José Mourinho | 2018/19 Performances

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Good read. thanks for posting..

Signifies the adjustments being made to utilize Alexis and work on providing support to Lukaku. One thing I have noticed in last couple of games from us is that, our "finisher " comes inside from right to the center to meet the final ball.
 
keener said:
I think it's interesting that both Jose and the players have mentioned in interviews that the way forward is playing positive football. I think Jose is more responsive to criticism than we give him credit for. He saw poor results and immediately praised the fans.

I think he's planning on playing more attacking and I don't see evidence that he's parking the bus at all (which I am very sensitive to and hate with a passion). Besides the 25 minutes against Leicester City after our early goal, we've played more pressing and somewhat aggressive football.

I'm thinking this could be a pivot point for Jose... Because to be very fair (in criticism as well as praise) he has certainly drawn up some dire game plans in the past (both with United and Chelsea), many of which have been successful but hard to watch. I'd love to mostly live and die by aggression and by our talent. I think we have the DNA to play aggressive and attacking football and I'd love for this to become our game plan. Even against City.
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First, I think it's too early to say if there's a change in approach to a more aggressive style. If there is, I think it's more to do with the fact that he now has two coaches alongside him that see front-foot football as fundamental to their ideas. I don't think Mourinho will ever change cause of criticism. It could also be a last throw if the dice to get more out of the players, by a manager under pressure.
I don't think the criticism about Mourinho has been that we park the bus. We will continue to play with a low block against big teams, I don't think that will ever change.
The criticism has been that we allow teams that are not as good as us play by being overly willing to let them have the ball. And when we get it, we are too slow in moving it around. That's why the Burnley game was so refreshing from my pov. We went after them.
In any case, Watford will be an indicator of anything has changed. So I'm wary of making any assumptions.
 
Adisa said:
First, I think it's too early to say if there's a change in approach to a more aggressive style. If there is, I think it's more to do with the fact that he now has two coaches alongside him that see front-foot football as fundamental to their ideas. I don't think Mourinho will ever change cause of criticism. It could also be a last throw if the dice to get more out of the players, by a manager under pressure.
I don't think the criticism about Mourinho has been that we park the bus. We will continue to play with a low block against big teams, I don't think that will ever change.
The criticism has been that we allow teams that are not as good as us play by being overly willing to let them have the ball. And when we get it, we are too slow in moving it around. That's why the Burnley game was so refreshing from my pov. We went after them.
In any case, Watford will be an indicator of anything has changed. So I'm wary of making any assumptions.
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Its difficult to change the style so soon, especially given lot of first team players were not available for the pre-season. I'd give it till Oct to see changes and their impact on our overall play.
 
sunama said:
I saw/heard mobile phone footage of LVG being booed very hard, during that disastrous December.
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At home yes but no surprise there it's full of tourists. I never heard any boos at any away while he was manager. I heard plenty of funny chants and piss taking chants.
 
ForestRGoinUp said:
Just curious, since I don't seem to know protocol...is the correct thing to do after 60 minutes of decent football against helpless Burnley to line right back up behind the squad and manager and think all the problems have gone away?
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Janson said:
Not necessarily, but at least acknowledge that we did play good football in that game. Some can't even bring themselves to admit that, because of their hatred of Mourinho, and just keep at it with the awful football comments.
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So was the game exciting or not?
 
Adisa said:
First, I think it's too early to say if there's a change in approach to a more aggressive style. If there is, I think it's more to do with the fact that he now has two coaches alongside him that see front-foot football as fundamental to their ideas. I don't think Mourinho will ever change cause of criticism. It could also be a last throw if the dice to get more out of the players, by a manager under pressure.
I don't think the criticism about Mourinho has been that we park the bus. We will continue to play with a low block against big teams, I don't think that will ever change.
The criticism has been that we allow teams that are not as good as us play by being overly willing to let them have the ball. And when we get it, we are too slow in moving it around. That's why the Burnley game was so refreshing from my pov. We went after them.
In any case, Watford will be an indicator of anything has changed. So I'm wary of making any assumptions.
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The players are talking about playing positive football. Jose is talking about playing positive football and that in the Spurs game, we played positive and had bad luck (which I wouldn't really disagree with) you see he's not resorting to his old tricks. I remember games where we surrendered the ball willingly just hoping for a Rashford or Martial pacy counterattack to steal a goal. This past 4 games has been a bit different. BUT you're right, it's just a start. If we keep the pressing over the course of this first half, then we can say he's changed. Fair enough.

