Mourinho, is he interesting enough to deserve a dedicated thread?

His wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Mourinho

Some controversies, some won trophies.
He has been around for some time, does that mean he's experienced or that he's a dinosaur?
He's often in the spotlight, is that because he likes the spotlight or does he do it to protect the team? A combination of the two?
He's made mistakes, does that mean he's prone to mistakes or that he's willing to make tough decisions that might turn out to be wrong?
Is he refusing to play young players or is he of the opinion that if they are good enough then they are old enough?

& is it likely that he'll do and/or say enough to warrant him having a separate thread?

 

Personally I think jose still has a lot to offer. Will we catch Liverpool and City anytime soon.. Under this budget and ownership clearly not. He can turn us into a consistent top 4 side ASAP I reckon. Reading the posts on another thread is embarrassing tbf. Felon is spot on he's solved more problems than he's created. The problems being that of the previous manager it has to be said. Again not all pochetino making but nonetheless. The league standings are there to be seen and this with out the 3 most consistent players over the last 18 month sissoko Kane now Son.

 

Suppose a defensive midfielder were to come in during the next transfer-window, would that be filling a need or would it be evidence of Mourinho wanting his team to be defensive-minded?

 

Not at all. Defensive-minded approach comes from tactic, not from number of players with certain abilities. Those are related, obviously, but you cannot judge in reverse.
The simple way to determine is by ball possession.
Defensive-minded teams constantly give the ball away. They strive on interceptions of passes and quick counter attack. For that the opponent must have the ball and take the attacking posture , moving defenders up the pitch. Defensive -minded teams usually have, like 30-40% possession. It is usually falsely attributed to dominance of attacking-minded opposition, but it is intentional, unless the team is a total garbage and is unable to keep the ball.
That similarity to low quality teams often makes supporters upset, but the difference is that the coaches, like Mourinho are able to capitalize with lots of positive results. For that tactic Mou would need at least 2(two) Harry Kanes on the pitch and 2(two) Sons on the bench. He has got nothing like that, as his hope for turning Dele in such a performer just couldn't materialize with Dele Alli is being looking more and more and more like Mario Balotelly. As a result, Mou can't play his football and he is unable to be effective in anything else (he, beyond a doubt, knows how to play Klopp-Pepe-Poch football, but he gets an orgasm only when a goal is scored from quick counter). That's where we at.

 

It would be filing a need. Imagine prime Wanyama or Dembele playing the winks role. They could both do what winks does, however, were better tacklers, interceptors, and add physical strength that is lacking in that position at the moment.

 

Tottenham 2-3 Wolves: I'll save judgement on Jose Mourinho until summer - Jermaine Jenas
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/51699588

Is that a sticking of the knife?

I'd agree that it would probably be better to have more stability and less changes in formations and players. In March then a well managed team should almost pick itself. As is, with two players coming into the team in January, one player coming up from the U23 late last year, three players bought during the summer, one player back from injury and two regular starters injured then I can understand why there are many changes.

& I have the feeling that Mourinho might not be accepted yet. If he would have won the match as Wolves won it yesterday then I have a sneaky suspicion that there would have been complaints about surrendering possession and being a counter-attacking team....

 

Seems like a thread only used by me, nice with a quiet place

But to the topic:
I've not yet watched Mourinho-teams enough to be able to have a very strong opinion on his playing style. My opinion so far is that he is too intelligent to not to evolve his playing style and I doubt that he'll stick with something outdated. Outdated might yet be undefined, possibly it means a style not generating results in this or future seasons or possibly it means a style that drives football-fans away from football.

His previous records indicate that he builds from the back - the priority is to get stability and not conceding goals and once that is accomplished go forward. Once upon a time then Wenger inherited a team built like that, added flair and an annoying neighbour got loud. The Wenger team lost the stability and it is now what it is.

I have seen, or at least believe myself to have seen, improvements in the back 4 (back 5). What I'd also like to see is improvements in how the players act as a team. That will hopefully come with more matches and more practice.

Mourinho has in the past missed out on a couple of the great players of today: Salah and De Bruyne. Possibly they were not ready for the first team and their development was better done in other places. Chelsea has since (or maybe before) preferred the lending out players more than selling. My opinion is that what Chelsea is doing might be worth copying.

Using a youngster too early might set back his development by years or even stunt it permanently, not using a youngster might set back the development by years or even stunt it permanently. Hindsight will show what the right choice was, however, in the now then it is a judgment call to be made by the manager.

As for his interviews...
Either he defends his players and risks being accused of making excuses or he is honest and then he risks being accused of blaming players.
Either he varies his selections and tactics leading to the risk of being accused of tinkering or he sticks to players and formations leading to risk of being accused overusing some players and being inflexible.
The interviews are in my opinion mostly done for entertainment (shock?) value so I mostly don't care much about what is being said.

The short of it, I do not think he is past it. I believe he has a lot to offer and if he turns out to be disruptive then good - disrupting a team that is performing well (which Spurs prior to his appointment did not) is a bad thing but disrupting a team that is performing badly might turn out good.

 

Does anyone else find this quote a bit strange?
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/53250794
"My boss Mr Levy (chairman Daniel Levy) tells me that he wants Eric to sign a new contract. Eric tells me that he is more than happy here," said Mourinho.

Wouldn't it make more sense if Mourinho told Levy which players he wants to keep?