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Jose Mourinho axed by Chelsea

Jose Mourinho Chelsea 17

Jose Mourinho’s inability to conjure something special this season has cost him his job.

What seemed inevitable was made official on Thursday, as Chelsea fired Mourinho from its head-coaching post. Mourinho had led Chelsea to an English Premier League title during the 2014-15 campaign, but struggled mightily for results this season. The Blues are just a point above the relegation zone, and have lost nine of their first 16 matches so far.

The latest loss came on Monday when Chelsea fell, 2-1, to surprise league leader Leicester City. After the match, Mourinho lambasted his players for their poor performance.

What do you think of Mourinho getting the axe? Did he deserve more time or was he largely to blame for the poor run of form? Can anyone come in and save Chelsea?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I cannot believe how jk haters claim Jose would be a good coach!!!! Hahaha.

    As for his ability to coach:
    Imagine you’re hiking with 3 of the smartest minds know to man. You reach a cliff with 100ft gap to the other side, all you have is a 5ft role.

    Guess what, those 3 brilliant minds can do nothing to help problem solve this one.

    So with the USNT, we could have JK, Jose or Pep and we still wouldn’t improve drastically as some may think. We have a talent deficiency, not a tactical one.

    So it’s fine if some one would like Jose as a coach, sure, I can understand that. But to think he would somehow instantly raise our talent level is hilarious!!!!!!

    Sure if Jose was the NT coach AND somehow the U.S. Could buy that players it wanted, we’d be good. Unfortunately that’s not how intl soccer works lol…

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  2. Jose is not coming to the Nats.

    Also, if our sensitive fans can’t tolerate Klinsmann, they might be put on health risk watches due to the employment, attitude and ego of Mourinho.

    US fans aren’t ready for a personality of Mourhino’s stature. Presently, US soccer fans appear way too soft for that. Something I’ve always found odd, considering the bravado and machismo associated with other American sports fan bases.

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    • I think most fans could tolerate the theartics of a Mourinho that you speak of because at the end of the day the difference is Mou knows what he’s doing when it comes to putting a product on the pitch from a personnel, tactics and in game adjustments perspective(although this season with Chelsea may say otherwise). He’s won league and champions league trophies on different continents, at the highest level unlike JK who has yet to win anything of merit AS A MANAGER!

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      • I also think JK gets a lot of flak for his time at Bayern, because of what players like Lahm and Kroos. And I’m not saying they’re wrong, or that JK was amazing. But he wasn’t a complete bust.

        Bayern were 3 points off of first with five games to play. And they lost in the QF of CL to treble winning Barca. Van Gaal had a very similar record the following year, but spent 70 million more.

        Again, not saying he was a success, wrongly fired, or Lahm and Kroos are wrong; but far from the shambles some people seem to talk about it.

    • People here are more than convinced that the USNT is one good coach away from greatness and are more than willing to endure the embarrassment that having Mouringo as your National Team coach would bring. Never mind that the best American players are just barely good enough for the English second division…..if we only had a better coach……

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      • Your missing the point Rob and also using sweeping generalizations that aren’t true. We may not be one coach away from greatness but we are one coach away from playing with strategy and tactics that complement our players and use them to their strengths.

      • It was a sweeping generalization, and a bit to hyperbolic for my taste; but he isn’t far from the truth. A lot of people talk about how behind we are with technical skills, but don’t realize how much farther we are behind tactically.

        Everyone likes to point fingers at JK’s tactical ineptitude, but refuse to acknowledge our players’ limitations.

    • ….besides the fact that we need somebody that keeps on building the program instead of leaving it in shambles after a couple of years like Mourinho has done everywhere he’s been.

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  3. i’m not sure i agree he would be a good hire for the US. i thought we didn’t want managers who throw players under the bus, play favorites, have a big ego, and actively use defensive tactics.

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    • Mourinho has won everywhere he’s gone at the highest levels of the game. We want that more than we don’t want the other things. He also seems to bring things together in his second year, which would be good timing right now. As for tactics, Klinsmann is ably proving that we don’t have the talent pool to play a aggressive attacking style. I’d give him a two year deal and overpay a bit to do it. Think of all the “Special One” US t-shirts he’d sell.

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      • Your comment exactly shows how difficult it is to rate club managers for national team positions. You’re right in saying Mourinho’s teams take about a year to operate appropriately. 1 Whole year, non-stop, full-time implementation of his tactics, training regime, and philosophy. 1 year to buy, no matter what the cost, whatever talent he needs.