I'm just saying, I think he's being a bit more responsive than I would've expected. He's also really trying to connect with the fanbase. Spending time with youngsters and some disabled children in the crowd at other events like U20 games etc... will further endure him to our fanbase. Not a bad approach tbf.
 
Janson said:
Agree. If Sunday wasn't exciting, then I don't know what people are expecting.
For some, even playing like peak Barcelona won't be enough, as long as Mourinho is the manager.
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I haven't read a single person say this. Not one.
 
Janson said:
No one has said it, but that's how it seems. What was wrong with how we played on Sunday? We created many chances and should have scored at least two more.
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It was Burnley, this is why people are wary. They haven't won a league game since April. There were too many false dawns after Fergie, including under Jose.
 
Treble said:
It was Burnley, this is why people are wary. They haven't won a league game since April. There were too many false dawns after Fergie, including under Jose.
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Yeah exactly.

It's understandable that people are desperate to put this bad spell behind us but Burnley look the worst side in the league this year. Even in Mourinho's calamitous last year at Chelsea he won games here are there, so we need more evidence before we can say he's turned it around. Let's hope we get it against Watford.
 
Steven7290 said:
So was the game exciting or not?
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I was not particularly excited by it, but I am admittedly jaded. And I don't put that entirely on Mourinho anyway. There just aren't players in the team that draw me in or give me reason to be excited each match. Luke Shaw is thankfully providing some of that so far this season. Watching for a result has just become a bit of a turnoff.
 
If his recent quotes about him not attacking because our defence is not what it would like to be, then Burnley was an example of what happens when you press high up the pitch and attack.

Played at a quick tempo, created numerous chances, got bodies in the box, pushed high up the pitch and recycled the ball in Burnleys half.

That is how I want to see us playing on most weeks.

I understand that in some games we'll have to be more tactical and disciplined, but against teams like Brighton, Burnley, etc, we should be attacking.
 
I am fairly confident we will drop points against Watford, Martial will sign a new deal, Jose won't be here next season, Pogba will stay.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
If his recent quotes about him not attacking because our defence is not what it would like to be, then Burnley was an example of what happens when you press high up the pitch and attack.

Played at a quick tempo, created numerous chances, got bodies in the box, pushed high up the pitch and recycled the ball in Burnleys half.

That is how I want to see us playing on most weeks.

I understand that in some games we'll have to be more tactical and disciplined, but against teams like Brighton, Burnley, etc, we should be attacking.
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What quotes?
 
Yagami said:
Match going fans don't really ever boo our manager. When I've been to games - whether it was under Moyes, LvG or José - I've never booed them despite, at one point or another, wanting them all out.

I especially wouldn't boo José at the minute as in our last two games we've shown some really promising signs despite losing one of them 3-0.
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If the United goers wanted him out, they don't necessarily boo him, they would just watch the game and leave. But staying behind that long at OT showed a massive united front. Flying a an anti-Woodward banner the same 90 minutes that the United fans passionately chant Mourinho's name for the whole game tells me they support the manager. If they didn't support the manager, again they don't need to boo, just chant United songs and leave at the end.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
Intresting because there are plenty of videos with match going fans being interviewed after games lambasting Jose and praying for the day he leaves.

Think it’s safe to say there are many varying accounts of what is the actual mood, maybe people will show support against oppo fans but really think he is done, maybe they don’t. I just hope he continues in the vain of the last 2 games and doesn’t revert to type.
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I think when the entire away end can be heard and seen chanting Mourinhos name for the whole game, that speaks volumes.
 
JohnnyKills said:
Yeah exactly.

It's understandable that people are desperate to put this bad spell behind us but Burnley look the worst side in the league this year. Even in Mourinho's calamitous last year at Chelsea he won games here are there, so we need more evidence before we can say he's turned it around. Let's hope we get it against Watford.
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Well, this is actually the first time the players (Lukaku) have come out and said they are training to play faster with pressing etc. So atleast we know now they are working towards that end, which means the tactic of sitting back and not pressing while inviting pressure won't be deliberate. That gives one more hope that there is a definite chance things could change for the better.
 
keener said:
The players are talking about playing positive football. Jose is talking about playing positive football and that in the Spurs game, we played positive and had bad luck (which I wouldn't really disagree with) you see he's not resorting to his old tricks. I remember games where we surrendered the ball willingly just hoping for a Rashford or Martial pacy counterattack to steal a goal. This past 4 games has been a bit different. BUT you're right, it's just a start. If we keep the pressing over the course of this first half, then we can say he's changed. Fair enough.

