Jose Mourinho - SACKED

[Bedfordspurs]

If we don't prioritise one over the other, I don't think we have the strength of depth in CM and at CF in order to compete in both, and I don't think we have a chance to get 4th unless we're 400% on it for all the remaining games. I'd also suggest that there isnt much difference between finishing 5th and 8th

Mourinho is a results man - he needs to show it

Kinda agree

 

[Finney Is Back]

I'm not 400% sure that the line-up and tactics are inconsistent - with Moura in there alongside Bale, Son and Kane you have even more pace to counter-attack. You may be right, but I'm not sure that you definitely are - none of us know what tactics Jose intended....I'm just surprised that if he wasn't happy with the defensive approach that he wasnt up barking at the team.

On the subs, I think the Bale issue is separate to the low-block tactics. The Bale change (whether substitution or moving him inside) was long overdue - the way Bale was letting Tierney join Smith-Rowe to attack Doherty was shocking. Jose should have been shouting at Bale form the 10-20th min, or move him inside and put Moura outside. Jose took til the 55th min to change that - thats nothing to do with the tactics, just Bale's either laziness or inability to run enough to track back. The Son substitution obviously didnt relate to tactics and the Ndombele one was very, very late if its meant to indiciate that the team weren't carrying out the tactics

Making your final sub at 62 mins isn’t very, very late.... it is very, very early.

 

[AdamB]

It was reminiscent of the Poch quote where he said he could tell after a couple of minutes whether the players were up for it or not. It does seem to me that we have a group who struggle if they are not allowed to play if the opposition puts in any kind of press.

I'm not sure I agree. PEH, Reguilon, Bale, DOherty and Ndombele (barely) weren't here under Poch

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Honestly I think it might have been a tactical decision for Bale not to track Tierney, recognising that he doesn't have the legs for it and could instead be a threat on the break. I watched the first half again, and it was noticeable how much Bale was focused on Xhaka rather than Tierney, and Hojbjerg or Ndombele were always quick to go and help out Doherty instead. And as you allude to, surely Jose would have been screaming at Bale if Tierney was supposed to be his man?

Hey if that’s the case I’ll hold my hands up
But what it meant was Hojbjerg helped cover Dohertys side and left a gaping hole in the middle
Tanguy had a poor game passing (dribbling was below par for him too) but he would have had no one near him
Jenas gave Hojbjerg a dig in the bbc saying that if he doesn’t play, we don’t play which is true I think.
Worry is he looks so tired now and we have no back up

 

[Finney Is Back]

Overall I agree - 20 points from the last 10 is about as good as you might expect, but realistically probably a bit less than that.

Winning the EL seems far easier. Assuming we do enough to get through this week, if we were to draw say Grenada in the quarters then the EL suddenly looks very do-able. Would be nice if Milan take care of Man U too....

Milan looked significantly better than Man Utd IMO.

 

[Finney Is Back]

If we take that approach, league form continues to fluctuate and we finish between 8-10th and the lose the final, what does that mean in terms of confidence in Mourinho in charge for next season?

If that happens then Jose is sacked IMO. There is no way that Levy will accept no Europa football. He panicked after 12 games last season and sacked Poch and brought Jose in to try to get CL back then.

 

[AdamB]

Making your final sub at 62 mins isn’t very, very late.... it is very, very early.

You're missing half of what I said!

If you only have 2 subs (as we did given the Son injury) then as I said above "the Ndombele one was very, very late if its meant to indiciate that the team weren't carrying out the tactics"

If the tactics weren't going as Jose wanted then not making any tactical changes til the 55th min and 62nd min when he took of Bale and Ndombele were very late. I'd of expected a manager to change things on the pitch well before then given how wrong it appeared to be going. The obvious swtich was getting more cover in front of Doherty via Son or Moura

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Overall I agree - 20 points from the last 10 is about as good as you might expect, but realistically probably a bit less than that.

Winning the EL seems far easier. Assuming we do enough to get through this week, if we were to draw say Grenada in the quarters then the EL suddenly looks very do-able. Would be nice if Milan take care of Man U too....

That would be exceptional this season
From looking at the table right now you need others to slip up too abs Chelsea who still don’t look great to me are getting over the line
Leicester may have had the confidence boost the needed with their last two fixtures too
So waiting for others to flip up is now healthy
The cups are effectively on our own hands by comparison

 

[Bedfordspurs]

If that happens then Jose is sacked IMO. There is no way that Levy will accept no Europa football. He panicked after 12 games last season and sacked Poch and brought Jose in to try to get CL back then.

Agree
We have to be in Europe
And if no CL then a trophy
Otherwise it’s a failure

 

[AdamB]

Milan looked significantly better than Man Utd IMO.

