, Defend, Defend, Defend".
In terms of his ability as a manager there are few like him, he can galvanize a team and gets results like clockwork, for sure. But in terms of why I watch the game, and I'm assuming some other people, Mourinho offers little these days. He's an owner's manager, or a shareholder's manager, or a player's manager. But he isn't a fan's manager IMO. I'll watch Arsenal or Liverpool play a hundred times over before I'll watch Chelsea. In a way Mourinho and Wenger are total opposites in regard to the game, Mourinho became a slave to results, while Wenger became a slave to attractive football. Both of them sacrifice one for the other.
He is an award winning antagonist, I'll admit that, but I've grown tired of his antics. It was novel a decade ago, now it feels dated...But I'll still tune in to all Chelsea's biggest games to watch him go at it with Wenger or Guardiola![]()
On Mourinho it is kind of refreshing to see a top manager actually value good defending. I find it embarrassing watching Champions League football and a good proportion of the cream of the crop in Europe flap everytime a high ball comes into the box
On Mourinho it is kind of refreshing to see a top manager actually value good defending. I find it embarrassing watching Champions League football and a good proportion of the cream of the crop in Europe flap everytime a high ball comes into the box
I honestly didn't see anything refreshing about the way his teams played against Atletico and PSG these last two seasons. They played for a draw away from home vs Atletico and paid for it in the 2nd leg when Atleti took advantage of the away goal rule. Playing defensively vs Atletico is pretty embarrassing IMO also. Atletico usually park the bus against big teams because they do not have the resources and attacking firepower of other clubs. They won the league and only scored 77 goals in 13/14 in comparison to Madrid who scored 104 and Barcelona who scored 101. Against PSG, his team defended deep for the majority of the match against a team with ten men whose striker had been sent off (unjustly I should say) and they went out for not showing any ambition going forward or attacking intent.
IMO the game is evolving and teams seem to be becoming more pro-active atm (or at least this is how it seems to me). Defenders and keepers are expected to be good on the ball for example and teams are looking to create chance from their own play rather than waiting for the opposition to make mistakes and gift them opportunities and this makes it difficult for teams to play as defensively as Chelsea because teams are getting better at opening up deep defences. Even teams like Atletico and Juventus who are pretty defensive are pro-active in how they press the oppositions defenders and prevent them (or at least make it difficult for them)to build from the back. Chelsea have not done that enough over the last two years IMO. I don't think he Mourinho deserves praise for his defensive performances in Europe and a team that plays that way will always be limited in how high a level they can reach (ie what I mean is if Chelsea keep playing the same way under Mourinho then they will never reach Guardiola's Barcelona or Bayern's in 12/13 level.
Nah, I can definitely understand why you find him tiring. I basically viewed him in the same light the first time he came to England.
I don't know, I personally find his opting for the 'results before style' philosophy to be a breath of fresh air, as well as counter-intuitively entertaining, in an age where everyone seems to be preaching a 'pure' brand of attractive football. That being said, I don't want to sound like I'm taking away from the success of the aforementioned Barca side - probably one of the best sides in club football and it kind of feels like a privilege to have seen them in action at their peak. It's the over-the-top praise and genuine ass-kissing of their very particular brand of football which grinds my gears. Nasty, dirty cheaters like Busquets playing for them during their glory days doesn't help either. But that doesn't mean I don't recognise the merits of the team and their style of football.
Tbh, my preferred style of football is probably something more akin to the cavalier (where did that term come from again?) style United employed under Fergie, but moreso something along the lines of the adaptability and flexibility that the treble-winning Bayern side of a few years ago employed to excellent effect. Klopp's Dortmund was something like that as well, but when it came to changing their approach a bit, they seemed to fall short. So in other words, while I appreciate Mourinho as a manager, his style is definitely not my preferred brand of football.
But yeah, I could never see him in the Old Trafford dugout. I could've right after Fergie retired, but I don't think the latter's 'handpicking' of Moyes as his successor would've gone down well with Jose's ego either. I think I'd like to see someone like Klopp, if he's still available, or someone who's willing to adapt their approach, without resorting to full-on defensive tactics, come into the OT dugout after LvG calls it quits. The latter has been moving us to a more 'continental' style of football (barring the rather frequent hoofing it up to Fellaini approach) and while I'm behind the manager all the way and trust in his vision, I would like us to be a bit more willing to compromise in terms of our approach sometimes, something which Fergie was more often than not willing to do (except when it came to CL finals against Barcelona, of course).