I'm just saying, I think he's being a bit more responsive than I would've expected. He's also really trying to connect with the fanbase. Spending time with youngsters and some disabled children in the crowd at other events like U20 games etc... will further endure him to our fanbase. Not a bad approach tbf.
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He's been here more than two years. That's a fecking long time to be responsive to change.
 
Not much wrong with that. Think I remember SAF said in his biography that Rio and Vidic were the the rock that he used to built the 2008 side on.
 
Well anyone who finds issues with that statement needs to give their head a wobble. It’s as straight forward and logical as anything in football. You can have all the attacking power in the world and if you don’t have a good defense you will have big problems. As good as Liverpool under Rogers were, with Suarez & co, their great undoing was the goals they let in. Their defending was amateurish at times. We are still singing Steven Gerrard Gerrard, Crynstabul etc. Ask Klopp why he went and spunked major wad on the dutch bloke and he’ll tell you why.

People need to lay off whatever JM says and try to be objective for once.
 
King Kana said:
Well anyone who finds issues with that statement needs to give their head a wobble. It’s as straight forward and logical as anything in football. You can have all the attacking power in the world and if you don’t have a good defense you will have big problems. As good as Liverpool under Rogers were, with Suarez & co, their great undoing was the goals they let in. Their defending was amateurish at times. We are still singing Steven Gerrard Gerrard, Crynstabul etc. Ask Klopp why he went and spunked major wad on the dutch bloke and he’ll tell you why.

People need to lay off whatever JM says and try to be objective for once.
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Yeh. You need great attack, great midfield, and great defence. So what's new? Do you need all three before starting to play decent football?
 
Isotope said:
Yeh. You need great attack, great midfield, and great defence. So what's new? Do you need all three before starting to play decent football?
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You could play more expansive football with our team and end up finishing below 2nd last season.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Sorry, should have included it in my post.



Whether these quotes are true or not is another thing.
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Liverpool played good football when their defense was dodgier than ours. Didn't get VVD till January. Quotes probably aren't even real. Looks like the journo put his own spin
 
Greck said:
Liverpool played good football when their defense was dodgier than ours. Didn't get VVD till January.
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And that was the reason they conceded loads, lost many points againat midtable clubs and scrapped fourth, winning nothing in the run. Their defense and GK were bringing them down everytime. Now they finally look like title contender after splashing money on VVD and Alisson.
 
el3mel said:
And that was the reason they conceded loads, lost many points againat midtable clubs and scrapped fourth, winning nothing in the run. Their defense and GK were bringing them down everytime. Now they finally look like title contender after splashing money on VVD and Alisson.
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Yes their defensive line was less than serviceable. Ours is several notches higher. Not good enough to attack top teams but good enough to not require negative tactics against bottom sides. Our last game against Burnley illustrated this well. We attacked, committed bodies but also managed to keep a clean sheet. Our backline is more than good enough to play good football against most of the PL. Jose didn't even make those comments (about our defenders in particular). The journo did
 
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Greck said:
Yes their defensive line was less than serviceable. Ours is several notches higher. Not good enough to attack top teams but good enough to not require negative tactics against bottom sides. Our last game against Burnley illustrated this well. We attacked, committed bodies but also managed to keep a clean sheet. Our backline is more than good enough to play good football against most of the PL. Jose didn't even make those comments. The journo did
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He didn't say we can't play good football.

We can but with a shaky defense you will still be more than capable of conceding on counters which will bring you downhill. Liverpool was an example of this not the opposite. They still played great football but never looked title contenders or managed anything higher than fourth for a reason, their defense. Our defense isn't any better imo, we are just blessed by having a great GK who bails them most of time.

So yes we can play attacking and high pressing football but in order to be a title contender with that style you will need to have a balanced and great defensive pairing to provide stability and security to those ahead of them, otherwise we will be Liverpool and Arsenal Vol2. Don't think anyone wants that. Fergie's most successful attacking teams were built around great defensive pairing at the back, Bruce/Pallister and Rio/Vidic.

Mourinho is all about balance, unlike Klopp who will attack and concede and score anyway whatever his shite defense is, Mourinho will prefer grinding results if he thinks his defense won't hold for long. Balance is everything in Mourinho ideas in managing his team. He will go for it if he's sure his defensive syetem will be secured enough to withstand, otherwise will take more cautious approach.
 
el3mel said:
He didn't say we can't play good football.

We can but with a shaky defense you will still be more than capable of conceding on counters which will bring you downhill. Liverpool was an example of this not the opposite. They still played great football but never looked title contenders or managed anything higher than fourth for a reason, their defense. Our defense isn't any better imo, we are just blessed by having a great GK who bails them most of time.

