Mourinho | New old Chelsea manager

He's a great manager. Will be interesting to see whether he stays at Chelsea for the long term. I know a lot of people think Chelsea will be a big threat next season but I still think that they have a lot of work to do so and hopefully that proves to be the case next season. Their deference is a bit ropey, their central midfield isn't great and their strikers are poor.

Hopefully they start the season poorly because if they start on fire I can see the, riding the wave of his return which will no doubt be exaggerated by the media to ridiculous proportions.
 
Seeing his interview on Chelsea TV convinces me that contrary to popular belief, he did not covet the United job as much as many of you may have believed. A baseless and presumptuous consensus without even a single quote to back it up.
 
He probably didn't. But United weren't exactly begging to hire him either. If they had the choice of every manager in the World, I still think Moyes would be manager. In fact I'm sure he would.
 
People think Mou loves Chelsea just because he's gushing about them now? It's typical Mourinho, he says what he needs to.

This is from November:
Jose Mourinho has revealed that Inter Milan was the place that made him the happiest, but says his career would not have been complete without Real Madrid.

The Portuguese manager, 49, left Inter after his side famously defeated Spanish giants Barcelona on their way to their first European Cup title for 45 years.

Despite great success at Porto, Chelsea and Madrid, the man known as 'the Special One' says Inter is the place that gave him the most pleasure.

Since joining Madrid he has guided Los Blancos to their first domestic title since 2008, as well as success in the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana.

"Inter is the club where I liked most to stay, no one else gave me the same happiness. When I left, I cried more than once, I will belong to the Nerazzurri family forever," said Mourinho.

"I wondered why I left, and now I try to explain it. Friends told me that I could be a great coach, but without working for Real Madrid there would be a hole (in my career).

"It's why I got busy with Florentino Perez, but I always miss Inter."
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http://www1.skysports.com/football/...-Milan-was-the-job-that-made-him-the-happiest

He's gone back to Chelsea because he was running out of options. We chose Moyes.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
He probably didn't. But United weren't exactly begging to hire him either. If they had the choice of every manager in the World, I still think Moyes would be manager. In fact I'm sure he would.
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Yea. Ok
 
Someone said:
One can blame mourinho for many things, but i don't get the whole "he falls out with players and owners" thing.

Apart from real he had an excellent relationship with his players anywhere he has managed, and he only fell out with roman, and roman was at fault for that, he wouldn't have rehired him otherwise.

The one thing i don't like about mourinho is his failure to plan long term, he needs to invest in youth more and needs to prove that he can work with a smaller budget, spending a fortune this summer and winning the league won't do chelsea any favors long term.
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Did you forget about the fact that Terry allegedly got him sacked from Chelsea?

Honestly do people not remember last time? Sidwell. Ben Haim. Mourinho doesn't work on a budget!
 
@Duffer: I meant that Manchester United chose Moyes.

I didn't pick either not that it matters.
 
TheRisingSun said:
Seeing his interview on Chelsea TV convinces me that contrary to popular belief, he did not covet the United job as much as many of you may have believed. A baseless and presumptuous consensus without even a single quote to back it up.
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Watching an interview he did with CHELSEA TV has convinced you? Would you expect a new manager at a club to say anything that suggests the job wasn't his first preference? This is pretty basic, you come across as quite naive here.
 
njred said:
Yea. Ok
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I quite enjoyed this blogpost on Mou today so thought I'd share it here:

How did Mourinho get on last time he was at Chelsea?

Manchester United ran away with the league last season but probably didn’t receive the praise they deserved. Our dominance was explained away by the poor competition the other teams offered. There’s no denying that other teams should have pushed us more than they did, with City and Chelsea bowing out of the race months before the end of the season, but it does our lads a disservice. We were on course to set a record points total before the title was effectively wrapped up and we had little motivation to win every game.

Still, it’s hard to work out why there was such a massive difference between us and everyone else in 2012-2013, particularly when you compare how much we’ve spent in comparison to our supposed title rivals. Last season, Chelsea spent £92m on players, City spent £54m and United spent £48m. The season before, Chelsea spent £88m, City spent £76m, and United spent £53m. The season before, City spent £155m, Chelsea spent £93m and United spent £27m. That takes City’s total spend over the past three years to £285m, Chelsea’s to £273m and United’s to £128m. Both City and Chelsea have spent more than double what United have, yet we’ve won the title twice and lost out on goal difference once.

