Mourinho Post Match Comments

[The United]

Didn't we do that vs Barca in 2008

Just once out of how many times on purpose?

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Agreed, I think those subs were indicative of those two players not doing what they were asked to do. He tried to correct it and to be frank in the second half...it could have worked out.

In the second half, we had a complete different system, so that's an unfair judgement.

 

[togg]

Hmmm, I can see the 'Jose out' campaign already seeded lol!!

 

[rimaldo]

i love mourinho. i hope he manages us for years and years. he's exactly what we need.

 

[siw2007]

Pretty much what I said earlier and I think, from what Jose said afterwards, he was tempted to make these changes after 20 minutes! He blames himself, but also to a certain degree, players who don't do what is asked of them and you can't really legislate for that if they don't. People are criticising Jose for criticising players (although not in name...the subs indicate who they mainly are)...but to be honest, I think at this stage of getting United back on form, it's fair game and something all these so called 'big European' managers will do during the season. Ferguson never blamed players by name...but you bloody knew he was pissed off with one or two if they weren't playing the next game!

You never know, lingard and miki might have performed those roles well during training. They just bottled it on the day.

 

[Catt]

Jose is as much to blame than the players.

Before the game, a number of us, including myself, felt it was necessary we went with a three man midfield, because we know the way Guardiola plays. As it were, we didn't, and were punished because of it.

Poor mistake by Jose, in my opinion.

I agree.

 

[The United]

You never know, lingard and miki might have performed those roles well during training. They just bottled it on the day.

Or pep outsmarted jose and jose's game plan didn't work at all and he blamed on players.

happened before.

 

[PlayerOne]

Of course. I just expected Mourinho to have a more effective answer. At least he could have picked players who would follow his instructions. Pep certainly did.

I think Pep has his number tbh. Read somewhere that Pep has now beaten Mourinho 8 times in 17 meetings, while Jose has only won 3.

 

[siw2007]

Or pep outsmarted jose and jose's game plan didn't work at all and he blamed on players.

happened before.

Probably a bit of both. Pep did get it spot on today, but even he had to tweak his system in the 2nd half to combat us.

Jose has to learn from this though. Fortunately we don't have to play City every week.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I think Pep has his number tbh. Read somewhere that Pep has now beaten Mourinho 8 times in 17 meetings, while Jose has only won 3.

I think it is 9-3 in Pep's favour now.

 

[bosnian_red]

Because they're Madrid and Barca.

I didn't see Arsenal particularly adapt against us at the Emirates last season.


Of course. I just expected Mourinho to have a more effective answer. At least he could have picked players who would follow his instructions. Pep certainly did.

I'm not saying I disagree, that's just the way these managers are. And Pep is a much better manager then any manager apart from Mourinho and Fergie that has been in the premier league. Fergie had a pretty bad record against Mourinho, even if he didn't adjust his tactics too much. Mourinho has a bit of a shit record against Pep just like Fergie did against Mourinho, though a part of that is undeniably because Pep's barca are arguably the best side ever.

Anyway, I don't have a problem with Mourinho choosing to sit back and counter against Pep, even if it's at home. You're not going to out-possess a Pep Guardiola side, no matter where you are. The issue today was that we just didn't counter well at all and so we lost.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Because they're Madrid and Barca.

I didn't see Arsenal particularly adapt against us at the Emirates last season.


Of course. I just expected Mourinho to have a more effective answer. At least he could have picked players who would follow his instructions. Pep certainly did.

You are right about that. It will be interesting to see who he picks on the next, what he thinks, big game. Until then we won't know specifically who he was annoyed with. Of course the next big game might not be about a side who press the ball manically.

 

[PlayerOne]

Probably a bit of both. Pep did get it spot on today, but even he had to tweak his system in the 2nd half to combat us.

Jose has to learn from this though. Fortunately we don't have to play City every week.

Thing is, we all know City were going to press us that high up and play that style. It's like the players had no idea or something. That first half was so weird.

 

[ReDDHDevilS]

Didn't we do that vs Barca in 2008

I could be wrong but I thought we totally got outplayed in that game which had nothing to do with approaching the game with a very negative mind set.

