As the title suggests...
Regarding the Liverpool match, considering the way we set up and played in the majority of the first half, do you think Mourinho was fully playing for a draw?
This is a result that would've certainly put us out of the title race so if that was Mourinho's aim, does it mean that before the match he saw us as already out of the chase for the league? I know he's said plenty of times in the press that we have no chance but do any of you actually think he believes that himself - if so, then our tactics in that match would definitely suggest that.
We rarely threatened except at corners for pretty much the first 45 minutes and didn't look like scoring at all. I know our main aim was to disrupt Liverpool's rhythm in the first half and not allow them to get in behind but we weren't really offering much other than a really solid defensive display. If this carried on for the next 45 it would've certainly ended 0-0.
This is all pretty meaningless now since we've already won the match but I was just curious on Jose's mentality on our potential successes for this season.
Was the aim from the offset to simply a contain them and then smash and grab with a counter?
- Starting Schurrle and Salah would suggest that but then their selection could easily put down to the impending Champions league game.
As just mentioned, were the tactics simply formed with one eye on the Atletico game - conserving our energy and ensuring no more injuries (especially to the back-line)?
Or was it simply he had given up hope of winning the title and a draw was seen as an okay result considering Liverpool's recent form?
Or maybe it was just a mix of all of the above.
That being said.... I find it quite hilarious how Liverpool pushed so much for the win when they could have easily done with a draw. They seemed very rushed at times and could have done with sitting back a bit to draw us out or trying to play more probing balls (rather than hopeful balls/crosses into the box). They played way too attacking in the game and even though we scored from a Gerrard mistake it could be said their defence was pushed up way too high anyway. All in all, a great result, I just hope we can replicate that scoreline tomorrow evening. If so, it will set us up for a very interesting final few weeks of the season.
Playing Devil's advocate
posted on 29/4/14
It's everybody else's job to stop him, not Jose's to change because people don't like it.
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Nail on the head.
posted on 29/4/14
Number 4 you should put that into an article yourself mate. Very good post
posted on 29/4/14
The Number 4...
I've accepted (in a way) our style of football now. At the start of the season I was hoping that Jose would try and get us playing a bit more expansive but I've realised that's just not him. He's a pragmatic manager who plays the percentages. Possibly the best out there at doing that hence why he's won so much.
The grit and determination he's instilled in our team has lasted nearly a decade and I can't be more grateful for that.
posted on 29/4/14
Agree red in the head. Been saying for a while now to beat Liverpool you need to stop them coming out of the blocks and putting two past you in ten mins before you can ask questions of them.
Jose did this perfectly. End of the day you stand a much better chance of winning you don't concede a goal, I still think he would have been playing for a win
posted on 29/4/14
STAND UP FOR NUMBER 4
posted on 29/4/14
Honestly Mr.C, Chelsea aren't my club. It's just a passing opinion of mine. You or any other Chelsea supporter are more than welcome to use parts of what I've posted in your own article though if you want to.
posted on 29/4/14
comment by The Number 4 Shirt. (U19487)
posted 22 minutes ago
Jose has never thought you were out of the race. Not for a second. He knew what he was doing when he said you were the little horse ect. earlier in the season. It's all set up to make his job easier and create the "us vs the world" mentality that all the great managers have used.
Under Jose, you will be successful, and you will win things. He may at some point even turn you into the best football team in the world for a period. He is a truly great football manager, and he has a very clear "Jose Mourinho" type of football. But also under Jose you will never play the way that you would expect the best team in the world to play. He is defensive, cautious and prefers 1-0 to 5-4.
There is NOTHING wrong with that, in so far as the glory is in the victory, and history remembers the victors. But you won't ever see Chelsea fly out, dominate and demolish a top side with fantastic football and flair players like Bayern did last season, Manchester United did under Ferguson at times, like the Real Madrid and Liverpool teams of the past did or the Dutch pass masters and at times Guardiola's Barcelona. You will beat top sides with resilience, strength, discipline capitalization, because that is Mourinho's way, and what makes him a great. Everyone has their own path to glory and Jose's is through defense and impenetrability > attack and style. Many will call him cowardly and such for his methods, but that is born from their own frustrations of not having an answer to it.
To sum up, Jose is a winner. He will always set out to win, whatever the situation, whatever the game, whatever the competition. He will never give up until the last breath, but he will never be openly brave or committal, on or off the field. A cracking manager, with a style and method that you should embrace as your own, because by the end of his time with Chelsea, he will have given you a footballing identity, that he, who will go down as a footballing great, has defined himself with. In many ways, he is already your Alex Ferguson, because his way is the Chelsea way, just like Sir Alex with United. All he has to add is sustained success over a long period with the foundations he has laid. It's everybody else's job to stop him, not Jose's to change because people don't like it.
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If he turns us into one of the fastest counter attacking teams I have ever seen in the game, like he did to Madrid when they broke the league goals record, that will be more than good enough.
This is exactly what I think he is gearing us up to be like.
posted on 29/4/14
Look at todays game, this is how Madrid were playing under Mourinho for the majority of their games. Ferocious counter attacking football. How people do not find this entertaining is beyond me.
posted on 29/4/14
I think everyone on earth find Real Madrid's football enormously entertaining. Except Barca fans. And a fair few Bayern munich fans today.
posted on 29/4/14
Jose lost the dressing room when he benched Casillas.
The snakes gathered together and went upstairs to the Board.
Dressing room was lost the minute he needed Essien FFS !