Chelsea 2015-16: No Way, Jose

[teddykgb]

I don't know, I think it's facile to point to the Manager and talk about clubhouse issues.  This Chelsea team really struggled for form in the 2nd half of last season but City were too busy throwing up on themselves for it to matter.  The margins for last season's Chelsea team were very fine, they had an incredibly knack for finding goals when they needed them and Hazard had the team on his back for quite some time.  I'm not sure that i'd write up any subsequent regression (either to the mean or complete loss of form) as morale issues as much as just the unsustainability of what the team did last season.  It's also incredibly hard to defend a title and when things go south they can really snowball on you.  It's not hard to see (to me) how all 3 of those things could conspire to create some ugly results for Chelsea.

 

[JayMags71]

You've got top players like Hazard, Fabregas, and Matic seemingly mailing it in every game.  And you've got Jose, an extreme narcissist with a history of fighting with and alienating everybody around him when faced with adversity.  If he was willing to go to war with Ronaldo and Casillas in Madrid, he's not beyond alienating Hazard and Fabregas to the extent that they can't bring themselves to play at a top level.

I agree it looks like Hazard, Fabregas, and Matic (among others) are mailing it in every match. I think that's also due to the fact that this squad isn't very deep. So, when you add in the fact that the bench isn't very deep, the aforementioned players have to shoulder the load for more matches. Consequently, they fail, and then Jose berates them for their failure. It's a vicious cycle.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Liverpool waited until an international break to fire Rodgers, to give them some extra time to bring in a new man and for him to settle in. If Chelsea is going to make a move, they may do the same with the next break coming after this weekend's games.

 
There have been rumors that Mourinho needs to win at Stoke to save his job.
 
The FA just gave him a stadium ban so he won't even be there.  Hilarious.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

 
There have been rumors that Mourinho needs to win at Stoke to save his job.
 
The FA just gave him a stadium ban so he won't even be there.  Hilarious.

Yeah, but these were from the same "sources" that said he needed to beat Liverpool to save his job.

 

[sachmoney]

Sleeper Agent Cesc?

 
 
I’m told that Cesc Fabregas is the leader of that mini-revolt. And as a player, you do things like this when you know you are in the right.

 

[OCST]

FWIW, it looks to my relatively novice eye that Ivanovic aged 50 years between last season and this. Good attackers are making him look awful.

A factor, anyway.

 

[Seven Costanza]

Ivanovic is certainly the worst of the lot, but Hazard, Fabregas and Matic have all regressed by a fair margin.
 
Really the lone bright spots have been Willian (best on the team by a country mile) Zouma and maybe to a lesser extent Ramires. At least these three look like they care. 

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Fabregas saw his form turn during the 2nd half of last season. He was an assist machine until January and then he turned into a pumpkin. He's useless if he isn't creating goals. 

 

[Schnerres]

Super villain Dieeeego,Dieeeego was a regular scorer last year and in much better form, too.
At this point last season, he had 10 goals in Premier League (zero in CL). This season: 2 in PL (and 1 in CL).
 
http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=53664&season_id=145

 

[soxfan121]

Last season, Terry and Cahill played well enough together to cause prompt some calls for a national team recall.

This season, Terry, Cahill and Ivanovic have all seemed two steps slower. They - especially Terry and Ivanovic - have played a ton of minutes in their careers.

Teams, and players, get old and burnt out. @Schnerres - does this seem at all akin to what happened in Dortmund last year?

 

[Snakebauer007]

Jt playing literally ever minute of the PL season last year didn't help his aging cause, Ivan as well played virtually every game, but I feel it also has a lot to do with the desire to come back and repeat. everyone looks happy to coast off the championship(besides maybe Willian), more competition probably needed to be brought in this summer.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Jt playing literally ever minute of the PL season last year didn't help his aging cause, Ivan as well played virtually every game, but I feel it also has a lot to do with the desire to come back and repeat. everyone looks happy to coast off the championship(besides maybe Willian), more competition probably needed to be brought in this summer.

DUDE....you're alive! Where the heck have you been?

 

[Snakebauer007]

DUDE....you're alive! Where the heck have you been?

