To run harder, or Arda Turan; That is the question: The (ahem) Winter Transfer Thread

Mourinho's lost the plot since Real Madrid. Not the same manager, IMO. It was the first time anyone could arguably consider him a 'failure' and his ego has taken a massive hit. Not being able to take Real Madrid to La Decima messed him up real good as I'd bet my life he entered that position envisioning the headlines of about him not only winning La Decima but also being the first coach to ever win the Champions League with three different teams. I think most people could see that this Chelsea team is very likely the worst 'Mourinho' side ever and the guy seems pretty oblivious to it.

As this 'funk' stretches on he'll view the national team as a good time to 'take a break' from club football and go back to Portugal to 'rediscover' the passion for his career. At least that's how I hope it plays out Lol

 

Well as great as winning with tiny Porto and then with Inter was, he left Chelsea before they got the trophy Roman wanted most, and then lost the locker room and left a real mess behind for Ancelotti to clean up in Real. Both times a CL trophy came not long after he left. Not so very special any more.

 

Both the Chelsea and Real Madrid teams that won the CL were teams that he can very rightfully claim he 'built'. I don't really see that as a mark against him, at least not in the way you are implying.

 

Winning the EPL with a stacked team isn't as impressive as his past achievements. Mancini won the EPL and he's nothing special. That title is nothing compared to his CL win with Porto, with Inter, beating Barca in La Liga, etc.
His team just isn't on par because he doesn't have a player he can always count on to perform some individual magic as he had with the likes of Deco, Sneijder, CR7, etc.

He thinks Hazard can be that person but he doesn't have the mentality, which was only confirmed in a recent interview he gave where he claims that after he scores a goal he thinks 'it's enough'.

 

Well he can certainly claim that their eventual success in the CL rested at least in part on the work he put in. Knowing Jose he would certainly do that and would also point to a whole host of other conspiracies which conspired to prevent him from getting a CL 1st for Chelsea and a "Decima" for Real. And there is some merit to his helping build those squads. But then there is some merit to Mark Jackson claiming you cannot love the butterfly without appreciating the caterpillar (NBA analogy re Golden State Warriors winning championship in first year with Steve Kerr who replace Mark Jackson) even though most are sure Warriors never would've won with Jackson at the helm.

And deep down in both cases it really has to hurt Jose and his massive ego that he could not do the one thing he was hired to do by Roman and by Florentino - win the CL for the 1st or the 10th time, respectively. And it led to his dismissal, though of course being so special it was a mutual decision. Also his failures at Chelsea and Real with their massive transfer budgets and salaries sort of contrasts with what he did with Porto and even Inter, neither of which had the same resources or expectations.

 

Funnily enough when Chelsea did win the CL I thought that they were so lucky in so many matches ...

 

... and yet Real Madrid wanted him back this Summer but has to settle for Benitez .... I fear Jose will soon be back to terrorise us

 

MORE TARGETS
NOLITO: IN HIS BEST MOMENT

NAVAS: QUALITY, DRIBBLE AND HUNGER

VELA: SUITABLE PROFILE FOR BARÇA

CANDREVA: RELIABLE AND WITH EXPERIENCE

From Sport's headline today, thing is, IF we sign another forward in January I kind of hope it is a mystery player we get for a bargain (maybe someone out of contract in June 2016) or just a high priced mystery no one saw coming. I mean better than paying 200% for Nolito just cause of his DNA.

 

I presume that it's not the ex- Arsenal Vela !!

 

FWIW, via barcastuff, MD says the options to replace Pedro are: Nolito (Celta), Navas (Man City), Vela (R.Sociedad), Candreva (Lazio), Schöne (Ajax), Walcott (Arsenal), Bellarabi (Leverkusen), Berardi (Sassuolo), Mahrez (Leicester), Thauvin (Newcastle) and Feghouli (Valencia).

Vela and Berardi I think are fine deals if the money is right. Navas and Feghouli no thanks (good players, but don't score enough). Not sure what to think about Walcott. Nolito I think would be a boring but somewhat sensible choice.

 

It is. He is a good player who is suited to Liga, so easy to see why his name is mentioned (though obv there is some gap between a mention and an actual deal, I don't expect it to happen).

 

I actually rather liked him at Arsenal as he showed some great touches but he wasn't the same player at all after his injury and then moved onto La Liga . Can't see him being anywhere near good enough for Barca .