Hmmm, I can see the 'Jose out' campaign already seeded lol!!

It's not Jose in or Jose out campaign. Most if not all United fans want Jose to be a success here. But at the same time, most also hope he would avoid his very negative approach as much as possible especially at home.

 

[togg]

Because they're Madrid and Barca.

I didn't see Arsenal particularly adapt against us at the Emirates last season.


Of course. I just expected Mourinho to have a more effective answer. At least he could have picked players who would follow his instructions. Pep certainly did.

Well..he tried in the second half, to change things. Perhaps the players he trusted with his instructions just didn't do it on the day, it happens and it will happen to Pep as well...probably against Bournemouth away!!

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Well..he tried in the second half, to change things. Perhaps the players he trusted with his instructions just didn't do it on the day, it happens and it will happen to Pep as well...probably against Bournemouth away!!

Hopefully. The next league game can't come fast enough.

 

[Cristiano Lell]

Ah, Ok.

There should be a football wiki for some of us!

I'm not a coach or expert either, so take it with a grain of salt. I could use that wiki as well.

 

[Wumminator]

I've been the biggest Jose "hater" on here for lack of a better term, but now he's here there is no point looking for mistakes this early. I was very happy how we come back into the game todayz

 

[The United]

Probably a bit of both. Pep did get it spot on today, but even he had to tweak his system in the 2nd half to combat us.

Jose has to learn from this though. Fortunately we don't have to play City every week.

All good managers tweak their systems if they are not working. Some do it better and faster during the game. And those happen to be better manager than the others too.

Pep usually gets spot on against jose who is hailed as master tactician by parking the bus and hoofing the ball. We have klopp, conte coming. We will know more about us.

 

[VivaObertan]

Jose's right, we kept playing into their 5-8 second press rather than exploiting the gaps left by the oncoming defenders and it was extremely frustrating.

Whenever a counter-attacking team would beat Guardiola, they moved the ball extremely directly and would not attempt to play their way out of trouble.

 

[Santoryo]

Didn't we do that vs Barca in 2008

Yes we did but that guy is going to ignore it because he is mad at Mou right now and is having none of any rational explanations thrown at him.

 

[siw2007]

Thing is, we all know City were going to press us that high up and play that style. It's like the players had no idea or something. That first half was so weird.

I think if you don't play against high press like that week in week out, you don't get used to it. There is only so much preparation you can do, but it still comes a shocker when the game begins. Our players were probably used to more time on the ball and were caught out.

It was probably the same in Spain when Jose struggled against Peps Barca for a while but eventually Madrid started offering solutions and they were able to get better results.

 

[togg]

I could be wrong but I thought we totally got outplayed in that game which had nothing to do with approaching the game with a very negative mind set.



It's not Jose in or Jose out campaign. Most if not all United fans want Jose to be a success here. But at the same time, most also hope he would avoid his very negative approach as much as possible especially at home.

I think that is a bit strong 'very negative'. He saw what was going wrong, tried to rectify it and in the second half we were certainly more effective. Ferguson was often 'negative' at home to get a result...sometimes worked..sometimes didn't.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

You are right about that. It will be interesting to see who he picks on the next, what he thinks, big game. Until then we won't know specifically who he was annoyed with. Of course the next big game might not be about a side who press the ball manically.

True. But we better be a lot better prepared against Liverpool in particular. If we start the game like this in our two games against Klopp, we will be in for serious punishment.

I don't mind rustyness early on in the season the odd game. But like I said elsewhere, Mourinho in general being cautious worries me. 150 million pounds spent, with Ibra, Mkhitarian and Pobga added - there's some serious attacking potential in this team. And I hope he doesn't hold us back. For example, I did see a fair bit of us sitting back against Southampton at OT which I also found bizarre for a club of our size. It was overridden by moments of genius by Pogba and Ibra, but it happened there as well.

 

[togg]

Hopefully. The next league game can't come fast enough.

in the meantime..isn't it Feyenoord...this week? Be interesting what team he selects for that....

