Good thread title and legitimate and mymy you make a good point, there are no Chelsea's or Madrid's in MLS they are all Wigan's and Sporting Gijon. Sadly to say Mourinho has signed a new contract and looks set to stay. I wonder what this means for Higuain maybe he can be reasurred of his place now that he knows Mou will be in charge for the forseeable future. Maybe Mou is the reason he wants to leave, I think we are soon going to find out about this. Also Mourinoh might look at Higuains situation and think he better make his own move for reassurance. At any rate I'm not thrilled. I was really, reallllly hoping that Chelsea or ManCity would come bail us out. Of course I think Mourinho's deal included a clause that allowed him to leave for free after his third season, so maybe it's Florentino that is looking for reassurance. In any case with all this potential reassuring going on, I hope to god that Gonzalo feels some.
"He's the only man I would leave my husband for; and he's probably the only man my husband would leave me for"...
The nonsense that comes out in your posts is astonishing... Do you remember how poorly this club's displays in the CL and CdR (not as important, but still relevant) were before Mourinho got here? Every manager has some characteristics that are undesirable. With Mourinho, they are slight favoritism (moreso, wanting to stick with the nominal starting XI) and a tendency to bunker in big games after getting a lead (admittedly his biggest flaw, but it's worked so well in the past for him... tbh though, he doesn't do that as severely nor as often anymore). That said, Mourinho is the best manager in the world, and there is no reason to expect that if we brought someone else in that they could do a better job. We just got 100 pts in the league and made the CL semi's for the second straight year. If our two top PK takers wouldn't have choked against Bayern, we'd have been in the CL final and likely currently celebrating La Decima and the Liga/CL double. Yet you want him gone, and think it's a sad thing that he just signed an extension? Unbelievable.
I don't see what is 'sad' about him signing an extension. For one, he's the greatest manager in the world. No one is even close to him at the moment IMO. But even if this was up to a debate, no one can say he's not a very good manager unless he's just a hater. What makes me happy about this contract extension is the stability. We have changed coaches too many times, and that kind of lost us the 'big club' charisma in the CL for many years. We lost against almost every big club, until Jose came here, and worked things out. 2 semi finals in a row after all those exits from the first knockout stage are more than enough for making me wish him staying longer and longer. He also won us two titles in two years, so there is no doubt in my mind that the man is on the right track. I just wish that we do something different this year in the transfer market. Last year we spend without really adding quality to this team (we only added depth). This year, we have to make some serious investments if we are to take this team to the next level. I don't want to see us struggle against those arrogant bastards from bavaria.
I wanted a new coach long before this years CL semi finals and I feel the result in that tie goe right to proving me right. Simply put I don't like Mourinho's system and tactics. I always saw him as a Capello type of signing for coach, a defensive coach that would bring instant results. So I was willing to put my preferences aside for the sake of winning some silverware. I just feel at this point we got a title and broke up Barca's run over the last three years and it's mission accomplished- thanks and good bye. You ask if I remember the the clubs displays in CL before he got here. I don't think you remember the way the team played back in the day when we were winning CL's and getting knocked out the semi final stage was failing to win the tournament and nothing else. The crowd used to regularly break out the ole-ole chants because we would dominate possession the same way Barcelona does now. We didn't score 100 of goals because players like Raul and Zidane didn't see the need to run up the score against helpless opponents. They saved those goals for the special occasions and would take the day off when playing teams like Real Murcia and Levante. We seem to have the opposite approach now beat up on the weaklings to prove how vastly superior we are then not show up at the big game. Look at the teams we've played in CL knockouts: Tottenham, CSKA Moscow, APOEL. Not exactly Arsenal and Juevntus in their prime with. When we have come up against the big clubs like Bayern and Barca we've come up short so I fail to see how Mourinho has really one upped his predecessors in this regard. He finally got the better of Barcelona but after how many tries. It was only a matter of time before we win against them. If I told you we would have to play Barca 6 more times before we would get another win, would you take that deal or those odds.
So coaches like Del Bosque, Pep, Hynckes are no where close to him. Even though in head to head mathups some of these coaches have better records or when comparing resumes some of these coaches are more impressive. That's not a slight to Mourinho who has won alot and if you had said in 2010 there's no better coach it probably would have been true, but he didn't win everything on his plate this year and it's just factually not true. I do agree with you that signing this extension does signal his intentions to stay for the long haul and that does help if we are looking for stability in the coaching department. His apporach to the game is just not the one I would like the club to take long term. It would be fine by me if he bunkered down in a CL semi final once time to get the result and bring home the title. Unfortunately this is always tactic and that's just not how I want the team to go about winning games. Maybe he will change and do things differently and my opinion will change. I'm not counting on it, I think he'll double down and be more convinced in doing things his way.
Hah, are you serious? You can't even compare Del Bosque or Heynckes with Mou, and Pep? The fact that his replacement is somebody called Tito shows that even his own club don't value him that much. Much like their use of canteranos, it's more a necessity than a choice. They need someone to follow the script, to push the auto-pilot button. Pep leaving won't make any difference to how Barcelona play or perform, and I can't wait to see him flop at his next club. I do agree with you that Mou needs to be less frequent with his bunkering though, but he'll learn. Getting rid of Mourinho now would be very stupid.