On suicide watch? J/k I got married and went on vacation for two weeks, work has punished me for that time off since then and I was in another wedding this past weekend. I feel like I havent had a moment to sit down and breathe in awhile, Chelsea isn't helping.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

On suicide watch? J/k I got married and went on vacation for two weeks, work has punished me for that time off since then and I was in another wedding this past weekend. I feel like I havent had a moment to sit down and breathe in awhile, Chelsea isn't helping.

You thought you were suffering this year before getting married? Just wait now that you are.

j/k congrats! Was wondering where you had been.

 

[Seven Costanza]

I think today was the best all round game I've seen from Chelsea in over a year. Beautiful football. Hazard was a man possessed; the entire team played with maximum effort and no one seemed to have a sub par game. 1-0 doesn't do the performance justice. Hopefully a turning point.

 

[WayBackVazquez]

The reigning champs just beat a newly-promoted team 1-0. And this was its best performance in over a year? Really?

 

[Seven Costanza]

I think it was, yes. You're free to think differently, as you're well aware.

 

[DLew On Roids]

Chelsea led wire to wire last year, but weren't exactly blowing people away after New Years. Doesn't sound preposterous to me.

 

[WayBackVazquez]

There were four multi-goal clean sheet wins in December, and a 5-0 win in January.

 

[soxfan121]

To be fair, he didn't see those. I don't think.

 

[DLew On Roids]

I think I speak for most people here when I say LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

 

[soxfan121]

That there is now a very real possibility where Seven Costanza has to got attend the 2/13 match with both teams in the relegation zone...and might see Newcastle go over Chelsea in front of his father-in-law...

I passed out. It is too delicious. ;-)

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Remember when Mourinho went whole seasons without losing a home game in the league?

Amazing.

 

[Seven Costanza]

That there is now a very real possibility where Seven Costanza has to got attend the 2/13 match with both teams in the relegation zone...and might see Newcastle go over Chelsea in front of his father-in-law...

I passed out. It is too delicious. ;-)

You troll pretty hard for a guy who started watching soccer like 18 months ago. You're like Tim Whatley in Seinfeld- you chose Newcastle for the jokes. At least DLew's always been an asshole.

As for the game itself, who the heck knows. This is impressive really. They're not going down, but they aren't going anywhere up either. The next two transfer windows will be fascinating.

 

[JayMags71]

Remember when Mourinho went whole seasons without losing a home game in the league?

Serious question: at what point is his job in jeopardy? Does Roman give him the rest of the season? Or does Costa get shown the door first?

 

[soxfan121]

You troll pretty hard for a guy who started watching soccer like 18 months ago. You're like Tim Whatley in Seinfeld- you chose Newcastle for the jokes. At least DLew's always been an asshole.

As for the game itself, who the heck knows. This is impressive really. They're not going down, but they aren't going anywhere up either. The next two transfer windows will be fascinating.

I've always been quick study. I chose Newcastle for the same reason I read V&N - I'm a masochist. And DLew is an asshole because he roots for anyone playing Barbados in cricket.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Serious question: at what point is his job in jeopardy? Does Roman give him the rest of the season? Or does Costa get shown the door first?

Well, they need to at least draw with Porto on Wednesday to get out of their CL group (unless Dynamo Kiev lose to winless Maccabi Tel-Aviv). If that one goes bad, Roman may snap. Would cost him a ton of cash to get Jose out of there, though.

 

[mikeford]

Serious question: at what point is his job in jeopardy? Does Roman give him the rest of the season? Or does Costa get shown the door first?

If I had to guess, he's got til he gets eliminated from the Champions League

 

[Snakebauer007]

Serious question: at what point is his job in jeopardy? Does Roman give him the rest of the season? Or does Costa get shown the door first?

I think once this pseudo-run of good form(I was not buying it to begin with) came crashing to a halt yesterday his seat became very hot.

He seems to just be throwing darts at a board at this point, picking battles with someone like Costa and avoiding one that should definitely be fought against Cesc and what is clearly the worst form of his career.

I would like to pretend I have answers, but I have never seen anything like this from a defending champ loaded with world class players.

 

[Seven Costanza]

Cesc without question needs to be dropped. Matic possibly too- I'd like to see Ramires in a holding role (once fit), and hell, throw out Loftus-Cheek there for a run. Might as well see if some of these kids can hack it.

