Jose Mourinho Sacked

I hated him back in his pomp running down the touchline at Old Trafford but I've warmed to him over the years.

 

If my aunty had some ballax she'd be my uncle.

 

Bale wouldn't have been frozen out if he'd acted like he wanted to be at Spurs.

 

To be fair, he is right in the regard that Jose's trademark tactics have become outdated and surpassed. It's my main criticism of him. Football tackics always follow this pattern.

At one time 442 was the norm, with varying styles. Then, someone realized playing a 532/352 with wingbacks would give them an extra man all over the pitch, and that became the fashionable formation(Wilson gave us our greatest moment with it!). Then a few astute managers, one being 442 loving Ferguson realized that if he played 2 wide attackers in a 451/433, it would peg the wingbacks back. So that all but killed it in top-level football(in England, anyway).

Then Jose burst on the scene and tightened everything up, introducing the anchor man in midfield to dominate for a few years, until the Tiki-Taka of Pep made his defensive style too ineffective. Unlike the likes of Ferguson though, he didn't adapt. Luckily for him, not many could play the "pep" style, so he could still compete a bit. But with the advent of the gengenpress, and lightning-fast counter attacking that we see from teams such as Leicester, his style has become even less effective, and now we are seeing the true level of it.

In reality, even in his peak he shouldn't have been the man to take charge of that Spurs team.

 

I'm not saying Eric Dier is Bobby Moore. But if you play style of football that relies on sitting back after gaining a 1-0 lead then you're asking for trouble. Lloris has made the most saves of any keeper in the Premier League over the last 2 seasons - that tells you something.

Eric Dier didn't play against Newcastle 2 weeks ago when Tottenham went in front twice and sat back to allow a poor side to score 2 equalisers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete moron (even though evidence would suggest otherwise) that just has a binary view of him. I think he used to be brilliant. From the period of Porto to Inter there was nobody better. He revitalised at least two top clubs that had suffered periods of poor performances prior to his arrival. But the game has passed him by

 

He should have rebuilt the team in the summer. He had too many players from the previous regime.

 

Sounds like Bale's golf handicaps come down over the last 2 years.

 

Bale scored 7 goals in 4 games about a month ago. Then after one poor half against a side who's name escapes me he hasn't played since.

With Kane, Bale and Son as a front three, how can you be so negative as a coach?

 

Jose is no different to our own Big Val, he expects players to do a lot off the ball. If players don't do their jobs then they get frozen out. They have lots of individuals with skill and attacking abilities but like the Morecambe and Wise sketch they play all the right notes but not in the right order in his eyes.

 

I haven't mate. Anyone associated with Chelsea goes straight on the hate list.

 

I agree on that, and that's still the case for whoever steps up next. They will have two 3rds of a world-class forward line, a top left back and a great center back in Alderwield if he can get his form back. That's it though.

The 'keeper needed replacing two years ago, in my opinion. Dier is just confusing. Not good enough defensively to be a defender, or good enough on the ball to be a midfielder. The entire midfield is bang average. It's going to take a lot of money to get them competing again. then again, they may not have to compete if the Super League crap gets off the ground...

 

Fees have gone up a bit since. I think Van Dijk was about 18 months after Lindelof & Bailly. They might not have been absolute world beaters but they were still huge transfer fees at the time & he seemed to write them off in no time.

I think Spurs should be far higher. He’s got a much better squad than Poch ever had.

He’s got Kane, Vinicius, Bale, Moura, Son, Bergwijn, Alli & Lamela as attacking players alone. Poch would’ve loved that kind of depth.

The only area they’re weaker is at RB & CB. Everywhere else on the pitch they’ve got better players & more options. The left back Reguillon is a brilliant player.

Harry Winks, Dele Alli & Eric Dier were starting week in week out in a title challenging side playing great football & representing England now they’re nowhere to be seen when they should be closer to their prime.

They should be above Leicester & West Ham. They should be above a Liverpool team that’s been without Van Dijk, Gomez, Matip, Henderson & Jota most of the season. They should be above a Chelsea side that were mid table when Lampard was sacked.

They were top in November & it’s not like they’ve had an injury crisis. All the issues are self inflicted. They just keep sitting on leads & end up conceding. They’ve got great attacking players, they’ve got attack minded full backs. They should be getting on the ball & dominating possession instead they’re surrendering possession & getting deeper & deeper.

 

Their last rebuild came when they sold Bale. It would take the sale of Kane to rebuild the team again.

 

Normally I would agree. But it's Gareth Bale, not George Moncur. If you have someone in your side with such talent, then you do everything to get the best out of them. Hes done it previously with other players - he's worked with Joe Cole, Zlatan, Arjen Robben, Benzema, Pandev, Sneijder and Ballotelli. I wouldn't call many of them team players.

I think he used to be brilliant and I can't stress that enough.

But he isn't any more.

 

But George is a man's man, he doesn't have to work hard he wears his socks around his ankles.

 

I think the biggest moment in Tottenham's recent history was Pochettino breaking up the Son and Moura partnership and dropping Moura in favour of Harry Kane for the Champion's League Final. That said their league form slipped that season too after Christmas.

I don't think they recovered as a club from that final defeat. It also papered over the cracks. Mourinho inherited a squad in decline.

 

They weren’t Man City or Van Dijk type fees but they were still huge. You aren’t just going to keep giving him a huge war chest when he’s falling out with Pogba & Shaw & not getting the best out of his squad.

Poch never had depth like Jose’s got. They were chucking on a 35 year old Fernando Llorente who couldn’t run whenever they needed a goal. There was a massive over reliance on Son.

They wouldn’t get a kick as first choice for them 4 but as back up players they’re perfectly fine. Abraham & Pedro played loads for Chelsea last season, James & Greenwood play loads at Man Utd, Origi, & Oxlade Chamberlain were regular back ups at Liverpool. They’re certainly comparable with anyone else’s back ups except City.

I don’t think they were in decline. They were having a bad season after not signing a player for 2 years & running a small squad into the ground. Surely Doherty, Reguilon, Rodon, Hojberg, N’Dombele, Bergwijn, Bale & Vinicius freshen that up a bit?

I can’t imagine all of Dier, Alli & Winks peaked in their early to mid twenties. I’m sure it’s more to do with Mourinho than anything else.