        Can he do that for only 2 weeks at a time, 5 times a year? I doubt it.

  4. Awful news. Chelsea being relegated would be the best thing to happen to soccer since the formation of the Premiere League. That’s a totally serious comment, BTW. It would suck for the fans and probably for Roman’s bottom line.

    But the game itself would be stronger if a large club failed on the field, as opposed to in the courtroom, and had to suffer relegation. The outcome, most likely Chelsea’s immediate promotion, would also strengthen the hand of pro-rel advocates in the United States.

    That probably won’t happen now, as we can expect the club’s performance to regress (progress?) back toward their relative mean, which is a high level.

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    • Honestly, I think this is why he was fired (although with the silly comments after the Leicester game). It was no longer inconceivable they could be relegated because it looks like the players have quit on him (and maybe deservedly so since we don’t know what’s happened behind the scenes). Now it should be a problem to avoid relegation.

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  5. Mourinho would be a great manager for the USMNT. His tactical approach would work well with our talent pool. And his healthy ego would keep the headlines coming. I’m not in favor of firing Klinsmann unless there is a better option. Mourinho is a better option. I doubt he’d be offered the job, or that he’d accept it. But if wants to raise his profile even further, and really make a statement to fill out his stellar resume, having success with the USMNT would certainly do that.

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    • Mourinho has said in the past he would like to coach USMNT and live in US – now how much money would it cost to get him to do it – obviously can’t be Chelsea money – but they are paying him a lot of money to go away. $3m to $4m a year to have him in place for the Copa Centenario, Gold Cup and World Cup would be a great return for that money – the excitement he would generate not only in the current fan base – but also other soccer fans in the US and abroad would be fantastic.

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      • Make it happen!!!! As long as he knows that we are trying to institute a no parking zone – especially for buses…

    • Good call Adam, I have been thinking the same thing in regards to Mourinho being a great fit for the USMNT , perhaps his situation currently would allow him to take on the job, the timing between his firing and JKs poor run of coaching has me intrigued, wishful thinking maybe but one can always dream.

      Defense first mentality coupled with a veracious counter attack could (and has been) be the USMNT mo.

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      • RE: Mourinho for JK…if your reason for firing JK is a string of poor results, why would Mourinho at this moment in time be more appealing? If he can’t get results from this Chelsea lineup, then how could he possibly squeeze consistent results from a talent thin USMNT? Sure Mourinho gets results from big name, big money club teams and then he destroys the same teams in the aftermath.

      • “If he can’t get results from this Chelsea lineup, then how could he possibly squeeze consistent results from a talent thin USMNT?”

        He would get better results with the USMNT team simply based on his philosophy as a coach and how he prefers his teams to play. JM and JK are miles apart in teams of what they want their teams to do. Even with a squad as talented as Chelsea’s JM is more comfortable with the park the bus type of system, a system that may not be sexy but is very useful and successful especially when implemented by a “talent thin ” team. JK on the other hand wants to play like the Germans and understandably so but we will never beat the likes of the top Euros and South Americans playing the type of way JK wants.

      • I’d be very cautious when determining whether a successful CLUB manager could be a successful NATIONAL team manager. Club managers have an idea of what will bring success, and they go out and acquire the talent to make it happen, especially at rich clubs like Chelsea. National team managers don’t have that luxury; closest they get is recruiting dual-nationals.

        I also never heard him interested in coaching the USMNT; I know he’s VERY interested in coaching in MLS. Pep on the other hand has stated that if he decides to transition into the International game, he’d like to do it with the USMNT for either 2022 or 2026. During his sabbatical, he spent a year living in the US, and he likes a lot of the long-term changes JK is making. We can only hope. I mean, he didn’t keep his Upper East-Side apartment for nothing, right?

    • Totally agree that he would work well with our pool, but I think it is just wishing right now. Like Brandon says above, Jose has made positive comments about coaching USMNT. I do recall him also saying that he would probably coach Portugal over the US if it came down to national teams. I could see him at the USMNT down the road sometime, but I have to think that Jose’s agent’s phone is blowing up right now. There are just too many other big clubs out there that are either actively looking or will be actively looking in Jose’s direction now that he is available. With that said, if I were Sunil, I would still make the phone call just to see.

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    • I’ve been a big Jose fan but his behavior after Chelsea’s last game was pretty ridiculous. I guess he was trying to get fired. Would love him to manage the USMNT but no way is that happening.

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    • Being realistic, he’s not gonna consider coaching a national team for another 6-7 years. Until then we are stuck with Jurgy boy and his fanboy Sunil.

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