Excuse the long post - just joined :)
I’m a big Jose fan and when I heard his appointment I was very excited at the prospect of what he could bring. He probably thought that with the attacking talent currently here, he’d only need to tweak what was behind them.
But most likely to his surprise, he didn’t realise how tough a job it was going to be to get us defending well – nor how weak the player’s mentality is.
I don’t believe those who think he is too outdated to succeed. I re-saw his Inter team play Pep’s Barca in the ECL when they won 3-1 who play exactly the same way today – and Inter exposed them on the counter time and time again. And it wasn’t dull – it was extremely exciting to watch his plan come together perfectly.
But how many of our players would get into that Inter XI today? Only Harry Kane – but even at that particular moment Diego Milito was world-class.
At the moment we are improving defensively in a lower-block scenario. It was definitely evident against Man United. An incorrect VAR decision cost us the 3 points. And we had a good degree of control against West Ham. I think this is definitely something he’s been working on.
But the new partnership at the back, and not so frequently playing in a match where we have 70% possession of the ball, in this completely different scenario where the team needs to get back quickly, together and know how to defend this situation – this clearly either hasn’t been worked on, or the players aren’t capable of handling this situation. I think this is the later, as Sheffield most certainly exposed this time and time again, and our defence looked clueless – add in the weak mentality made it that much harder…
I think facing what the players had to the other day was a good thing with the dodgy calls – it teaches Mourinho more about the profile of his players. Who has the composure, who will he potentially be able to trust, who is worth working on to become an important first team player, or who needs to be shipped immediately.
But what may become more evident, is whether Jose will get the time that he needs. He knows how to win – even with a Chris Smalling and Phil Jones defensive partnership at the back.
But changing the style and mentality from such an offensive possession based game utilised for years, to a patient swift counter-attacking side isn’t going to be a quick thing. And will those players now playing this style have the attributes to competently carry it out? Decision making is abolutely key in the final third on the break – and that has still been lacking. We should have scored 6 or so against West Ham. No one would complain about the defensive football then.
I think at this point in his career, I do think Jose will want a more prolonged stay than his previous clubs, and most likely recognised this by taking on the job. But he needs everyone’s backing, and in the current modern day, I sadly feel he’s not going to get that time, or have the self patience to oversee a project that would appear to be a lot longer than he might have potentially expected.
I believe a lot of personnel change is needed immediately. A safe keeper between the sticks with Julio Cesar, a quick Lucio and physical Samuel combo in the CB slots that can handle different defensive situations, a Maicon and Zanetti for the wing backs and Cambiasso a solid DM in the middle.
And with his style of football, it’s key to have a creative player and set piece specialist. Inter had Sneijder, and we are severely lacking in this at the moment. I think Lo Celso may be better served as a centre mid that can bring the ball out into the central and final third, being a deeper creative outlet.
Like Klopp’s and Pep’s squads, they are all designed to play to their main game-plan and have already had a base squad, and the time / money to complete it. Mourinho’s way works…but in the modern day, it is a lot harder to find players to fill his roles, especially as players feel they are bigger than the club and manager – which increases the chances of falling out with players, which could easily happen if a lot of the players don’t want to play a more patient counter attacking style of game.
I would say this is where football progressing has got the better of Jose – player attitudes and being able to get away with it.