The lazy accusation is that United used to do exactly what Chelsea and City now do in the transfer market, but that quite simply isn’t true. Between Ferguson getting the job us winning our first title with him, we were outspent by the likes of Liverpool and Spurs. Between 1992 and 1998, Newcastle, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and City all had larger net spends than us, believe it or not. United upped the spending between 1999 and 2003 to compete with teams in Europe, but still only spent 50% more than the next biggest spenders, Newcastle. Compare this to Chelsea and City, who since 2004, have spent 325% and 252% more than United respectively. (If you want to look at the numbers in greater detail, read this).

Still, Chelsea change their manager every season and Roberto Mancini wasn’t cut out for it, so the money isn’t the be all and end all. But when you look at the players these teams have it’s surprising that they didn’t compete with United. There’s the likes of Aguero, Kompany, Yaya Toure, Silva, Hart and Tevez at City, and Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Cech, Cole and Lampard at Chelsea. They are all fantastic players but didn’t get anywhere near United, who were 16 points clear of any other team on the day the title was won.

The last time a season was so one-sided was probably 2004-2005, when Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea totally battered everyone else. The season before they spent £153m and that season they spent £60m. In contrast, United spent £53m and £27m, whilst Arsenal spent £20m and £5m. So unlike United this season, Chelsea massively outspent their rivals.

United’s squad that year was probably the worst Ferguson ever had. On the opening day of the season we lost 1-0 to Chelsea and our starting XI was Howard, Silvestre, Gary Neville, Keane, Fortune, L Miller, O’Shea, Djemba-Djemba, Giggs, Scholes and Smith, with Bellion, Richardson and Forlan coming on as subs.

Now, that’s not to take anything away from Mourinho’s Chelsea, as they truly were a machine that season and amassed an incredible 95 points. However, if people are to say that United were offered little competition for the title this season, whilst still having to beat clubs with top quality world class players in them, then Chelsea were offered no competition in 2005. Our side in 2005 wasn’t fit to lace the boots of the current City and Chelsea teams, who are packed full of players who could walk in to most sides in Europe. The same could not have been said of United in 04-05. Silvestre played 50 games for us that season, Smith played 40+, O’Shea, Fortune and Phil Neville played 30+. Those were the days when a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo managed just 9 goals in 50 appearances, when Kleberson made our starting XI and when Smith was our third highest scorer in the league with a season total of 6 goals!

The following season our team started to take shape, with us signing Vidic and Evra for the price of selling John Obi Mikel to Chelsea, as well as bringing in Van der Sar and Park Ji-Sung. Investing in young players like Rooney and Ronaldo was starting to pay off, with those players gradually improving, and the foundation of our next team was in place. We finished in 2nd place, 8 points behind Chelsea, which was a significant improvement on the 18 points difference the season before.

Still, any hopes of us reclaiming our title any time soon were quickly dashed when Chelsea added one of the best players in the world for each position to their title winning squad. Ashley Cole came from Arsenal, Michael Ballack came from Bayern Munich and Andriy Shevchenko came from AC Milan, on the back of a season that saw him score 28 goals. That was without even looking at other signings that summer, in Kalou (£8m), Sahar (£0.3m), Mikel (£16m) and Boulahroz (£8.5m). feck.

In contrast, we signed Carrick, who was probably fourth choice, at best, on most United fans’ lists for players they wanted to replace Roy Keane. We also sold our top scorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and didn’t bring in any replacement. feck.

A lot of reds just seemed to accept that we wouldn’t be winning the league any time soon, following on from the grim talk in the press over the past couple of years about the decline of Manchester United.

