The problem for Grant appears to be that he is trying to half heartedly tinker with things and try out more "attacking" strategies during games - anything to get away from being labelled Mourinhoeque.
But the problem with this something and nothing approach is that the players like ethical said just get confused. He's right that under Jose, every player knew what their role was within the team and woe betide them if they deviated from that - this led to a very rigid but super effective (most of the time
) system which served us very well result wise (if not style wise for some).
Now Grant has a new mandate - he has to otherwise he will lose his job and does not have the players to carry that out. I don't know whether he has realised that yet or not - if he's as clever as he is meant to be then presumably he has. So he has tinkered little with what worked because he has quickly found out that he was winning without having to do too much to what was already in place and when you start winning you sort of like to carry on doing so and he has not risked much to date. However, even those small enforced changes I think are slowly causing confusion amongst the ranks and although some might argue this is just a necessary evil towards more stylish football, I don't see how it can be anything but a receipe for more games like Wednesday - perhaps not quite as hectic though!
Until Grant gets a clean slate to start again in the summer, I wonder where Grant will go with this team, there are rumors about new players coming in even for January now the likes of Modric, Anelka, Villa. Quite how this influx of players IF they come in will help settle things down within the team and contribute more markedly to a change in style I don't know. It could be the making of Grant or the breaking of him.
I just don't see Grant as a man with the charisma and strength required to manage a big team like ours, I really try to see it within him when he talks and his body language on the touchline but it's just not
there for me. May be I'm wrong about this, Cech said in an interview recently that all the players respected Grant from minute one so who knows? I just wonder if that's all window dressing personally and PR, I find it difficult to believe the likes of Drogba, JT, Lampard, Riccy et al are quite as enamoured of Grant and his talent and motivational abilities as they were by Mourinho. I just feel that the team in its weaker moments looks far more vulnerable than it ever did under Jose and when the team are at their strongest it looks
no stronger though - Grant has not added any extra element for me in that regard. And the whole purpose of changing a manager is to improve the team not weaken it and I just feel this change has not been to our benefit despite the hype from the club and run of good results.
As for our spending, Pizarro was bought on a free when the purse strings were shut, Malouda was bought using Robben's sale money and Sidwell was a free. Alves was turned down due to costing too much so we got Belletti instead. I think it's fair to say that Mourinho since that bitter public row in January 2007 has had little or no money to play with upon orders or Roman but it has been dressed up by Buck and co as their new low spending policy this summer and yes Jose went along with it in public to keep the bandwagon rolling drunkenly along. It would be ironic if we start buying big in January for Grant after saying only a few months ago we didn't need to spend big any more - I guess they will dress it up as due to injuries and the loss of players during the ANC. Modric will apparently cost £18 million odd, Villa how much? Anelka is what £15 million? So you are looking at over £30 million right there. That's one thing that you can compare favourably for Grant in comparison to Mourinho - Grant can dig himself out of our injury/style hole by buying his way hopefully out of trouble, Mourinho's supply line was cut off because of his inability to conduct a calm conversation with his boss in private.
ecthelion
Give any manager 400 million and he will built u a great team.
Really?
How much money did Leeds waste and where are they now?
And Newcastle? How much cash and how many managers have they eaten and spat out?
And Real Madrid in the past with their spending almost financed by the Spanish government it's that large?
Sure Jose had a lot of cash to spend and he spent it but it takes more than cash to build a team to win you a title. It's an amalgam of many many things and cash is just one of those parts - important yes but not a cast iron guarantee of anything.
Pauly
But i've noticed the players movement on and off the ball improve and take that as a result of his training/management. People who can't see the change in formation/passing baffle me, perhaps it's subtle... who knows.
You have your answer from me, it's subtle then. I'm one of those people that must baffle the hell out of you because I don't see a damn thing
overtly that has changed. I'll admit I have not been able to watch every game fully so obviously I may have missed something glaring during a match but aside from more licence to Joe (often to his detriment) I don't see it and neither do many in the media or other managers I've listened to over the last three months, they alll appear to be as baffled as I am as to the new more positive style football we appear to be playing now. As for our passing, movement and retention of the ball forgive me but that was one of the things I recall Mourinho was most obsessed about! To suggest we have now actually improved on that under Grant/Cate et al - well that baffles me in turn so I guess we are even.
