Jose Mourinho

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So Mourinho being finished is because of his time at Man Utd, yet everything he has said is true, so is that narrative dead?

Called out the board for being shambles and not backing him as in getting his targets

Called out Luke Shaw for not having a footballing brain



Ripped into Pogba for being a bitch and look where he is now, his team just lost 6-1 at home and he's saying he would love to play for Real Madrid

Their isnt many things he said at Man Utd that weren't right

Even finishing 2nd with them he said was an achievement people took the piss out of but look at them

Solskjær has spent £350million yet where is his pressure to win the league?
 
I've been thinking about how our team should play from now on - with Gareth Bale.

The obvious choice would be Bale replacing Lucas as a RW - which would also allow us to keep using 3 midfielders. However, even though the vast majority of fans wouldn´t want Lucas as a first team player, it's important to consider the amount of work he does without the ball on the right - exactly like Di Maria did at Madrid, as you can see in the video I brought here. If that´s enough to keep Lucas in our first eleven, it´s a different story (I don't think it is) - but the fact remains; we need to have a functional structure.

Jose needs to find a way to play with three pure attacking players together without losing solidity - this is not Solskjaer's Manchester United. I see a lot of people comparing our new attacking force to the one Liverpool´s got. But they have at least one element of the trio (Roberto Firmino) working tirelessly without the ball, chasing the opposition´s build up, tracking back, etc. Aston Villa 7-2 apart, Firmino helps Klopp to use his two box-to-box midfielders covering the sides - Salah, Mane and both FB´s (their best players) all benefit from that structure.

In this video you can see Jose´s Madrid playing with a very clear (and familiar) 4-2-3-1 formation. Without the ball, however, Di Maria became a third midfielder on the right - allowing Ronaldo to stay up front a bit more; Madrid turned into a 4-3-1-2 formation. In short, Di Maria worked tirelessly - Marcelo, Ozil, Ronaldo and Benzema all benefited from it. They were the best team in the world at the time because, alongside their qualities, their structure as a team worked really well.

By the way, they were tactically "more protected" than we are. Madrid used asymmetrical FB´s - Arbeloa was a defensive RB -, we won´t use asymmetrical FB´s anymore - Reguilón and the RB will both attack more than Arbeloa (or Ben Davies) ever did. And Madrid had faster and much better central defenders than we do.

So, while I get all the enthusiasm, the big question for our team now is who´s going to work tirelessly in a front 3 of Son, Kane and Bale - and if the answer is "none", what else can we do to keep the team´s structure working while getting the best of our best players.

COYS

 
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The Swellhead Spur said:
So Mourinho being finished is because of his time at Man Utd, yet everything he has said is true, so is that narrative dead?

Called out the board for being shambles and not backing him as in getting his targets

Called out Luke Shaw for not having a footballing brain



Ripped into Pogba for being a bitch and look where he is now, his team just lost 6-1 at home and he's saying he would love to play for Real Madrid

Their isnt many things he said at Man Utd that weren't right

Even finishing 2nd with them he said was an achievement people took the piss out of but look at them

Solskjær has spent £350million yet where is his pressure to win the league?
Click to expand...

There isn't a single thing Mourinho got it wrong at united , the problem is their fans is like women , they rather listen to a soft, endearing, gentle sweet lies than cold hard truth spouted by someone whose football knowledge shouldn't be questioned anymore. The only reason Ole was there is because he was club legend who are good with picking the right words their fans wanted to listen , never slate their favorite players publicly like the toxic finished dinosaur was, forgetting he was a relegation level manager whose championship club wouldn't even pick if he got sacked there . Some of the players believe on their hype and the board listen to popular opinion instead. He was their best manager since SAF and will continue to remain as for the next decade or so
 
Totti said:
Post lockdown stats :

P: 17
W: 11
D: 4
L: 2

F: 39
A: 17
Click to expand...
I think the last 4 matches (Newcastle, Chelsea, Maccabi, United) have been very encouraging.

The restart matches were honestly a real mixed bag of performances. Not bad, persay, but I never felt like the team had much of a plan beyond "Is Harry Kane good today?" Granted, that will win more than lose and might even crack top 4, but it's not setting the world on fire.

But the last few matches have shown different lineups playing different ways against different opponents, and even though Kane/Son has been smoking hot, I never felt like the team was relying on Kane/Son to win, they just happened to be on the business end of good overall performances, and both the eye test and underlying numbers would agree.

The next 4 weeks is EXTREMELY interesting because we should be favored to win every match. If we have aspirations of winning a trophy, this is the stretch of matches to get things properly settled.
 
Ciro said:
I've been thinking about how our team should play from now on - with Gareth Bale.

