The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost for Mourinho

Let me start by stating the glaringly obvious, Jose Mourinho is a brilliant football manager and has been so for a very long time. His track record of excellence at various top clubs in various top leagues in Europe cannot be understated. This article does not serve to call into question his brilliance but to point out some of his "less desirable" qualities that I think have been a big contributory factor in Chelsea's rather spectacular fall from grace this season.

We all know the situation; Chelsea, English league champions but 6 months ago are struggling mightily this season by their own lofty standards after suffering a number of unexpected defeats. To put the struggle of both team and manager into context: Chelsea have already lost more league matches this season than they had the last 2 combined and we are only 11 games in. Add to that Chelsea have lost 3 home league matches already this season, which is truly remarkable when you consider that Mourinho-led teams have lost a total of 3 home games in the last 13 seasons! The plight of the blues has left everyone scratching their heads as to the root cause.

For me the man responsible is certainly Jose, he is at the heart of this and what irks most though is you'd be hard pressed to find a shred of evidence to suggest the man himself thinks he is at fault for any of this. He typically and cynically has blamed his players, opposing managers tactics and last but not least match officials / the FA for his teams defeats. At no point has the Special One come out and said he or his team weren't good enough without some sort of excuse about the referee. But there in lies the problem...

If you have followed football closely and you know anything about Jose Mourinho you will know this: The man is a winner and he is box office. His whole persona is geared around being a winning coach and his track record proves it. He often carries an "us against the world" mentality where he sees anyone who isn't on his side as against him. Above all, he is not a man too shy to blow his own trumpet and its his bravado as well as his provocative nature that makes him box office material. Seldom does Jose Mourinho leave his powder dry when it comes to press conferences and that is why the hoards from Fleet street love him. He practically writes headlines for them at times. Although his style can rankle, his less appealing qualities are tolerable particularly as his teams are always so successful.
(It also should be noted that those same qualities both on and off the pitch that have made him a media darling in the UK made him very unpopular with the Italian media, who he himself has sited as one of the reasons he left Inter Milan after leading them to an unprecedented treble. In Spain he also left Real Madrid under a cloud after falling out with high profile players and officials alike.)

As I have already stated, you cannot argue with the man's track record of success. He's gone from club to club and had an almost immediate impact through his brand of efficient, effective football combined with his charm and man management skills. He consistently  is able to get the best out of players. It also has to be said that crucially has never really been one to build a club around him in the way a Wenger or Ferguson have. He's never built multiple teams with a single club while promoting youth prospects. Mourinho has always been about the here and now when it comes to his management style. Maybe the fact that his time with any team or league is often transient allows him the freedom in his own mind to say whatever thing (good or bad) that comes into his head. This might help to explain why he often speaks in such callous terms regarding rival managers. The list of petty and churlish remarks directed through the media to the likes of Wenger, Benitez, Pellegrini, Guardiola and Ranieri are well documented.

The special one has also had his fair share of run-ins with opposing coaching staff, his own coaching staff and his own players through out the years. His time at Real Madrid was littered with high profile squabbles. In the interest of being balanced I will say that Real Madrid is easily the most politically complex of clubs with a number of huge egos from the dressing room to the board room that need to be assuaged.   Alongside this there is also the small matter of delivering results in style for the demanding fans at the Santiago Bernabeu, which makes this a tough task for any manager. But with all that said I cannot think of any previous Real Madrid coach who's had as many public spats with players as Jose. The combustible nature of his personality and his burning desire to win must be linked within the man himself, why else is there such glory and chaos wherever he decides to bring his coaching talents to?

No matter what drama he brings, Mourinho has always brought success alongside it, that is until now. But rather than dampen down the chaos and outward rage in order to focus on his team's shortcomings he has increased the level of scrutiny on himself and his club with yet more incendiary comments and accusations than ever before. It started with his dealing with club doctor Eva Caneiro who he has been accused of constructively dismissing from the club and is being sued. Then there was almost yearly "campaign"  mantra brought about after his team lost to Southampton at home where he suggested that match officials are "scared" to give decisions to Chelsea both in the premier league and in Europe. He has routinely blamed match officials for poor results, including his most recent defeat at home to Liverpool, all the while having been critical of some of his key players publicly. But crucially he has never come out and said something to the effect of "we just didnt do enough to win today, our opposition was better and we must improve". Those kinds of comments would have left us focussing on what was wrong with his team, but Mourinho made it all about himself while taking none of the blame.

The simple fact is for someone always so keen to extol his own virtues and successes, the special one has been reluctant to accept any let alone the bulk of the responsibility. In my opinion he needs to. Once he does so, maybe the burden of expectation and pressure will be lifted from the shoulders of his players, who by and large have been trying really hard for him. What is also noticeable is the way the spirit of the team, something that has been a Mourinho hallmark is sorely missing. It is often said that Mourinho's antics are a smoke screen, used to take the pressure off his players / team by grabbing the spotlight, but those moments were usually in periods of success. Now he is enduring the worst spell of his career he needs to turn the tables by taking full responsibility of the performances of his players and accepting the mistakes the match officials make. The question is, will he learn his lessons in time or will he keep blaming everyone else except the man in charge? For Chelsea to get back on track the sideshows have to stop.

