I'm wondering, we didn't get the striker many of us were pining for, we loaned Lukaku, we didn't get De Rossi, we were rather negative at Old Trafford, the home of the champions of England no less, we played counter-attack against Bayern, the champions of Europe no less, we squeezed past Aston Villa, somewhat fortuitously some would say, a lot of people seem somewhat anxious, despite it being very early days, I'm amazed at the level of anxiety.

 

We have a bloody good manager.

 

You remember that right .. ?

.. A Brilliant manager no doubt, but not everyones messiah, and why should he be, time will tell if his second reign is as successful, heres hoping it won't end the same way.

But some will wonder as to the strange buys this window, and the letting go of nearly everyone on heres preferred number one striker, this season is going to be fascinating...

Jose is certainly no messiah to me, that said he has proved how good he is here and everywhere he's been and all our Managers since he was with us the first time have been compared unfavourably to him, sometimes harshly in my opinion but mostly with good reason.

 

He's as good as we've had and as good as we could get for the simple reason that he is likely as good as it gets.

 

That doesn't mean he's beyond question but for me at least it means questioning him this early on is a bit premature, he's got a lot of good players and will take a while to get the spine of his best eleven, for now he has used trusted players to form that but as and when players prove themselves to him it could all change.

 

It will be interesting to see if his choices in the transfer window actually help the squad more positively than the players let go on loan, if Eto'o and Wilian come in and have an immediate impact it will surely help people to find their patience.

 

Not that I expect them to be straight into the starting eleven, just to look purposeful when they get their chances.

Edited September 4, 201312 yr by Chippy

.. A Brilliant manager no doubt, but not everyones messiah, and why should he be, time will tell if his second reign is as successful, heres hoping it won't end the same way.

But some will wonder as to the strange buys this window, and the letting go of nearly everyone on heres preferred number one striker, this season is going to be fascinating...

 

Yes, but we still haven't seen Eto'o play

Confidence in the manager is such a foreign concept these days.

 

PS, if anyone throws "if benitez did that" at a Mourinho debate, feel free to eject them from the discussion.

I think this forum is still recovering from the FSW debacle, everyone was shocked by what happened and now everyone seems to be on edge and has to read far too deep into every single little thing that happens, just look at the baseless Mata rumours as the prime example when JOSE HIMSELF said about 10 times he was going nowhere, yet it still turned into a 30 page sh*t flinging fest bad mouthing Jose and the board.

 

We went from the invincibility of Munich to the pits of FSW despair and some people haven't quite recovered.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by Jonty

Jose fills me with confidence and I feel he has lifted the team spirit and they are playing for him. This time around he has different objectives and a different squad. When he first joined his objective was to win and do it quickly. I feel he is now here to build something strong and lasting for future success. After all we have been through, this will do me.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by stevo

we were rather negative at Old Trafford, the home of the champions of England no less, 

 

We got 3 points there last season at arguably the worst group of champions most of us are ever likely to see. When we played them recently they were still utter guff.

 

Point gained or massive missed opportunity? I love Jose but I think even he is selling some of our players a little short and not trusting them enough.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by Real_No.9

I think it was a point gained. Remember it was Moyes' first home game, it was more than the usual big game, it had extra spice to it. We didnt want to give United that spur on by beating their main rival at home so early in the season. Jose is smarter than that. He knows that you dont win the league by winning one game. Look at how a lot of United fans are now talking, they are already questioning if Moyes can do a job because he didnt beat us and he lost to liverpool, also the lack of signings havent done him any favours. This is all good news for us. The more unrest there is the better it will be. Jose stoking the fire with Rooney all summer was more than just trying to sign the player.

Once again I wake up on match days feeling confident that we will win. It may not be pretty but i feel like we will leave with the 3 points. That is down to Jose.

We got 3 points there last season at arguably the worst group of champions most of us are ever likely to see. When we played them recently they were still utter guff.

 

Different scenario though. They were already champions and had nothing to play for. We were still fighting for a top 4 place.