The obvious choice would be Bale replacing Lucas as a RW - which would also allow us to keep using 3 midfielders. However, even though the vast majority of fans wouldn´t want Lucas as a first team player, it's important to consider the amount of work he does without the ball on the right - exactly like Di Maria did at Madrid, as you can see in the video I brought here. If that´s enough to keep Lucas in our first eleven, it´s a different story (I don't think it is) - but the fact remains; we need to have a functional structure.

Jose needs to find a way to play with three pure attacking players together without losing solidity - this is not Solskjaer's Manchester United. I see a lot of people comparing our new attacking force to the one Liverpool´s got. But they have at least one element of the trio (Roberto Firmino) working tirelessly without the ball, chasing the opposition´s build up, tracking back, etc. Aston Villa 7-2 apart, Firmino helps Klopp to use his two box-to-box midfielders covering the sides - Salah, Mane and both FB´s (their best players) all benefit from that structure.

In this video you can see Jose´s Madrid playing with a very clear (and familiar) 4-2-3-1 formation. Without the ball, however, Di Maria became a third midfielder on the right - allowing Ronaldo to stay up front a bit more; Madrid turned into a 4-3-1-2 formation. In short, Di Maria worked tirelessly - Marcelo, Ozil, Ronaldo and Benzema all benefited from it. They were the best team in the world at the time because, alongside their qualities, their structure as a team worked really well.

By the way, they were tactically "more protected" than we are. Madrid used asymmetrical FB´s - Arbeloa was a defensive RB -, we won´t use asymmetrical FB´s anymore - Reguilón and the RB will both attack more than Arbeloa (or Ben Davies) ever did. And Madrid had faster and much better central defenders than we do.

So, while I get all the enthusiasm, the big question for our team now is who´s going to work tirelessly in a front 3 of Son, Kane and Bale - and if the answer is "none", what else can we do to keep the team´s structure working while getting the best of our best players.

COYS

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Really interesting link to Mourinho's earlier work.

I can see how Bale for Lucas might unbalance us defensively. Another question is will he play Lo Celso + Ndombele in the same midfield? I personally think it's possible. Gio offers a lot defensively for a 10 and is intelligent enough to drop if Ndombele goes wandering up the pitch. But if that's the midfield (with Hojbjerg) there's even more of a call for a Lucas to help out the midfield from the front 3.

Starting to think the 'dream team' of 2 attacking FBs, THAT midfield and THAT front free, may be just that, a dream. At least while Mourinho is at the helm.
 
Ciro said:
So, while I get all the enthusiasm, the big question for our team now is who´s going to work tirelessly in a front 3 of Son, Kane and Bale - and if the answer is "none", what else can we do to keep the team´s structure working while getting the best of our best players.

COYS
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How about rather than Moura running his legs off, everybody works a little bit harder?

Son has been asked to track back more by Hugo. :llorishuh:
 
Belgrano said:
Really interesting link to Mourinho's earlier work.

I can see how Bale for Lucas might unbalance us defensively. Another question is will he play Lo Celso + Ndombele in the same midfield? I personally think it's possible. Gio offers a lot defensively for a 10 and is intelligent enough to drop if Ndombele goes wandering up the pitch. But if that's the midfield (with Hojbjerg) there's even more of a call for a Lucas to help out the midfield from the front 3.

Starting to think the 'dream team' of 2 attacking FBs, THAT midfield and THAT front free, may be just that, a dream. At least while Mourinho is at the helm.
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Exactly.

We are probably facing three big changes - all of them would make us a more offensive team.

1 - Since we signed Reguilón, we started to play with two attacking FB's - no more asymmetrical FB's. Even when Ben Davies plays, he attacks.

2 - Having Ndombele and Lo Celso together in midfield could be the second major change. I agree that the Argentinian should play from an advanced midfield position - for example, as the "1" in our inverted midfield triangle; he is dynamic enough to coordinate our attacking (and counter attacking) movements, and he is intelligent enough to drop deep at times, opening spaces for other players. This means that Ndombele will/should play alongside Hojbjerg (instead of Winks or Sissoko). That's another huge change - and again, it goes in the direction of a less functional and more talented (and exposed) team.

3 - Finally, Gareth Bale. The simple solution would be playing Bale instead of Lucas - another big gain in terms of quality and firepower, another lost in terms of structure and work without the ball.

Jose must find the right balance and I'm sure the solutions will involve players and formations that are not in most fans script. I'd just say that we don't need to have a first-first team. We are still going to adapt according to the opposition.

COYS
 
When a club appoints someone as a manager then the least they can do is give him the respect that position entitles him to and listen to what he has to say. It may be bitter tasting medicine but you don't spit it out you swallow and see if the remedy works.