Dortmund Exploit The Gunners Glaring Weaknesses

So after watching the dismantling we took against Dortmund on Tuesday I thought I'd share my thoughts as to what's been going wrong with the team since the start of the season. With the summer signings (particularly Alexis Sanchez) there was a much greater sense of optimism buzzing around the club. This however was tinged with a sense of concern about recruitment in a number of key positions. I think just about every man and his dog was saying that Arsenal needed to bolster their defensive midfield options and central defensive options. As we all know, this was not done adequately with only 6 senior players in the squad to cover 4 positions.

There is no doubt this contributed to the result against a rampant and energetic Dortmund side on Tuesday, however I don't think this tells the full story. Taking the game in isolation it is clear that Arsenal had a bad day at the office and Dortmund was set up extremely well tactically. They pressed the ball extremely well with first and second waves of pressing via their midfield and attack which lead to Arsenal being rushed in possession. This tactic had a profound effect on the composure of the Arsenal team with pass completion falling well below the required standard by a number of our players, with Arteta being particularly culpable at the base of the midfield.

In the press conference after the game Wenger more or less admitted that his team were poor. However the reality is that the team haven't looked right since the beginning of the season. After labouring to a win at home to Crystal Palace on opening day we have won only 1 out of 6 matches since (a narrow win against Beksistas to qualify for the Champions League group phase). The best performance of the season so far has been our 2-2 draw with Manchester City, which in of itself was disappointing in the way the team surrendered the lead to a set piece after going 2-1 up in the second half.

To my eye the team looks somewhat disjointed and imbalanced. The new 4-1-4-1 formation doesn't seem to have bedded in as quickly as everyone would like. It’s obvious that Wenger wants a system that accommodates to the attacking talents of Alexis, Ramsey, Wilshere and Ozil simultaneously. However there have been some curious choices such as selecting an out of form Ozil on the left side of the team when his work rate and tracking back isn’t his strong suite. This has left his fullback exposed at times. The team seems to be adapting slowly to the new system and while the likes of Wilshere has been given a platform to shine (such as his barnstorming performance against City) others such as Arteta, Ozil and to a lesser extent Ramsey seem to have suffered as a result of it.

In the first half particularly, our midfield was totally overwhelmed by the energy and hunger of our opponents. It felt as it there were more Dortmund players on the pitch than Arsenal players such was the dominance of the home side. In truth the score could have been a lot worse but for their woeful finishing (with the exception of the two they scored of course). Henrik Mkhitaryan was most culpable in this regard missing two easy chances during the match.

The issue of finishing (or lack thereof) was something that Arsenal fans are no strangers to. The familiar sight of Giroud habitually starring into the heavens after a bad miss have been replaced by Yaya Sanogo and new recruit Danny Welbeck doing the exact same thing (not the starring bit but the missing badly bit). In Welbeck's first two games with the club his wastefulness has been costly; occurring at crucial times in games as both opponents scored within minutes of his agonising misses. These are decisive moments in matches but I believe with time Welbeck will improve given time to familiarise himself with his team-mates and improve his confidence in front of goal. It has only been 2 games and a hand full of training sessions with his new team-mates so Welbeck will be given the benefit of the doubt though I am sure he will be spending a little extra time after training to do shooting and finishing drills.

I think Wenger is in a difficult position in that he has to make decisions to improve the team. Should he switch back to the 4-2-3-1 system used last season or should he persist with the current system? Does he keep Ozil out on the wing or put him more centrally or even drop him all together? The Ozil conundrum is interesting. The fact of the matter is Ozil's starting position in this new system is based more on defensive positioning rather than offensive ones. Ozil isn't restricted to the wing and often drifts across the pitch but his lack of grit at times leaves the fullback he is designated to protect quite exposed and our defensive midfield options don't seem to be able to cover those gaps very effectively. (I have spoken in more detail about Arsenal's chronic issues at the DCM position here).

In all likelihood, Wenger will persist with this system and with his personnel choices such as using Ozil on the flanks. I think the only way that is going to change is if injuries force his hand. Wenger as a coach has always been about creating a football eco-system that his players can exist in rather than worrying too much about the tactical flexibility of his team. He often gives his players the freedom within a structure to express themselves. But at the moment there are a number of players that aren't anywhere near the top of their games and crucially in defence he doesn't have anything in the way of alternatives for the faltering Mertesacker or Koscielny.

The news that our new right back Mat Debuchy has a long terms injury puts further pressure on the team. Hector Bellerin seems a good prospect but his inclusion in the team speaks more to the lack of options than it does to his quality. We all know this isn't the kind of game he should be making his début in, but needs-must at the moment. To be fair to the boy he did a reasonable job and wasn't at fault for the goals the team did concede but the reality is our senior players at centre back are struggling and so adding the job of guiding a raw, inexperienced youngster through the rigours of a Champions League match isn't ideal.

It’s important not to overreact after a bad defeat, and I don't think the problems we have are insurmountable. However things do need to improve quickly starting with a must win game against Aston Villa at the weekend. I call it a must win game because, after drawing three games in a row in the league, and losing in mid-week Arsenal need to win to get back to winning ways and keep pace in the league. Any more dropped points will start to seriously sap confidence. Here’s to hoping this weekend represents a turning point for our team, where they show their full potential and start building momentum and confidence.

Fingers crossed!

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