As for Mourinho, agree with everyone else. His seat is hot, it'll cost a ton of cash and Abramovich obviously has an itchy trigger finger. One thing to keep in mind though is the surprisingly strong support of Mourinho from the fans. I have zero idea if Abramovich actually cares about that, but he might considering he's telling them to vacate the Bridge for 3 upcoming seasons and trek either to Twickenham or Wembley. I'm far from an expert about the inner workings of the Pitch Owners group, but Abramovich needs to keep them relatively appeased.

 

[TheYaz67]

Now if Chelsea loses to Sunderland next weekend, and if Norwich and Swansea can earn ties and/or wins in their games, those results would put Chelsea at least temporarily down in the dreaded relegation zone....

 

[sachmoney]

Not sure how many of you saw Mourinho's post match interview, but it's definitely worth a listen/watch. Looked defeated and at a loss for solutions. He said that his work has been "betrayed." He said Hazard made the decision to come off. The money seems to be the only real obstacle as far as I can see why they haven't sacked him yet.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Hey Snake, if you are still popping in occasionally, I'd be legitimately interested (no trolling) in hearing whether Chelsea fans are still 100% behind Jose. While I know he's built up an incredible amount of goodwill with the fan base, he really seems at a loss as to what to do at this point. If you guys do think he should stay, how much freedom/cash do you give him to remake the roster in January?

 

[bosox4283]

Hey Snake, if you are still popping in occasionally, I'd be legitimately interested (no trolling) in hearing whether Chelsea fans are still 100% behind Jose. While I know he's built up an incredible amount of goodwill with the fan base, he really seems at a loss as to what to do at this point. If you guys do think he should stay, how much freedom/cash do you give him to remake the roster in January?

Given tumultuous nature of Mourinho's stint at Real Madrid, and now this mess, will Chelsea be able to make any marquee signings in January? Will players want to play for Mourinho?

 

[swiftaw]

Jose gone http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/34670192

 

[bosox4283]

WHAAAAAAAAT?!?

I NEED INFORMATION NOW

EDIT: We're fast. The BBC sent me a text notification, and I came here right away.

 

[Seven Costanza]

Will be interesting to see how the players react. Wouldn't be shocked to see them string a couple of results together.

DiMatteo available?

 

[sachmoney]

I wonder how big his buyout settlement was and whether the size of it will hamper their budget for the upcoming transfer window.

 

[bosox4283]

Mourinho is a genius: he might get paid $55 million. He may want to coach again, but he certainly has no need to do anything ever again. Brilliant move tanking.

 

[fletcherpost]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/34413864

"Jose Mourinho had a meeting with the club a few minutes ago when he was told the end had come. He has been let go in his second stint and won't be paid the £40m compensation speculated. My understanding is that he has been paid until the end of this season, what was left of the £12m.

"While he has undeniably enjoyed so much success around Europe, he has failed to manage to secure a lasting legacy and enjoy success over a prolonged period of time.

"Chelsea faced a huge decision and Roman Abramovich had to make it. Reports of Juande Ramos have been a surprise and former manager Guus Hiddink has been linked too. There hasn't been an obvious choice." Dan Roan BBC Sports editor

 

[JayMags71]

I'm curious as to who Abramovich believes he can get. Obviously, Mourinho had to go, but who's going to want this job now? Ancelotti?

 

[soxfan121]

I'm curious as to who Abramovich believes he can get. Obviously, Mourinho had to go, but who's going to want this job now? Ancelotti?

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Unless he goes back to Real Madrid, I can't think of a landing spot for him where he doesn't take a massive paycut going forward. Unless he starts valuing money over the quality of the club and goes to Russia or the Middle East.

 

[JayMags71]

Once again, the obvious solution eludes me.

 

[Zomp]

Wow!

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Once again, the obvious solution eludes me.

I see SoxFan's B-Rod and raise him with a Bob Bradley. The first American manager to win the Champions League?

 

[Zososoxfan]

It's gotta be Ancelloti right? Maybe just a holdover until they backup the Brinks for Pep? Benitez will probably be available before xmas.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Rafa is probably not long for Real. Bring him back a second time!

 

[Jimy Hendrix]

After feeling stifled by Jose's tactics, Chelsea clearly needs a manager who'll just let those players fucking run around a bit.

 

[soxfan121]

After feeling stifled by Jose's tactics, Chelsea clearly needs a manager who'll just let those players fucking run around a bit.

I like the cut of your jib.