Martin Samuel, The Times: “A team in transition or a club in decline? Brick by brick, the fall of the United empire gathers pace. Manchester United may well win away to Lille this evening. They may sail through the Champions League group stage after that. Perhaps they will even rally to inflict a first league defeat of the season on Chelsea on Sunday, as they did to end Arsenal’s unbeaten sequence of 49 matches a year ago. Will this alter the reality of an empire in peril? Not one bit. United have become uncertain, confused and sloppy, traits that Ferguson would not have recognised or tolerated in his prime. More worrying is the thought that their decline is inconspicuous, unexamined and unheeded… As Odoacer advanced on Ravenna, the seat of the Western Roman Empire, legend has it that a soldier approached Emperor Romulus Augustus. ‘Don’t worry, boss,’ he said. ‘We’re just in transition.’”

Paul Hince, Manchester Evening News: “The cracks are so wide that not even a manager with Ferguson’s motivational skills can paper over them. If Fergie can arrest this shocking and alarming slump it will rank with anything he’s achieved in all his years at the club.”

Rob Smyth, The Guardian: “Shredding his legacy at every turn. Sir Alex Ferguson’s brilliance famously knocked Liverpool off their perch. Now his incompetence is doing the same to Manchester United. Usually, the best thing about pre-season is the hope: reality’s incisors have yet to pierce the gums of optimism, and fans can live off the balmy, often barmy belief that this is their year. For supporters of most of the other 91 English clubs, that’s the mood right now. For United fans? Forget it. After three seasons of papering over the cracks, it seems most United fans are awaiting the moment that the fault lines tracing a veiny path across Old Trafford are exposed… It is conceivable that, if they start slowly and get significant injuries, United could finish fifth.”

Oliver Holt, The Mirror: “If United want to muster more of a challenge to Chelsea next season, the last person – after Wayne Rooney – that they should be selling is Van Nistelrooy. Selling him would be a huge step backwards and a massive blow to the club. Does Ferguson seriously expect anyone else to believe that the injury-prone Louis Saha is a better bet next season than a goal machine like van Nistelrooy. If he does, then his judgement is waning faster than everybody thought. Ferguson thinks there is no need to buy a new forward when he rids himself of Ruud van Nistelrooy. The theory is that he will be OK with Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Alan Smith and Giuseppe Rossi. Which is fine, apart from the fact that Rooney’s got a dodgy temperament, Saha’s injury prone, Solskjaer’s played seven league games in the past three years, Smith has never been a natural goalscorer and Rossi’s not ready.”

But that’s exactly what we did. We sold our top scorer, we even sold Rossi, we bought no replacement, but were top of the table by October and that’s where we stayed all season. We were 6 points clear by the turn of the year and that distance remained until the day the title was won, when Chelsea drew with Arsenal and we went 7 points clear with two games left to play. Mourinho walked in front of the travelling Chelsea fans at the Emirates, telling them to keep their chins up, but he had to know he was on borrowed time. There was absolutely no excuse for them not running away with the league, given the money they had spent and the quality players they had, but we kept them at arm’s length all season.

He was sacked a few weeks in to the following season, with just 24,973 fans attending Stamford Bridge for his last game as manager and booed him and the players off the pitch, after Chelsea drew 1-1 with Rosenburg in the Champions League. Their first game without him was at Old Trafford and we beat them 2-0. All that money spent, all those players bought, and the squad he left Chelsea with wasn’t an improvement on the one he inherited from Claudio Ranieri.

Mourinho brought in players like Ferreira, Kezman, Sahar, Tiago, Jarosik, Ben Haim, Del Horno, Maniche, Belletti, Wright-Phillips, Sidwell, Pizarro, Hilario and Boulahrouz, and sold top players like Robben, Duff, Gallas and Gudjohsen. The overall quality of the squad had declined over the three seasons. Despite the money spent, most of Chelsea’s best players were ones that had arrived pre-Mourinho, like Terry, Lampard, Cech and Makelele.

Whilst all managers make mistakes in the transfer market, the amount of dross that Mourinho managed to buy is quite staggering. Essien, Carvalho, Drogba and Cole were his only really good buys, but world class players like them were in the minority. He bought more average/poor players than he did top quality, which is incredible when you think Chelsea had little to no competition in the transfer market, from English clubs at least, thanks to Abramovich’s wealth.