So yes we can play attacking and high pressing football but in order to be a title contender with that style you will need to have a balanced and great defensive pairing to provide stability and security to those ahead of them, otherwise we will be Liverpool and Arsenal Vol2. Don't think anyone wants that. Fergie's most successful attacking teams were built around great defensive pairing at the back, Bruce/Pallister and Rio/Vidic.

Mourinho is all about balance, unlike Klopp who will attack and concede and score anyway whatever his shite defense is, Mourinho will prefer grinding results if he thinks his defense won't hold for long. Balance is everything in Mourinho ideas in managing his team. He will go for it if he's sure his defensive syetem will be secured enough to withstand, otherwise will take more cautious approach.
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Disagree on the bolded but we can agree to disagree. Don't think anyone last season thought our defense was worse than Liverpool's pre-VVD with or without DDG. Jose's quote in general is accurate. The dispute is the journo miscontextualizing it to mean our defenders are so bad we have to go into every game cautiously. We are more than capable of attacking weaker teams and we've already started doing so. Jose's new attacking United everyone has been waxing lyrical over the past week is with the same set of defenders. You don't have to go full-Klopp to play good football. It's not one or the other
 
If Liverpool decided to sit back because they didn't have defenders like vvd & Alison then they would have been in a worse place than most teams last season. They played to their strengths whilst addressing their weaknesses after a strong season where their whole team & city seem united.

We never played to our strengths & played to minimize our weaknesses. Proof - Lukaku being made to play as a target man when he can't dp much but tap in.
 
Greck said:
Disagree on the bolded but we can agree to disagree. Don't think anyone last season thought our defense was worse than Liverpool's pre-VVD with or without DDG. Jose's quote in general is accurate. The dispute is the journo miscontextualizing it to mean our defenders are so bad we have to go into every game cautiously. We are more than capable of attacking weaker teams and we've already started doing so. Jose's new attacking United everyone has been waxing lyrical over the past week is with the same set of defenders. You don't have to go full-Klopp to play good football. It's not one or the other
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Let's agree to disagree then, but honestly I think in those 5 years post SAF, the only season in which I think our defense looked solid was Mourinho first one, the rest of the seasons under Moyes, LVG and Mourinho it was De Gea bailing us with incredible saves again and again and again. The only reliable defender we look to have to play consistent 40-50 games a season is Smalling, the rest are either injured half of the season or are disasters waiting to happen.

Let's see what is Mourinho plan for the team tactics this season.
 
I’ve been pretty happy with Mourinho this season. He’s dealt with many challenges extremely well, whereas many other top managers including Guardiola may have cracked under these circumstances.

José has done well in everything so far leading up to this international break apart from unfortunately the most important thing, getting good results. However though, there is room for positivity and belief that the results will improve due to the football we’ve played this season. The quick passing, constant movement and general fluidity of our play at times against Leicester, Spurs and Burnley was nothing short of wonderful. I’m being serious when i say that if we can play like that every game, we’re a title winning team. Great to hear from Lukaku that we’re working on quick passing as well.

Loved most of the press conferences this season as well. Has done everything right in them. Created the us against the world mentality Sir Alex used to love, praised everyone who needed it e.g. Lindelöf, Shaw and Alexis and criticised the only player in our squad who has now reached the stage of indefensibleness, Martial. The day José wins and Martial leaves will be a good one for the club, no matter how many fans disagree. His laziness and lack of care for the team has honestly reached Özil levels of awfulness.

Of course, we don’t know anything about what goes on behind the scenes for sure apart from what José and the players themselves tell us, but so far this season, what we can see looks to be good. As for the inconsistent results so far, I’m very sure that it’ll improve along with our style of football.

To give a final verdict, I’m firmly in the José in camp, which I’m sure you can already tell from this post.
 
Aloysius's Back 3 said:
If Liverpool decided to sit back because they didn't have defenders like vvd & Alison then they would have been in a worse place than most teams last season. They played to their strengths whilst addressing their weaknesses after a strong season where their whole team & city seem united.

We never played to our strengths & played to minimize our weaknesses. Proof - Lukaku being made to play as a target man when he can't dp much but tap in.
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Honest question: What exactly is our strength? Asking this because some times I do wonder where our strength lies.
 
Treble said:
It was Burnley, this is why people are wary. They haven't won a league game since April. There were too many false dawns after Fergie, including under Jose.
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I'm not saying people should just change their minds after one good game, but some can't even acknowledge that we actually did play decent football on Sunday.
 
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