Chelsea Football Club 2012-13: Champions of Europe!

Jaime wrote:

S4P wrote:You know which player(s) at Madrid thought they were too important to be benched.

As for defending players, one of the key reasons for his success at Chelsea and Inter was his ability to unite the players and the fans. Sure, there were a couple of players at each club who had issues with him (Crespo, Balotelli...) but many of his players would have run through brick walls for him. Even at Porto, some of his key players followed him to Chelsea.

It's interesting that the only club where he didn't appear to truly win over the fans is Real - a club which has been divided over every one of its managers for the last 10 years.

Casillas never said a word about being benched, if that is who you are referring to. Not a single word.

Of course the fans were divided over Jose - although not seriously until this year. The style you can like more or less but when you lose to your biggest rival 5-0, are constantly going on about how much you want to return to England, poke a colleague in the eye, fail most of your objectives, and then go on to burn every bridge possible of course you are going to alienate players and fans.

messiah wrote:Motta did say the other day that he had big issues at inter as well, just that it didn't reach the press

S4P wrote:Is there a manager who got the better of Ferguson (both domestically and in Europe) more than Mourinho?

If anything, Fergie saw him coming back and ran

S4P wrote:

Jaime wrote:

S4P wrote:You know which player(s) at Madrid thought they were too important to be benched.

As for defending players, one of the key reasons for his success at Chelsea and Inter was his ability to unite the players and the fans. Sure, there were a couple of players at each club who had issues with him (Crespo, Balotelli...) but many of his players would have run through brick walls for him. Even at Porto, some of his key players followed him to Chelsea.

It's interesting that the only club where he didn't appear to truly win over the fans is Real - a club which has been divided over every one of its managers for the last 10 years.

Casillas never said a word about being benched, if that is who you are referring to. Not a single word.

Of course the fans were divided over Jose - although not seriously until this year. The style you can like more or less but when you lose to your biggest rival 5-0, are constantly going on about how much you want to return to England, poke a colleague in the eye, fail most of your objectives, and then go on to burn every bridge possible of course you are going to alienate players and fans.

Casillas did not need to say anything - he has the Spanish media and national team mates to do the talking for him.

Of course, Jose was crucial in burning bridges with the likes of Pepe. If only he'd stood up for him after he stamped on Messi's hand. Apart from Pepe and Casillas/Ramos, which other players did he burn bridges with? Ronaldo? Heck, Real fans were super critical of Ronaldo in the past, even when he was scoring 50+ goals a season.

As for failing most of your objectives, he beat the so-called greatest team of all time to both the league and Spanish Cup title over his first 2 seasons. He took you beyond the Round of 16 in the CL for the first time in almost a decade, while the "style" bagged a record number of goals in a La Liga season. Also, you choose to focus on the 5-0 defeat over the 2-1 and 3-1 wins at the Camp Nou where you deservedly beat Barca.

As I said, it's strange that the man who was for many years one of the best man-managers and motivators in world football (if not the best) could fail so terribly in this regard at one club. But I'm sure this has more to with Mourinho losing his touch than the Real players and fans, who have struggled to unite behind one manager since Del Bosque, being responsible for any of this alienation.

S4P wrote:Jose isn't the Saint and has contributed to his own downfall. But on the other hand let's not pretend that it was entirely his fault and that the Madrid players in question, nor the media (nor many of the Real fans) are absolved from any blame in this relationship turning sour.

Arbeloa: Mourinho will never return to Madrid

The Spanish full-back does not believe that his former coach will ever work at the Bernabeu again but is full of praise for the 50-year-old
Alvaro Arbeloa believes that Jose Mourinho will never coach Real Madrid again after he left the Santiago Bernabeu to take over at Chelsea.

The Portuguese ended his three-year reign in the Spanish capital after a trophyless season but president Florentino Perez hinted that he could come back to the club.

However, Arbeloa believes that his time with los Blancos is over but says he thoroughly enjoyed working with the former Inter boss.

"I can’t imagine Mourinho ever returning to Real Madrid," he told La Sexta.

"There are people who do not like to have a coach who will not let you relax. I prefer people like Mourinho, who tells you exactly what he wants.”

Arbeloa has been singled out as a weak link in the Madrid side over the last year and the Spain international admits that he must improve.

"It has been my worst season since I arrived. I've not produced good enough performances and I am aware of that.”

Arbeloa is part of Spain’s Confederation Cup team who will travel to Brazil and will face Uruguay in their first tournament match on June 16.

Mourinho: Ronaldo can't handle criticism

The flamboyant coach has hit out at the Real Madrid star's attitude and has downplayed his supposed falling-out with Pepe
Jose Mourinho has taken a swipe at Cristiano Ronaldo in the wake of his Real Madrid exit, suggesting the prolific attacker cannot deal with criticism.

The Portugal international had a bust-up with his coach earlier this season after Madrid's 2-0 Copa del Rey win over Valencia and Mourinho has admitted the forward did not take kindly to his comments.

"Ronaldo has had three fantastic seasons with me. We found a tactical set-up where he got the best out of himself and scored a lot of goals. I had one problem with him, though," Mourinho told Punto Pelota.

"When I criticised him from a tactical point of view because I felt he could still improve, he did not accept what I had to say.

"That might be because he thinks he already knows everything and the coach cannot help him grow anymore..."

Mourinho also endured a highly-publicised spat with Pepe during the final stages of his tenure at Santiago Bernabeu, but he insists his compatriot has garnered more support at the club as a result of the dispute.

"I don't know whether Pepe betrayed me. Everybody wanted him out at Madrid, yet I kept him on board," Mourinho continued.

"But he picked up an injury and Raphael Varane did a fine job during his absence. He deserved to play and Pepe didn't adapt well to the new situation.

"All those who called him a murderer before now supported him. I'm happy that he gets that support now. It's great for him and Madrid need players like him."

Mourinho left Madrid at the end of the 2012-13 campaign to return to Chelsea, where he was presented on Monday.

Disco Benny wrote:Schurrle Chelsea don't need anymore attacking midfielders?

Schurrle the number of headlines punning schurrle is going to get very, very annoying.

My take on this fashion of buying German players - clubs in England should probably be buying the good ones, not the shit ones (Podolski, Schurrle, Holtby, Mertesacker, Marin, Schurrle - none of them represent major coups really).

Disco Benny wrote:I would LOVE it if Chelsea sold Mata. He's by far and away their best player, best Chelsea midfielder of the last 20 years

Romford Pele wrote:Chelsea sign van Ginkel. How many midfielders does one team need? And i'm not entirely sure this will help his WC hopes.

S4P wrote:Press reporting that Jose wants to sign Hulk. No question this would be a great signing but I won't believe there's any truth in it until it's reported by Radio Marca.

debaser wrote:

Romford Pele wrote:Chelsea sign van Ginkel. How many midfielders does one team need? And i'm not entirely sure this will help his WC hopes.

don't think they are that ridiculous..similar to Man U/Man C in numbers I suspect.

not sure where van Ginkel plays, but..

Ramires/Lampard-Mikel/Essien/Romeu
Mata/Moses-Oscar/De Bruyne-Hazard/Schurrle
Torres/Ba/Lukaku

then there's a few kids like McEachran, Piazon, Kakuta who may be loaned out. And I'd imagine there's a couple like Romeu, Mikel who may be on their way (and their striking options will probably change too)

Kimbo wrote:Brutal.