 

I think he was worse at Arsenal than he has been at Sociedad. Stats definitely aren't everything, but in Arsenal he scored 11 goals and had 6 assists in 62 games. In Sociedad, he has 57 goals and 34 assists in 158 games.

Injuries are always a worry, but imo he is solid. Not the best player out there, but if we make a 15 name list to replace Pedro, I can see him in the list.

 

Agreed. It's crazy to say a manager has "lost it" just because he doesn't win the CL with a club, especially when we're talking about a short 3-year stint. It really takes a lot of time and matches to properly assess a football manager and there are too many variables in a cup competition like the CL (e.g. one bad match and that's it). Gotta look at the big picture, and the big picture shows that Mou has been a success at 3 out of 4 big clubs he managed. And they were roaring successes too! No matter how unlikable he is, one can't really dismiss that feat. That's better than Pep and Luis Enrique put together!

 

Well, that's taking his achievements too far, but essentially I agree: he's a jerk, but that doesn't mean his achievements mean nothing. I do think, though, that he'd be more highly appreciated (and not less successful) if he acted better.

 

Not sure if acting better does you any favors in such a profession. Mou is very highly appreciated by fans of the clubs he manages, which is all that matters (LPB fans aside, but they're mostly retarded 12 year-olds anyway). If anything, his smack-talk combined with his good relationship with the English media makes other EPL managers under-appreciated. For e.g. take Pellegrini, who is often seen as holding-back an uber talented Man City team despite a nearly identical record at City as Mou has in his second Chelsea stint (with similar talent available).

 

I dunno. I mean, sure it's crucial to be appreciated by the fans of your own club(s). But when he some day retires, his legacy is defined by a larger group of people, and that includes people who were not fans of his clubs. If he acts like a disrespectful egomaniac jerk (that he is), it affects his reputation somehow, positively or negatively - I reckon negatively. Not that every respected football coach needs to be a choir boy or always politically correct, but you can be very successful and act disrespectfully, or be very successful and act respectfully, and I think the latter group will have a grander legacy. Not that smack-talk shouldn't be in the repertoire of a coach, but there's doing it and overdoing it.

I think it's bit like that with Cristiano as well. One can argue that his egomaniac, individualistic ways are part of what makes him so good, but one can also argue that if he was 10% more team-oriented/less egomaniac - say, celebrate when a teammate scores - it would help his reputation more than it would hurt it. Not that his case is identical to Mourinho's.

 

Has if affected him negatively so far though? I would say "no". This is the Barca forum and Barca is probably Mou's biggest rival out of all clubs in the world, so I could see how his image is poor in this forum. But that isn't really the case among neutrals IMO (pretty opposite to Crissy who sorta does have a bad image outside of the Portugal/ LPB/ ManUre circle-jerk).

After a loss, Mou pretty much acts the same way as Arsene Wenger. But Wenger is seen as a poor loser while Mou is seen as the guy who is brilliantly taking the pressure off of his players.

 

Tough to really say has it affected his reputation so far, as we only have this version of him available for analysis. Who knows what his reputation would be like had he been a little different coach. But I think, in general, if you act respectfully, you will yourself be more respected. There might be exceptions and so on, but still.

I dunno. I mean some see Mourinho as a genius taking pressure off his players, but not all see him like that. And the difference from him as the winner and Wenger as the loser isn't based on after-loss-comments only, but rather on the fact that Mourinho has way more success lately than Wenger.

 

Gazzetta dello Sport claims Barca and Juve have a pre-agreement for Pogba's transfer in January

 

One would insta-call this BS, as isn't it kinda rare that players of that importance/cost move in January...

Wouldn't be the biggest surprise to see him move in the summer, though, and Barca wouldn't be the most surprising destination.

 

this article on barcablaugranes.com outlines a few reasons why it might be possible in january.

they make some good points. we'll just have to wait and see...

 

Read it, and I'm not buying it at all. They stretch their hopeful arguments so much, and don't give the same treatment to "reasons against their theory". I'll eat my hat if Pogba joins us in January. I can believe he joins in the summer, though, but even that I think is far from sure.

 

I don't agree about Jose's supposedly greatness ... .. he waltzed into Chelsea a decade ago and took over a team who'd finished second and was given a hundred million to improve an already brilliant squad . Same thing happened at Real Madrid then at Chelsea again. .
Then he's a genius for subbing 3 players at once ... no sh*t Sherlock ...... Work the opposition to death then bring on three of the best forwards in world football to kill the game off ..

I reckon I could get close to his results with his squads !