I currently have mixed feelings on Jose.
I think he deserves more time before we write him off as a failure here. He walked into a tough situation and seemed to have turned things around. We jumped up the table pretty fast before the injuries hit. And the injuries we had were a legit excuse. Anyone who says it isn't just wants to bash Jose because they don't like him. Then we had the pandemic. Even though we're healthy now, it's expected to see rust.
However, what we're seeing is more than rust. The starting 11 yesterday was a real head scratcher. He couldn't decide between Bergwijn and Lucas (despite Bergwijn clearly being in better form) so he just started both of them. So we had a striker and 3 wingers. And it didn't work. We had a heavy attacking lineup and couldn't piece together a single set of passes. The attack looked lifeless. The 4 up front just didn't work in that set up and Sissoko was struggling big time in distributing the ball. We didn't have a #10 in there to complete that final pass or to make that play in the final third and that is exactly what we were missing. It was such a mess.
The most bothersome part of that team selection is how he just can't drop Lucas, and will sacrifice tactics to make him fit. Yet with Ndombele he claims he simply doesn't have enough spots for every good player to start. What has Lucas shown recently for him to claim a vital role in the starting 11? Ndombele deserves to start. Not be thrown into a game we're already losing, in a formation that doesn't make sense, and within a team that is lacking any real desire to make a comeback. Jose did a really poor job in this game.
Another concerning thing from this game regarding his tactics, I feel like he's trying to evolve into the modern game. I just don't know if he knows how. We look so much more organized when he sets up the team defensively and we play the counter. But in games we try to attack we look disorganized and inept. I think the Burnely game is the only exception to this.
While all that is bad.....I do like most of what he is saying.
The past few days he seems to be focusing on the club mentality. The comments about drama any time a good player is on the bench, and then after the game when he criticized the players for checking out after the VAR decision. And it wasn't just them checking out. They were being assholes (Lo Celso especially). We've seen this before with multiple players. We get down, lose focus, and start rough/shit talking. The CL run is such an outlier, I still can't believe we overcame both those deficits.
It's been a chaotic season. Even though it won't be a proper offseason, I'd still like to see Jose go through a window to reshape the squad and then mold them in training camp before the new season. I think it's completely unfair to call for his sacking now.