Since then he had an incredibly successful stint at Inter Milan and a reasonably successful time at Real Madrid. Ahead of Mourinho’s recent game at Old Trafford, he was asked which of all the clubs he managed he loved more. “Inter is the club I have enjoyed the most, no-one else has given me the same happiness,” he said. “It is a family and I will always belong to the ‘neroazzurra’ family. When I left I cried more than once.”

Mourinho was aware Ferguson would be retiring soon and he has been desperate for the United job for years. Having spent time at some of the biggest clubs in the world, United would have been the final piece of the puzzle for him, before becoming Portugal’s boss. His post-match interview at Old Trafford even had United fans cringing, as he waxed lyrical about how good we were and how his side deserved to lose against us. “Sit down Mourinho!” our fans sang to him during the game, leading him to hold an apologetic hand up to the Stretford End before returning to his seat. He fawned over our club and manager, appearing unnecessarily desperate, only to be shunned for David Moyes.
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theres more but I couldn't fit it all, who knew the Caf had a character limit?!
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/how-did-mourinho-get-on-last-time-he-was-at-chelsea/
 
Ah, the 2006-07 season.

Vintage stuff. Chelsea had their fair share of injuries at the back, but United started the season like a house on fire. :devil:
 
duffer said:
King Kenny stunk up Anfield second time around though so legends don't always succeed if they get another go.
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King Kenny was a joke long before he returned to Liverpool though. He was out of the game for all intents and purposes and should never have been given the job. Mourinho and the others mentioned have all been managing at the highest level between stints. That's the key difference.


Also, I NEVER NEVER wanted Mourinho at United and have gone on record for years saying as much.
 
He'll obviously do well at Chelsea and has timed his return perfectly with SAF's retirement. The real question is how will he leave them? Is he going to give young players a chance, or is this just another flash in the pan three year stint?
 
LR7 said:
I quite enjoyed this blogpost on Mou today so thought I'd share it here:



theres more but I couldn't fit it all, who knew the Caf had a character limit?!
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/how-did-mourinho-get-on-last-time-he-was-at-chelsea/
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The article makes some good points but slightly exaggerates the poor quality of our side that season. That side is incredibly poor, but it doesn't then mention that we soon signed Wayne Rooney before the close of the transfer window. Even though it was his worst season here, we still had Ruud Van Nistelrooy nevertheless and we had an up and coming Ronaldo, not to mention the veterans like Scholes, Giggs, Keane etc.

That Arsenal side was hardly awful either. They tailed off but amassed a respectable points total of 83 and scored 87 goals. Had they been as defensively solid as Chelsea, they'd have taken them to the wire probably. Had it not been for their start and their expectations after the previous season and their start, as well as Chelsea setting a record points total, they'd be remembered as a better team. Remember they had Henry at his peak as well as the likes of Bergkamp, Pires etc.

Don't get me wrong, it makes lots of good points but either way, but no matter how poor the quality of opposition was the points total Chelsea set that season and their defensive record as an example cannot be scoffed at.
 
Gazza said:
Liar. Caf was in no way in full agreement, Jose divides people on here. And you know it you sneaky duffer you
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The Caf may have been divided but if you had started a poll two or three months ago with all major options for after Fergie retired, then Mourinho would have almost certainly won. Admittedly, it may have not been a landslide or a majority even, but people seem to be forgetting that he was the favoured candidate by many for a while. Not everyone of course, but for a lot.
 
Cheesy said:
The Caf may have been divided but if you had started a poll two or three months ago with all major options for after Fergie retired, then Mourinho would have almost certainly won. Admittedly, it may have not been a landslide or a majority even, but people seem to be forgetting that he was the favoured candidate by many for a while. Not everyone of course, but for a lot.
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We did. He got was wayyy ahead of all the other contenders with Klopp in second and Moyes in third.
 
Gazza said:
Watching an interview he did with CHELSEA TV has convinced you? Would you expect a new manager at a club to say anything that suggests the job wasn't his first preference? This is pretty basic, you come across as quite naive here.
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It came across as heartfelt. I was never convinced about the "Jose's whole career has been working towards the Old Trafford dugout, look how NICE he was after the Real Madrid game - he's just batting his eyelids at us." The media pushed this hook, line and sinker but not once was there a quote. This is not to say that the United job isn't hot property, but the consensus seemed to be that he had his heart set on it.