Chelsea, Played 3, won 2, drawn 1

 

Manchester United, Played 3, won 1, drawn 1, lost 1.

 

Manchester City, Played 3, won 2, lost 1

 

Arsenal, Played 3, won 2, lost 1

 

Tottenham, Played 3, won 2, lost 1

 

 

 

 

 

Yup all our titles rivals in the opening 3 games of the season have already lost but we haven't.

 

We're picking up points without playing at our best, once the team finds its rhythm and the new signings settle we will only play better. 

 

So far so good in my eyes. 

Different scenario though. They were already champions and had nothing to play for. We were still fighting for a top 4 place.

 

That is true as it wasn't as if they had a lot to play for when we beat them whereas we were desperate for the three points. That said, we do have a decent track record against them and I personally feel we really missed a trick by setting ourselves up not to be beaten rathen than trying to win.

 

I don't think anyone could possibly forget how good a manager we have (back). But the euphoria of The Special One returning has to eventually blend in to the nitty gritty of getting down to business and none of us signed a declaration saying Mourinho would only come back if no one questioned his decisions! 

 

I'm over the moon Brian that we have Mourinho back but I will still voice my concerns if I feel he is being too negative, or continues to play Lamps 90 minutes every match or continues to leave Mata out etc etc...............................

 

I don't think anyone could possibly forget how good a manager we have (back). But the euphoria of The Special One returning has to eventually blend in to the nitty gritty of getting down to business and none of us signed a declaration saying Mourinho would only come back if no one questioned his decisions! 

 

 

I'm not against people questioning Mourinho or his team selection etc however I just feel that despite the positive start to the season some posters on the forum are very quick to write us off or be overly critical.

 

One example being, as soon as Lukaku's loan was announced I was reading posts such as "Well that's the title gone then", which for me is a massive overreaction. 

 

The Mata rumour thread is a whole other story on its own.

 

Basically what I'm saying is, it would be nice if people could get behind the team and not jump all over the players and management when in reality things are going well so far. 

Unfortunately people will over react (I may have even done it myself once or twice in the McEachran thread!).

 

I can understand folk being disappointed in what happened with Lukaku but it's ridiculous to suggest him going means we won't win the title. I still think we are possibly favourites to win the PL and that will be as much down to Mourinho as the squad of players.

But our start has been good and nothing more than that. I'm confident but not over-so. We need to remember that points wise, you are better off winning one game and losing one than drawing two (although hopefully once Mourinho has figured out his best side, we will win loads and still not lose any!).

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by Nibs

That is true as it wasn't as if they had a lot to play for when we beat them whereas we were desperate for the three points. That said, we do have a decent track record against them and I personally feel we really missed a trick by setting ourselves up not to be beaten rathen than trying to win.

 

I don't think anyone could possibly forget how good a manager we have (back). But the euphoria of The Special One returning has to eventually blend in to the nitty gritty of getting down to business and none of us signed a declaration saying Mourinho would only come back if no one questioned his decisions! 

 

I'm over the moon Brian that we have Mourinho back but I will still voice my concerns if I feel he is being too negative, or continues to play Lamps 90 minutes every match or continues to leave Mata out etc etc...............................

 

I think Mourinho intended us to be more aggressive at OT but he didn't count on United being so cautious themselves.  They created fewer chances than we did at their own ground.  You can't really counter attack if you're not attacked first and United were very careful not to overcommit.  Admittedly our passing let us down when we did get opportunities but those issues were improved against Bayern (who were happy to attack us).  Either way, if we draw away to all our title rivals, and beat them at home, that's a huge deficit for them to overcome in the grand scheme.

 

I do agree that the idea of Lamps starting in midfield regularly at the age of 35 is a bit concerning though.  But we're looking a lot better then everyone else so far so happy days.  

It does make me laugh that everyone was up in arms at the thought that Lamps might not be playing for us this season and now you are all moaning that he is playing in games.

Its not that Lampard has got worse or cant keep up anymore, its that he doesnt suit the 4-2-3-1 formation. To get the best out of him and Ramie come to that we should go back to 4-3-3.