The way Real Madrid played with Figo and Zidane (admittedly, I wasn't a fan back then but based off what you're saying) is more a result of the player's style and skillsets than what the manager wanted. However, he was able to implement that type of playing style because the players had the ability to play like that. Look at our squad. We are built to be a solid-in-defense, fast counter attack team. Sure a little more possession based attack could be more attractive, but the bottom line is fans want to see goals. The way we play right now just got us the most goals ever scored in a Liga season. But you think a more attractive game is necessary? Last thing to note, Mourinho is evolving as a coach, just as Real Madrid is as a club. He has been used to doing things his way for so long, the ultra defensive, bunker down and hit them on the counter. It is not right to expect him to change his managerial style instantaneously. The squad is a work in progress, and I think he understands that more possession in the midfield would really go a long way in winning us a CL. Just wait and see what transfer ideas he has this summer, and watch next season's performances. Based off the evolution from Mou's first to second seasons, I think we will see a similarly solid defensive side of the ball, with our midfield and forwards playing with a better understanding of each other, still a fast counter attack team but with more possession through the midfield and build up play.
Double next season Mourinho please CL+League or even better the treble but i hope he realize his mistake in the semi final champions league against Bayern Munich which cost us in the final of the champions league against Chelsea.
The mistake that cost us is that that donkey Coentrao got layed on his behind against Lahm at the final minute of the game. Bayern would simply not win at the Bernabeu and we would be in the final. If we would have stayed focused till the final minute we would have gone back to the Bernabeu with an ideal result to work with and the tactics would have been all sweet and nice and butterflies flying over handwoven baskets.
I think against Bayern, the central midfield was the problem more than anything. We could still win by penalties shootout but we were outplayed in the midfield. It's a problem of quality not tactics. Xabi Alonso doesn't perform well under tight pressure. He is our key man in the midfield, if he's neutralized, we lose the battle there. That's why we need to look for a possible investment to strengthen this area if Sahin is not what Mourinho wants.
It's not one persons fault. Cristiano, Kaka, and Ramos missed penalties, Coentrao gave a goal away, Pepe comitted a penalty, Mou made the wrong decisions. But Pepe doesn't always commit penalties, Cristiano, Kaka, and Ramos don't always miss them, and Coentrao doesn't always give goals away. Mourinho, on the other hand, does this everytime. We've payed the price v Barca several times, just like we did vs Villareal, Malaga, etc., where we didn't end the match, didn't keep possession, but made defensive substitutions, we take out Ozil and what not, and try to defend our lead, instead of building on it, like we're some shitty loser club. I'm glad he renewed, but he needs to learn that this isn't Inter.
We need to learn that if you don't play clever in a two legged competition, you'll end up losing. The 1:1 would've comfortably sent us to the final, there was not much of a chance Bayern would win in the Bernabeu. There is a reason why stuff like running to the corner flag exists nowadays. Yes we're Madrid and we are super superior and all that, but sometimes you need to be clever and get a favourable result. If the current team isn't capable of doing this, they are not capable of winning the Champions League.
Hah. Because if you can't bunker, you can't win the Champions League . If Mourinho's tactics were so clever, why did we lose? The coach's job doesn't merely consist of finding a strategy, it consists of finding a strategy which your players can play and win with. This is something Mourinho is highly praised for; his ability to adapt to the circumstances, something which in my eyes makes him far better than someone like Guardiola, who's only plan B is to play Pique as a striker. But in this case, he's failed more than once. We have a fantastic team, but if you want to win something like the Champions League, you need to find and utilize your strengths, and use the best strategy possible. In certain circumstances, bunkering and defending a lead is the smart thing to do. But if that same strategy has failed several times, and you know that you don't have the players to do it properly like you've done before(Inter), then you simply don't do it. You find another 'clever' strategy, a strategy which suits your players, not the average team, which in this case was KEEPING POSSESSION OF THE DAMN BALL. That doesn't mean that the team doesn't deserve to win. That has to be one of the stupidest things I've read in a while. You did get one thing right, though. We weren't capable of winning CHL. Bayern deservedly went through, partly, but mostly, because of Mourinho
Our strengths are in the attack, but you can't go into the Champions League thinking you can go all out attack because it suits your strengths. Chelsea won it and they completely ignored attacking. Even Barcelona, who were praised for their attack, were always comfortable with the away draw against tricky opponents. Something this team hasn't got the players for. As soon as you give it to the attack, you can consider the ball either lost or in the back of the net. We haven't "kept possession of the damn ball" for six or seven years now, and Mourinho has come the closest to working out a way to mask that.
Man, I disagree completely. This team can hold possession of the ball, just like it can be calm in attack, instead of trying to make the game-changing pass right away. This is why we have a coach that we pay 10ME a year. If the alternative to all-out attack is being defensive and giving up possession, at home, vs a Bayern team which relies heavily on its attack, then Mourinho is not the coach for Real Madrid. Fortunately, that's not the only alternative, and Mourinho simply needs to have more faith in this squad. We haven't got the players for bunkering either, yet that hasn't stopped Mou. With the players at his disposal, I expect more. We all should.
A team with Ronaldo and Di Maria on the pitch is not capable of holding possession or playing it calm. Di Maria rarely holds the ball for long, he's always on the move, always involved in trouble. Ronaldo really isn't the player to pass it back and side ways, until that pass comes along either. At the third attempt he takes the ball and tries to take everybody on himself anyway. That is not really bad, but this is not a team that will hold the ball and command the game. If you're waiting for this squad to play possession football and pass the ball 25 times in a champions League semi final you'll be waiting for quite a while. The most prominent and popular play of the season was a minimal pass counter attack early on in the Champions League. That is characteristic of the way we play. When we hold on to the ball for long, the opponent sits deep and we run into trouble.