 

[The United]

I think that is a bit strong 'very negative'. He saw what was going wrong, tried to rectify it and in the second half we were certainly more effective. Ferguson was often 'negative' at home to get a result...sometimes worked..sometimes didn't.

SAF never played negative to get a result at home other than that barca match on purpose...what were those games?!

He always went to get a goal or two then probably dropped off to save energy later on which is different to setting up to defend mainly from the very first min.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

True. But we better be a lot better prepared against Liverpool in particular. If we start the game like this in our two games against Klopp, we will be in for serious punishment.

I don't mind rustyness early on in the season the odd game. But like I said elsewhere, Mourinho in general being cautious worries me. 150 million pounds spent, with Ibra, Mkhitarian and Pobga added - there's some serious attacking potential in this team. And I hope he doesn't hold us back. For example, I did see a fair bit of us sitting back against Southampton at OT which I also found bizarre for a club of our size. It was overridden by moments of genius by Pogba and Ibra, but it happened there as well.

I was thinking about Liverpool, another high energy side. Just hope everyone is completely up to speed then. As some said Pogba not having a pre-season probably showed in this game.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

in the meantime..isn't it Feyenoord...this week? Be interesting what team he selects for that....

I hope he doesn't hold a grudge against Mkhitarian because of today.

 

[ReDDHDevilS]

Yes we did but that guy is going to ignore it because he is mad at Mou right now and is having none of any rational explanations thrown at him.

I'm not a Jose hater, believe me. I always try to defend the club, the manager and the players.

I may be getting a bit carried away but hand on heart, can really compare Jose's negative approach to any other high profile manger? I don't have any problem with that too, I just don't want us to play a negative game at home. And there was no reason for that as the team we faced today wasn't far superior to us let alone the Barca side who are arguably considered the greatest team of all time.

I think that is a bit strong 'very negative'. He saw what was going wrong, tried to rectify it and in the second half we were certainly more effective. Ferguson was often 'negative' at home to get a result...sometimes worked..sometimes didn't.

By very negative, I was referring to the games for instance, us at SB or PSG at SB etc. There are games where he's very negative. Hopefully he becomes a bit more ambitious now that he's here and we won't see many of those games instead we'd be more like Chelsea in the first half of the season in 2014.

 

[World Game]

Again just guessing, and it'd be good if someone that's heard this phrase before could actually confirm what it means but, I assumed it meant don't play the most obvious pass. I don't think it necessarily means play a long ball game. I think it more means, try not to pass it to the nearest player to you and instead try to pass to players further away. It's difficult to really do that consistently throughout a match however because some times the "first station ball" is the only pass you can make when you're being pressed.

Agree with this. Probably refers to the most obvious pass after winning possession.

 

[Varun]

Trust Caf to make a sensible tactical plan from a top manager look like a point out from the big Sam book of football.

Not passing to the first station here would simply mean a plan to ignore the nearest or easiest available option(s) as that's where city would be pressing and passing it behind them to fail their press and open the game up. But nope, he asked everyone to just hoof it up mindlessly.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

What he meant by first station passes in his own words:

,,We didn't have a tactical problem, we had problems with poor performances, we lost the ball very, very easy. Even now our central defenders today they lost easy balls, bad passes, first station passes from Bailly to Fellaini and Blind to Pogba. We lost the ball in these kind of positions, so it was not Mikhi and Jesse it was much more than Mikhi and Jesse."

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/manchester-united-news-mkhitaryan-liangard-11869190


Anyway who cares. He should've thought of a system that could contain De Bruyne and to lesser extent Silva. Also playing Mkhitaryan and Lingard in this game while they didn't have a start in the league before today was really weird.

 

[Attila]

I think it is 9-3 in Pep's favour now.