On Mourinho it is kind of refreshing to see a top manager actually value good defending. I find it embarrassing watching Champions League football and a good proportion of the cream of the crop in Europe flap everytime a high ball comes into the box
That's fair, but I keep asking myself what happened against PSG. Was the Mourinho's tactics, or were his players not up to it? Because that was a shockingly indisciplined and disrespectful approach to the game, that ended up biting Chelsea in the ass.
He'll get credit, but this wouldn't exactly be the greatest field.Will have to give Mourinho credit if he wins back to back titles.
It was a preseason friendly that was about getting fitness and sharpness up. I remember a few years ago we won all our preseason games including smashing roma 5-0. We then went into the season and got 2 points in our first 8 games. It was the worst i have ever seen a tottenham side play (and i've seen some terrible spurs sides) i really thought if we carried on we would be relegated. Luckily we sacked ramos and brought in harry who led us to playing some of the most exciting and at times beautiful football i have seen in the prem.
As in wouldn't be the greatest title opposition? True yeah. If they play like the beginning of last season it would be a walkover. Although he gets props for organising them that way and looking unbeatable. At the same time he should be taking responsibility for and acknowledging his CL failure last time out.He'll get credit, but this wouldn't exactly be the greatest field.
My bad, I was referring to Chelsea's matches against PSG in the Champion's League, not the preseason games.
That is what I meant and I agree on all fronts.As in wouldn't be the greatest title opposition? True yeah. If they play like the beginning of last season it would be a walkover. Although he gets props for organising them that way and looking unbeatable. At the same time he should be taking responsibility for and acknowledging his CL failure last time out.
I honestly didn't see anything refreshing about the way his teams played against Atletico and PSG these last two seasons. They played for a draw away from home vs Atletico and paid for it in the 2nd leg when Atleti took advantage of the away goal rule. Playing defensively vs Atletico is pretty embarrassing IMO also. Atletico usually park the bus against big teams because they do not have the resources and attacking firepower of other clubs. They won the league and only scored 77 goals in 13/14 in comparison to Madrid who scored 104 and Barcelona who scored 101. Against PSG, his team defended deep for the majority of the match against a team with ten men whose striker had been sent off (unjustly I should say) and they went out for not showing any ambition going forward or attacking intent.
IMO the game is evolving and teams seem to be becoming more pro-active atm (or at least this is how it seems to me). Defenders and keepers are expected to be good on the ball for example and teams are looking to create chance from their own play rather than waiting for the opposition to make mistakes and gift them opportunities and this makes it difficult for teams to play as defensively as Chelsea because teams are getting better at opening up deep defences. Even teams like Atletico and Juventus who are pretty defensive are pro-active in how they press the oppositions defenders and prevent them (or at least make it difficult for them)to build from the back. Chelsea have not done that enough over the last two years IMO. I don't think he Mourinho deserves praise for his defensive performances in Europe and a team that plays that way will always be limited in how high a level they can reach (ie what I mean is if Chelsea keep playing the same way under Mourinho then they will never reach Guardiola's Barcelona or Bayern's in 12/13 level.
Too be fair, that Bayern team was ridiculously talented in terms of skill and technique, everyone could function in multiple ways and on occasion did, so it wasn't typical of more classical 4-4-2. I also don't remember them quite lining up that way. I thought it was a 4-2-3-1, but I am not sure.Eh I'm always a little reluctant to go on about the game evolving, that Bayern team you mentioned were brilliant but they were everything that experts had declared dead after Guardiola's reign at the top. It was essentially a 4-4-2, a reliance on two wide men, 2 men up top and a physicality in the middle. Things go in and out of vogue but IMO it's always the same game.
I agree on the Athletico game, I *****ed about it on here but as BB points out surely it just proves that no tactic or gaffer is full proof, if it's done badly it's never going to get you results. Chelsea won a CL playing 11 men behind the ball whilst a team like Arsenal went out to a crap Monaco side because they couldn't.
Ironically I think they went out to PSG because his main weapon, the back 4 let him down. We all seem to overlook the fact that despite a defensive display they scored 3 goals over 2 legs, as many as Juve did against Real this year, that should've been enough for Chelsea.