bus-conductor
Thanks. As usual, I believe you make some good points and some points with which I disagree. You encouraged me to join TFC after you were booted out of SC by the control freak maniac A&C. After some initial "Whoah this is a crazed war zone" impressions, I now much prefer the anarchy of TFC and the Fight Club rules. So here's a response to your arguments.
On the criteria you have used to judge the players and the window, I think Regui is better than your judgement - at least an 8 for quality and 9 for potential - and Hojbjerg showed me things against manure that I didn't think he could do. I also think the deal for Bale was a calculated gamble with little risk given it's a one-year loan for less than half his salary with an option to extend by a year if it proves successful. Otherwise we walk away. Just like Carlos Vinicius, this is not a Soldado situation where we're stuck with a declining asset. If either Bale or CV flops, we can get out after a season with zero additional financial commitment. If they succeed, we have the option to extend their stay at the club.
The only signing who has little sell-on value is Doherty. But his presence has already led Serge to up his game.
But I want to go outside your terms of assessment to make some broader points.
Crucially, we hired Jose Mourinho and history shows if you're going to back him, you need to do it early doors. Levy, with some major help from Mendes (Ruben Dias cost Shitty £51 million up front +£10m to bail out Benfica, once that was done we signed Vinicius for a £3m loan), has delivered players Mourinho was happy to accept to "complete his squad puzzle".
I've been looking in some detail at Mourinho's teams - chavski 1 & 2, Inter, Real, manure - specifically the players he inherited and the players he added. I've also been reading often surprising quotes from former players. Perhaps the most insightful comments were from Claude Makelele.
Context is important. Makelele went from Celta Vigo to Real Madrid, where he was the straight man in a team of Galaticos. Real President Perez then famously dissed Makelele as a short passing easily replaceable water carrier as he sold him to chavski in 2003. His new manager was Claudio Ranieri, who was sacked after Makelele's first season in London. Enter Mourinho in 2004.
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Claude Makelele says Jose Mourinho turned ‘insecure’ Blues into winners
CLAUDE MAKELELE vividly remembers Chelsea before the Jose Mourinho era.
He walked into the dressing room at Stamford Bridge in 2003 and was shocked.
Makelele: “When I first arrived at Chelsea, I saw something that shocked me. There were big teams, Manchester United and Woolwich, and all the time we would play them and I’d hear, ‘F***ing hell, it’s going to be difficult’.
“What? We can’t beat Woolwich? My team-mates were insecure and that shocked me, I had come from Real Madrid where I won everything. I understood my team-mates — Woolwich won with Thierry Henry scoring and with Patrick Vieira. But they were my friends and I played with them for the national team and I wouldn’t be afraid.
“When I saw this, I wanted to change it with my team-mates and say ‘No, this is possible’. We did change the mentality and, after, we beat them all the time and were fighting for the Premier League.
“I learnt a lot with Mourinho about being a competitor, about being focused on details and the consequences of your management.
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So did chavski have small time players at the time? Well, in that first 2004-5 season, Mourinho inherited Makelele, Terry, Lampard, Gudjohnsen and Gallas - hardly shrinking violets. But he also bought Cech, Drogba, Carvalho & Robben - all very strong characters. Clearly from Makelele's comments, Mourinho's priority was to change the mindset of chavski's dressing room.
black echo
posted a revealing interview with Mourinho where he clashes with Abramovich, who is desperate to buy very expensive established CFs for his new coach. Mourinho turns down the big name strikers and insists on the less famous Didier Drogba from Marseille. Mourinho tells the oligarch he only wants Drogba: "Mr Abramovich, don't speak. Pay!" (See link at bottom.) And it's in large part because of Drogba's hunger and mentality.
bus-conductor
So, I think the most important factor that is missing from the criteria you use to assess our window is mentality. Mourinho has targeted players he thinks can help him change our mindset into a winning one.
As with chavski in 2004-5, Mourinho has inherited some players of high quality - eg Kane, Sonny, World Cup winner Lloris - but he has also added players with strong mentalities.
He's also lucked out with GLC being a better player & stronger character than he initially thought, and has challenged Ndombele & Dele to up their fitness & competitiveness - with admittedly mixed results. But GLC & Tanguy can provide the midfield creativity that his best teams have had - Sneijder, Ozil, Modric. Hell, he even bought Pogba for manure, before getting frustrated by his attitude & consistency.
Carlos Vinicius spoke in his Spurs Official interview of how he nearly quit football a couple of seasons ago. As well physically being a Drogba type, I suspect Mourinho has also seen that hunger and competitiveness to prove himself at the highest level. And this is why CV was allegedly Mourinho's first choice, when we clearly could have bought a Callum Wilson or an Ollie Watkins. And if CV fails, it's a £3 million pound failure.
Now, before you think this is an Ode to Jose, it's not. Those Makelele quotes are from a 2018 piece in the Super Soaraway (linked below). I've also found Makelele quotes from 2011 (also linked).
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Claude Makelele Accuses Jose Mourinho of Hypocrisy and Drunken Behavior
Claude Makelele has decided to remember the time he played for Chelsea FC under the reign of Jose Mourinho. The revelations were harsh in tone with regards to Mourinho who is currently coaching Real Madrid.
Makelele accused Mourinho of being hypocritical and being drunk with the players. He declared: "We would gather together to crack jokes and get drunk".
Makelele said: "After the party, he (Mourinho) would distance himself from us and then reclaim all of the glory for himself. For him, the new stars were worth more than the old ones."
After further questioning, Makelele praised the work of Jose Mourinho as a coach without praising the person.
"Mourinho is a winner. He knows how to motivate and use people to get the best of them in a match. The problem is when he wants to put you down, there is cold calculation, cruelty and ambition".
Makelele confessed that he could not take it any more with a "coach who put himself above the team". He talked about (again) how Mourinho forgot about the team and claimed credit for himself.
Makelele finished his declarations by saying that Mourinho wanted the "spotlight for himself".
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Before he became our coach, this was always one of my big problems with Mourinho. He is pretty much the only coach I know who says "I won this, I won that" rather than "We won this, my team won that".
And this may be the key to why Mourinho often loses the dressing room after a couple of seasons. As his hair has greyed, I hope he's learnt to emphasise the team above the individual. But we shall see.
Fundamentally though, I believe Mourinho's "project" is about creating a winning mentality, and creating a "squad puzzle" where he has options. I believe this transfer window significantly helped these aims. Yes, we still need a dominant CB and a genuine DM 6. But I rated the window as an 8, judging it on what I believe Mourinho is trying to achieve.
https://thefightingcock.co.uk/forum/threads/carlos-vinicius.37514/page-6#post-2506797
Claude Makelele interview: Chelsea players were insecure before Jose Mourinho arrived and turned us into winners
Claude Makelele Accuses Jose Mourinho of Hypocrisy and Drunken Behavior