Inter Milan 0 - 0 Barcelona (Group Stage)
Barcelona 2 - 0 Inter Milan (Group Stage)
Inter Milan 3 - 1 Barcelona (CL Semi Final)
Barcelona 1 - 0 Inter Milan (CL Semi Final)

Barcelona 5 - 0 Real Madrid (League)
Real Madrid 1 - 1 Barcelona (League)
Barcelona 0 - 1 Real Madrid (Cup Final)
Real Madrid 0 - 2 Barcelona (CL Semi Final)
Barcelona 1 - 1 Real Madrid (CL Semi Final)
Real Madrid 2 - 2 Barcelona (Super Cup)
Barcelona 3 - 2 Real Madrid (Super Cup)
Real Madrid 1 - 3 Barcelona (League)
Real Madrid 1 - 2 Barcelona (Cup Quarter Final)
Barcelona 2 - 2 Real Madrid (Cup Quarter Final)
Barcelona 1 - 2 Real Madrid (League)

Bayern Munich 2p - 2 Chelsea (UEFA Super Cup)

Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City (League)

 

[DevilRed]

A shame we didn't follow instructions better. I'm sure the thinking was to use the pace and energy of lingard and mikhi to stretch them. Only for us to play short passes and give away the ball cheaply.

Zlatan can clearly keep hold of a direct ball towards him. However, not enough players with pace to utilise his holdup play. Outside of rashford nobody could beat a man. That's why we must must must ease mikhi into the lineup. He will make a world of difference to our counterattacks.

Martial and rashford will learn as well.

 

[togg]

I hope he doesn't hold a grudge against Mkhitarian because of today.

That would be unfair since Mkhitarian has hardly had any playing time and certainly hasn't had time to adjust. It feels like the perfect match to use him. Also...according to some things I've read, he's quite a sensitive player...needs to be dealt with a different way. As we all know Ferguson was a master of that...some you bollock (Giggs, Bruce, Neville) to gee them up, some you don't (Cantona, Cole etc)....it will be interesting to see how Jose deals with this.

 

[PlayerOne]

I think if you don't play against high press like that week in week out, you don't get used to it. There is only so much preparation you can do, but it still comes a shocker when the game begins. Our players were probably used to more time on the ball and were caught out.

It was probably the same in Spain when Jose struggled against Peps Barca for a while but eventually Madrid started offering solutions and they were able to get better results.

That's a good point. But you think someone like Micki will used to it, but he was one of the worst players today.

Anyway, we only play City twice in the league, we just need to win games against the "smaller teams"

 

[MP1711]

What he meant by first station passes in his own words:

,,We didn't have a tactical problem, we had problems with poor performances, we lost the ball very, very easy. Even now our central defenders today they lost easy balls, bad passes, first station passes from Bailly to Fellaini and Blind to Pogba. We lost the ball in these kind of positions, so it was not Mikhi and Jesse it was much more than Mikhi and Jesse."

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/manchester-united-news-mkhitaryan-liangard-11869190

Anyway who cares. He should've thought of a system that could contain De Bruyne and to lesser extent Silva. Also playing Mkhitaryan and Lingard in this game while they didn't have a start in the league before today was really weird.

I think he was trying to follow the Bayern, Madrid plan but the problem was our wingers didn't turn up and we played the wrong pass too many times.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Not in the first half. Most hoof balls came back down to us to invite more pressure right away. Holding the ball or passing the ball would slower their tempo a bit. Or even pass around the back just to make them chase then let DDG to hoof would make them a bit more tired. It is not like we don't know how to pass around at the back. LVG spent 2 years teaching us! lol

Hoofing them for the sake of it the sec we got the ball was pretty much mindless.

Im sorry but this is completely wrong. In the first half we played so many short passes to the centre of the pitch and then a City player or players would press and we would relinquish possession. When we started banging it up to Zlatan and Fellaini in to second half, we got places. Passing it around the back like you suggest is basically the first half, where we were destroyed.

 

[Ole90+3]

Because they're Madrid and Barca.

I didn't see Arsenal particularly adapt against us at the Emirates last season.


Of course. I just expected Mourinho to have a more effective answer. At least he could have picked players who would follow his instructions. Pep certainly did.

None of us know what Mourinho's instruction were for the players, specifically the passing strategy. It makes sense to exploit the space in behind against opposition who press high up the pitch. My thinking is that Mourinho wanted more passes like the one Blind played to Rashford that set him through for the offside goal. That is a prime example of exploiting space left by the pressing defender.

 

[togg]

Just a question...do City have a better squad of players to ours? More talented players as a group? More options?