Man Utd ignored his transfer suggestions and the squad he inherited were a bunch of over paid, ego inflated, lazy bastards who feared and resented his appointment. It was never going to work and how Jose was able to carve any success at all during his stay is testament to his managerial capabilities.
I truly believe he is a perfect fit at Spurs and will take the club, the fans and HIS players on a hugely succesful journey in this and the seasons ahead. Levy has backed the guy to the hilt and the mood throughout the place is positive and confident. Wonderful change of attitude which is even palpable in here

Meanwhile Ed Woodward will come to bitterly regret how he treated Mourinho and taking the OGS 'soft option' afterwards. They now have a mountain to climb to get back and until they sack Ole they'll continue to decline.
:mourhandlaugh:
 
I think when he signed for Manure, he was going to have the same power as Sir Alex. Had he got that, Pogba would be the best attacking midfield there is or out of the club few years ago already. Have you guys seen his "Heritage" video on youtube as yet? Please watch it if you have not already.
 
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Ciro said:
Exactly.

We are probably facing three big changes - all of them would make us a more offensive team.

1 - Since we signed Reguilón, we started to play with two attacking FB's - no more asymmetrical FB's. Even when Ben Davies plays, he attacks.

2 - Having Ndombele and Lo Celso together in midfield could be the second major change. I agree that the Argentinian should play from an advanced midfield position - for example, as the "1" in our inverted midfield triangle; he is dynamic enough to coordinate our attacking (and counter attacking) movements, and he is intelligent enough to drop deep at times, opening spaces for other players. This means that Ndombele will/should play alongside Hojbjerg (instead of Winks or Sissoko). That's another huge change - and again, it goes in the direction of a less functional and more talented (and exposed) team.

3 - Finally, Gareth Bale. The simple solution would be playing Bale instead of Lucas - another big gain in terms of quality and firepower, another lost in terms of structure and work without the ball.

Jose must find the right balance and I'm sure the solutions will involve players and formations that are not in most fans script. I'd just say that we don't need to have a first-first team. We are still going to adapt according to the opposition.

COYS
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On your second point about the midfield, I'm really intrigued to see how the side will look when it's Gio/Tanguy/Hoj. I've noticed a couple times when Tanguy and Hojbjerg play together, when we have the ball it is Ndombele who sits between the centre backs rather than Hojbjerg, this allows us to build up quicker and then Hojbjerg fills in one of the full backs positions when they bomb upfield (usually Aurier/Doherty). The other midfielder then drops in alongside Kane and Sonny and our other winger get ready to make runs in behind. However when we don't have the ball we seem to retreat back into that 4-2-3-1 shape and Hojbjerg becomes the deepest midfielder. It's a really interesting dynamic and I am keen to see how it changes once we have Bale like you say rather than Lucas.
 
Ciro said:
I've been thinking about how our team should play from now on - with Gareth Bale.

The obvious choice would be Bale replacing Lucas as a RW - which would also allow us to keep using 3 midfielders. However, even though the vast majority of fans wouldn´t want Lucas as a first team player, it's important to consider the amount of work he does without the ball on the right - exactly like Di Maria did at Madrid, as you can see in the video I brought here. If that´s enough to keep Lucas in our first eleven, it´s a different story (I don't think it is) - but the fact remains; we need to have a functional structure.

Jose needs to find a way to play with three pure attacking players together without losing solidity - this is not Solskjaer's Manchester United. I see a lot of people comparing our new attacking force to the one Liverpool´s got. But they have at least one element of the trio (Roberto Firmino) working tirelessly without the ball, chasing the opposition´s build up, tracking back, etc. Aston Villa 7-2 apart, Firmino helps Klopp to use his two box-to-box midfielders covering the sides - Salah, Mane and both FB´s (their best players) all benefit from that structure.

In this video you can see Jose´s Madrid playing with a very clear (and familiar) 4-2-3-1 formation. Without the ball, however, Di Maria became a third midfielder on the right - allowing Ronaldo to stay up front a bit more; Madrid turned into a 4-3-1-2 formation. In short, Di Maria worked tirelessly - Marcelo, Ozil, Ronaldo and Benzema all benefited from it. They were the best team in the world at the time because, alongside their qualities, their structure as a team worked really well.

By the way, they were tactically "more protected" than we are. Madrid used asymmetrical FB´s - Arbeloa was a defensive RB -, we won´t use asymmetrical FB´s anymore - Reguilón and the RB will both attack more than Arbeloa (or Ben Davies) ever did. And Madrid had faster and much better central defenders than we do.

So, while I get all the enthusiasm, the big question for our team now is who´s going to work tirelessly in a front 3 of Son, Kane and Bale - and if the answer is "none", what else can we do to keep the team´s structure working while getting the best of our best players.

COYS

Click to expand...

4-2-3-1 with Bale, Son and either Lo Celso or Dele behind Kane.
 
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