It may be true, it may not be. One thing that is a fact is that it's pure speculation, he has never come out and said that he wanted the United job and he has many times said that he loves Chelsea and would one day return to manage us.
 
Cheesy said:
The Caf may have been divided but if you had started a poll two or three months ago with all major options for after Fergie retired, then Mourinho would have almost certainly won. Admittedly, it may have not been a landslide or a majority even, but people seem to be forgetting that he was the favoured candidate by many for a while. Not everyone of course, but for a lot.
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The board and Fergie chose Moyes though. That's what he's getting at, and that is what is important here.
 
Irwynwastheking said:
We did. He got was wayyy ahead of all the other contenders with Klopp in second and Moyes in third.
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Must've missed it, but that's my point. The Caf effectively chose Jose which means Duffer was right in that respect. Doesn't matter now, but still, a lot seem to be pretending we didn't want Mourinho when many did.
 
Alock1 said:
The board and Fergie chose Moyes though. That's what he's getting at, and that is what is important here.
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He wasn't getting at that at all. He was saying to Duffer that he was lying when he said Mourinho was the Caf's choice. Of course it doesn't matter now since we have Moyes, but still, many of our fans did want Mourinho.
 
Cheesy said:
He wasn't getting at that at all. He was saying to Duffer that he was lying when he said Mourinho was the Caf's choice. Of course it doesn't matter now since we have Moyes, but still, many of our fans did want Mourinho.
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Duffer missed the point when he responded to this post..

LR7 said:
People think Mou loves Chelsea just because he's gushing about them now? It's typical Mourinho, he says what he needs to.

This is from November:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...-Milan-was-the-job-that-made-him-the-happiest

He's gone back to Chelsea because he was running out of options. We chose Moyes.
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I was saying that LR7 is talking about how United CHOSE Moyes and NOT Mourinho.. What the CAF wanted is pretty irrelevant really.
 
Cheesy said:
Must've missed it, but that's my point. The Caf effectively chose Jose which means Duffer was right in that respect. Doesn't matter now, but still, a lot seem to be pretending we didn't want Mourinho when many did.
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No doubt he was the popular choice, but he hadn't achieved 50% of the vote.

I have been looking for Moyes to be the man for 4 years so I guess that makes me more hipster than Pexbo with a Pear Sandwich.
 
With all the youth talents Chelsea has, he's got a decent chance to establish a legacy for himself.

Having said that, he'll probably buy heavy again and giving their youth players no chance.
 
Haven't talked on this yet today, but here's my two cents on the worst kept secret in football.

Mourinho is a winner, it's pretty inevitable he'll deliver success for Chelsea over the next four seasons. I'd imagine he'll deliver a second Champions League trophy for them.

The bright side is that I don't see him sticking around after his contract, he's a hired gun. He may be slightly bitter that he got overlooked for the United job too.
 
TheRisingSun said:
It came across as heartfelt. I was never convinced about the "Jose's whole career has been working towards the Old Trafford dugout, look how NICE he was after the Real Madrid game - he's just batting his eyelids at us." The media pushed this hook, line and sinker but not once was there a quote. This is not to say that the United job isn't hot property, but the consensus seemed to be that he had his heart set on it.

It may be true, it may not be. One thing that is a fact is that it's pure speculation, he has never come out and said that he wanted the United job and he has many times said that he loves Chelsea and would one day return to manage us.
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Spot on.

I think people may have just read too much into the genuine mutual respect between he and SAF.
 
Kid Cunto said:
Haven't talked on this yet today, but here's my two cents on the worst kept secret in football.

Mourinho is a winner, it's pretty inevitable he'll deliver success for Chelsea over the next four seasons. I'd imagine he'll deliver a second Champions League trophy for them.

The bright side is that I don't see him sticking around after his contract, he's a hired gun. He may be slightly bitter that he got overlooked for the United job too.
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He is talking like he's in it for the long haul - I believe he will be. He says he has done his tour of Europe and he wants to settle down somewhere he loves and enjoys, he wants to build a Ferguson type dynasty at the club.
 
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