I'll take your word on it - I didnt see their game but Man U (or Milan) look like being the biggest threat to us. I'd hope that we'd show up more than yesterday if we drew Arsenal

 

[Bedfordspurs]

You're missing half of what I said!

If you only have 2 subs (as we did given the Son injury) then as I said above "the Ndombele one was very, very late if its meant to indiciate that the team weren't carrying out the tactics"

If the tactics weren't going as Jose wanted then not making any tactical changes til the 55th min and 62nd min when he took of Bale and Ndombele were very late. I'd of expected a manager to change things on the pitch well before then given how wrong it appeared to be going. The obvious swtich was getting more cover in front of Doherty via Son or Moura

Who would play left side then?
Bale won’t
Lamela can’t
We had an issue not having Bergwein on the bench for once...

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I'll take your word on it - I didnt see their game but Man U (or Milan) look like being the biggest threat to us. I'd hope that we'd show up more than yesterday if we drew Arsenal

Ajax look very good too
But I thought our performance mid week was excellent. Very very controlled and should have been a 3 nil win if the penalty had rightly been given

 

[MKSpur]

If we don't prioritise one over the other, I don't think we have the strength of depth in CM and at CF in order to compete in both, and I don't think we have a chance to get 4th unless we're 400% on it for all the remaining games. I'd also suggest that there isnt much difference between finishing 5th and 8th

Mourinho is a results man - he needs to show it

The only difference would be whatever the Europa threshold ends up being and the further away we end up from 4th is indicative of how much work needs to be done with the squad / coach, as if we are fortunate enough to win Europa as we will have a similar amount of extra games again next season. It just feels like a really thin tightrope in which to assess the coaches overall performance and what they are likely to continue to deliver.

 

[Raziel]

If that happens then Jose is sacked IMO. There is no way that Levy will accept no Europa football. He panicked after 12 games last season and sacked Poch and brought Jose in to try to get CL back then.

I wouldn't say Levy panicked with Poch, 12 months of bad results isn't really panicking.

That said, there is zero chance of Jose surviving the summer if we end the season without Europe (it's been what, 12 years?) or a trophy (actually either trophy gives us Europe, so same thing)

 

[Finney Is Back]

You're missing half of what I said!

If you only have 2 subs (as we did given the Son injury) then as I said above "the Ndombele one was very, very late if its meant to indiciate that the team weren't carrying out the tactics"

If the tactics weren't going as Jose wanted then not making any tactical changes til the 55th min and 62nd min when he took of Bale and Ndombele were very late. I'd of expected a manager to change things on the pitch well before then given how wrong it appeared to be going. The obvious swtich was getting more cover in front of Doherty via Son or Moura

But it’s not very, very late.... it’s very, very early. Jose is risking over a third of the game with the possibility of just one injury putting us down to ten men.

 

[AdamB]

The only difference would be whatever the Europa threshold ends up being and the further away we end up from 4th is indicative of how much work needs to be done with the squad / coach, as if we are fortunate enough to win Europa as we will have a similar amount of extra games again next season. It just feels like a really thin tightrope in which to assess the coaches overall performance and what they are likely to continue to deliver.

I agree. Was going to reply to your other post with the open question of whether winning the EL would just be papering over the cracks, which they open up again next season. I've said before that I don't see Mourinho being here in early 2022; the last 3-4 games had me wondering whether he might be and I was wrong

 

[AdamB]

Who would play left side then?
Bale won’t
Lamela can’t
We had an issue not having Bergwein on the bench for once...

I think mid-game you just have to bodge a solution. We could have moved Moura wide right after 20 mins and Bale inside for example to see whether than worked, or Bale left and Son right. It wouldnt have been a long-term solution but just plugging a gap which deseparately need filling from minute 1

 

[Finney Is Back]

I wouldn't say Levy panicked with Poch, 12 months of bad results isn't really panicking.

That said, there is zero chance of Jose surviving the summer if we end the season without Europe (it's been what, 12 years?) or a trophy (actually either trophy gives us Europe, so same thing)

League Cup only gets us the new minnows competition. If you think we play some backwater clubs in the Europa then just wait for that competition.

 

[elltrev]

League Cup only gets us the new minnows competition. If you think we play some backwater clubs in the Europa then just wait for that competition.

Christ I didn't realise that - think I'd rather lose the League Cup final.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I wouldn't say Levy panicked with Poch, 12 months of bad results isn't really panicking.

That said, there is zero chance of Jose surviving the summer if we end the season without Europe (it's been what, 12 years?) or a trophy (actually either trophy gives us Europe, so same thing)

He panicked massively. We finished in 4th and got to CL final previous season. Those sorts of things are only dreams now.