It does make me laugh that everyone was up in arms at the thought that Lamps might not be playing for us this season and now you are all moaning that he is playing in games.

Its not that Lampard has got worse or cant keep up anymore, its that he doesnt suit the 4-2-3-1 formation. To get the best out of him and Ramie come to that we should go back to 4-3-3.

 

Think you're twisting that a bit!

 

We all wanted Lamps to get another season ' cos he still has a lot to offer. But everyone would expect that to be in a much reduced playing role and even his biggest fan would have to concede that he shouldn't be playing 90 minutes every match when we now have so many other options.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by Nibs

JM's clearly one of the best managers in football. His record is proof enough.

The comments about him and some other managers this season seem to be more about some fans not looking at the season as campaign but as a series of weekly must-win battles.

I've fallen prey to this myself but, this early into a season, it'a very hard to look on CFC's start as anything other than very good.

The other aspect of this is the 'everyone's an expert' nature of the web, twitter, etc. It takes only a few posters to a site or a few callers to a radio 'phone-in to create a sense of discontent. I bet most active fans are happy he's back with you and happy with results so far.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by Spudulike

Think you're twisting that a bit!

 

We all wanted Lamps to get another season ' cos he still has a lot to offer. But everyone would expect that to be in a much reduced playing role and even his biggest fan would have to concede that he shouldn't be playing 90 minutes every match when we now have so many other options.

Do we? Like who? Mikel isn't good enough in my opinion, van ginkel is young and a good prospect who will hopefully get more playing time over the coming week and essien is decent enough cover. We are only 3 games into the season so lampard is still fresh and out of our other options he is the best. I think we will see lampard get rotated over the winter months when the games come thick and fast but for the time being there is no point rotating for the sake of rotating

I'm delighted JM's back, couldn't be happier ... should never have gone in the first place!

 

But ... I won't be looking at every JM decision thro' rose tinted spec's ... that's definitely for sure ... for example:

 

1) JM's clearly laid his cards on the table sticking with Lamps & Rams together for consecutive matches ...

Personally, their pairing is just not for me and I'm sure other options would benefit the Team more ...

 

2) the Man Utd. away experiment didn't work ... arguably giving the Man Utd back four a night off!

The game was definitely crying out for Lukaku to start, up front ... a massive missed opportunity, imho ...

 

3) Sending Lukaku out on loan ... i think this will also 'bite us in the bum' ... this has taken a little shine off the season for me already ... not looking forward to a potential mis-firing Torres coming off the bench & trying to be the game changer with 10 mins to go.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by cfcblue

Jose part 1 was great for us.....That is the past.......Jose now, has t and will prove himself again , and we should see how well hes done with our bunch of players by january

Do we? Like who?

 

We don't have to set up the same way every match and play the two (Lamps & Ramires) behind the three. Lamps can easily be replaced by Oscar, KDB, Van Ginkel, Luiz or Essien.

We don't have to set up the same way every match and play the two (Lamps & Ramires) behind the three. Lamps can easily be replaced by Oscar, KDB, Van Ginkel, Luiz or Essien.

Ahem.. I think you might be forgetting the midfield enforcer that is Obi Wan Kenobi.

Seriously though, Mikel should at least be in front of Essien (and MVG in the bigger games) in the pecking order.

Ahem.. I think you might be forgetting the midfield enforcer that is Obi Wan Kenobi.

Seriously though, Mikel should at least be in front of Essien (and MVG in the bigger games) in the pecking order.

 

Bluehatter had already mentioned Mikel and the fact that he isn't good enough (and that was the part of his post that I didn't disagree with!)

We don't have to set up the same way every match and play the two (Lamps & Ramires) behind the three. Lamps can easily be replaced by Oscar, KDB, Van Ginkel, Luiz or Essien.

That is true but I guess jose sees the 4-2-3-1 as his preferred formation and if we are going to play that way then our strongest pairing is lamps and ramires. Like I said though I expect lampard to be rotated more in the coming months when the champions league kicks in