Myles_91

Why would you stick with a manager whose heart isn't in the job?

I actually think how we do at Stoke will dictate how this goes. Mourinho loves to knock our home support but on its day it can win you a match. If we win at Stoke all of a sudden the mood is a bit brighter, the Bridge is a bit more vibrant and fans may get behind the team. If that's the case I don't see Liverpool winning and would make us slight favourites. Lose at Stoke and that'll be that though. A sombre atmosphere with us misplacing passes and either a cagey 1-1 or 1-2 loss. Putting Mourinho aside, if these players have anything about them they'll show up on Saturday. At the end of the day with the Euro Championships round the corner, some of them are fighting for a place.

If we were playing City or Arsenal I'd agree but Liverpool have no firepower. Can they beat us? Yes Can they 'tear us to shreds'? Absolutely not.

Completely schooled Fergie, Wenger and Mourinho when at Barca with his own Catalan spine. He has his flaws just like Mourinho but to pretend he isn't a good coach or manager is laughable.

Or reaching the CL Semi Final stage every year? Yeah, awful.....

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/jan/23/mourinho-real-madrid-sid-lowe

There's nothing I can add to this. Nail on the head and exactly how I feel.

Show me defender we have now that can lead a back line in Terry's absence? We will probably have to pay that fee for Stones anyway or another top drawer CB.

Half agree but it's all speculative at this stage. Our four best and most important outfield players are Terry, Costa, Fabregas and Hazard by some distance. I suspect Hazard will leave, Terry's legs are going and he can only play in a team that defends deep, Fabregas is immobile and Costa/s temperament and hamstrings mean he'll miss more than a handful of games a season. Whether it's Mourinho or someone else we need to add quality to the squad because there isn't anywhere near enough. I do think top four is achievable. This is a poor league IMO and despite our own deficiencies finishing above every team in this league bar the two Manchester clubs and Arsenal can be done very easily IMO.

This is the problem with today. We live in a world that knows the cost of everything and value of nothing. When we sold Luiz we didn't just sell a footballer we sold a leader, a big personality in the dressing room and IMO a very good CB. When we sold Mata we didn't just sell a footballer we sold a popular dressing room figure, a hugely talented player and a played that gave 100% in a blue shirt irrespective of circumstances. Footballers are easily replaced, footballers with the qualities Mata and Luiz had aren't.

And we never truly replaced Gallas or Robben either. This is the biggest problem I have with Mourinho, he's all about the short term. In Luiz we sold a potential captain and leader, in Mata we sold a player that could have ended his career with us, in De Bruyne we sold one of the most creative and dynamic players in the world in addition to wasting the best generation of youth we've ever had. We may have a league title but it's come at huge expense and left us in a position where we may not be able to challenge for it again in the near future.

Of the three seasons Mourinho's had here I personally thought 2013/14 was the best team and we've gone backwards since. 2013/14 we were very unlucky to miss out against a Liverpool side having a freak year with a world class player in Suarez and a talented City side. We held our own vs Bayern over 120 mins, beat PSG, annihilated Arsenal and beat City/Liverpool home away and United/Tottenham beaten convincingly at home with solid performances away. In think in terms of game management that season was our best and we fell short without a top quality CF and once or two not giving 100% due to the World Cup. Last season I thought we added individual quality in Fabregas and Costa but became less balanced in the process. Evidenced by a heavy defeat at Tottenham. We were very good for half of last season but can't overlook the fact the challengers and even the midtable teams were poor. Fabregas and Costa haven't become bad players overnight but their flaws have been exposed. I've never particularly rated Matic but Willian has probably been the best Mourinho signing overall. He's getting better and better and beginning to look like a £32m player. His attitude embodies all of what the club is about.

Azpilicueta for me.

What is it with ex-Chelsea this week? Clarke, AVB & Franco all gone. Still maintain it should have been Watford that went up last season, they were the best footballing side in that division by a mile. Had they gone up they'd have been more competitive than Palace and it also would have given Chalobah a full season in the PL.

Saying Drogba wasn't good enough to be leading striker for us and had no future and letting Lukaku rot in the reserves for a year wasn't disrespectful? He humiliated both players and it was actually Drogba who bought him another 3 months with brilliant performances in December against Valencia, Newcastle and Spurs. He doesn't know his football at all. He won a two team league in which he inherited Hulk and Falcao - two of Europe's best players. No it doesn't. Bayern beat Barca 7-0 by sticking to the basics - pressing high up the pitch and counter attacking with a clinical age, there was nothing Barca's technicians or tiki-taka could do against it. It didn't take much for us to win the CL, just reverted back to our strengths (which RDM made us do) and a little bit of luck along the way. For months he allowed the media, hence public, to believe Lampard and Cole were undermining him and were the reason for our dip in form. He never once stuck up for the senior players. How has Jose treated any of our players badly?