4 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

But Mourinho wasn't Mourinho level when we appointed him. In fact he arguably wasn’t Alonso level when we appointed him. He had massive potential and was managed from above very well. Not sure that is possible here.

Really? He had just won the Champions League with a minnow, and was unquestionably the most sought-after coach in the world. He had far more free reign initially at Chelsea than at Porto and came into the club as the most experienced/senior leader from a football perspective.

3 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Really? He had just won the Champions League with a minnow, and was unquestionably the most sought-after coach in the world. He had far more free reign initially at Chelsea than at Porto and came into the club as the most experienced/senior leader from a football perspective.

But in experience I am not sure. Alonso had an invincible season winning league and domestic Cup in a Bayern rigged league and also reached a European final. In a show us your medals Jose's Champions league outranks him definitely and I did say that he was managed excellently when he got here. Also the assumption is that a plethora of top coaches will be available after the World Cup, I'm not so sure. Therefore I would probably put Alonso on a similar level of perception of quality from the available coaches as Jose was then. Where the main distinction clearly lies is that our ownership back then knew quality and took a CL winner at the point of their success, our owners now sacked one that we already had.

I could get on board with Alonso. Forgetting the Real Madrid stint, what he achieved at Bayer Leverkusen was extraordinary and shouldn't be underestimated.

My biggest fear appointing him would be whether the owners and SDs have the tools and structure in place for him to succeed. On current evidence, it appears we don't have these things in order.

Compared to Maresca and Rosenior, Alonso is a significant upgrade which goes without saying.

Edited May 12May 12 by Jezz

I do think a number of coaches have either confirmed they are leaving, will be sacked or poachable after the WC.

I don’t think Prem experience is as important as the person.

Deschamps is leaving France, an ex player won everything in the game as player and manager. Is a winner and I think would get instant respect from the players and the bookies never mention him.

Alonso I like the look of and can understand the connection but then I look at Marco Silva and other than being free, living round the corner and a Client of Mendes he has about as much on his CV with the exception of prem experience as LR. I doubt the players will be to impressed and I know we should think f**k the players but I think whoever comes in needs to get hold of them, someone they respect and will listen to otherwise they/we are f**ked if he doesn’t pull some sort of a team out of these players.

Oh no, there's actually enough traction around Alonso now that I'm getting my hopes up.

The significance of him to me would be much more than just his quality, no way he takes the job without being given more control than our previous gaffers

Get Silva/Luis, maybe even Iraola, and we seem to be on the same track that has created this mess in the first place

Alonso is an interesting one. Slight question marks about what happened at Madrid but it is a funny changing room.

One thing is that I bet it will massively annoy the Liverpool fans. I reckon most of them want him instead of Slot.

42 minutes ago, C3blue said:

I do think a number of coaches have either confirmed they are leaving, will be sacked or poachable after the WC.

I don’t think Prem experience is as important as the person.

Deschamps is leaving France, an ex player won everything in the game as player and manager. Is a winner and I think would get instant respect from the players and the bookies never mention him.

Alonso I like the look of and can understand the connection but then I look at Marco Silva and other than being free, living round the corner and a Client of Mendes he has about as much on his CV with the exception of prem experience as LR. I doubt the players will be to impressed and I know we should think f**k the players but I think whoever comes in needs to get hold of them, someone they respect and will listen to otherwise they/we are f**ked if he doesn’t pull some sort of a team out of these players.

Not a French fan favourite. Won things, certainly, which he should have given the talent at his disposal. It's argued that his conservatism and defensive tendencies cost France on key occasions.

20 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Alonso is an interesting one. Slight question marks about what happened at Madrid but it is a funny changing room.

One thing is that I bet it will massively annoy the Liverpool fans. I reckon most of them want him instead of Slot.

😉

My biggest concern with Alonso is that he is considering us.

18 minutes ago, dermott said:

Not a French fan favourite. Won things, certainly, which he should have given the talent at his disposal. It's argued that his conservatism and defensive tendencies cost France on key occasions.

Yeah not really pushing for Didier but it’s an obvious link that never happens. I doubt they would get TT back.Naiglesman could leave Germany after WC, just thinking of names that might be available to add to the many already available. If they f**k this up we’re in it.

If Alonso is coming the SD's have to give him control and the ownership have to give him time.

Neither of which will happen so expect another wasted 12-18 months.

3 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

If Alonso is coming the SD's have to give him control and the ownership have to give him time.

Neither of which will happen so expect another wasted 12-18 months.

this is my assumption that any of the bigger ‘names’ on the list who take the job…. I’m assuming that certain guarantees regarding first team affairs have been made.

Not sure it wouldn’t be same sh*t different shovel if it’s another mediocre appointment.

4 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

But in experience I am not sure. Alonso had an invincible season winning league and domestic Cup in a Bayern rigged league and also reached a European final. In a show us your medals Jose's Champions league outranks him definitely and I did say that he was managed excellently when he got here. Also the assumption is that a plethora of top coaches will be available after the World Cup, I'm not so sure. Therefore I would probably put Alonso on a similar level of perception of quality from the available coaches as Jose was then. Where the main distinction clearly lies is that our ownership back then knew quality and took a CL winner at the point of their success, our owners now sacked one that we already had.

Its not even close, they are leagues away in terms of relative experience . Jose's existence did not begin when he won the CL with porto, lets put aside the aprentaship he served under Robson and VanGal wich spanned almost 10 years, his time at benfica and Leiria the latter of which was seen as a huge success, enough for porto to come and get him.

Porto were not in good shape when he turned up and he transformed them, dont forget that the season prior they won the the Europa leage and all the domestic trophies and they the CL and league double of course.

In terms of ready made manager's there was not a better option on the planet, the completed article with everything still to prove.

Alonso would be my prefered choice, but he could easily be another Villas-Boas.

aprentaship

Xabi Alonso seems like a good option. We must stop with the experiments at the managerial role and have a big personality on the bench. Fabregas would have been my favourite choice, but I do not feel he wants to leave Como for now.

Just seen that he had a 70.58% win percentage as Madrid manager, why the f**k did they sack him lmao Zidane and Carlo didn't even have results that good.

3 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

aprentaship

i think this might morph into a bit of Rosenior speak.😂 I see no ships...

Edited May 12May 12 by OTL

3 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Just seen that he had a 70.58% win percentage as Madrid manager, why the f**k did they sack him lmao Zidane and Carlo didn't even have results that good.

Yeah I wouldn't judge him on the football tbh. They won 15/16 matches to start the season. Half the players just didn't want to play tactico football and Alonso lost half his defence to injury, including the star signing Huijsen. Vinicius went from a Brazilian Rooney under Ancelotti to Mbappe's little pet and it's clear the issues stem entirely from Mbappe's toxic presence.

Alonso is not without fault though, he clearly had no ability to win over the dressing room and indulged the poor culture while things were okay. I don't think it was as bad as AVB who tried to change for the sake of change, but there are similarities.

The one big difference is that AVB walked into a squad of serial winners whereas Alonso walks into a squad of serial losers. There's no one in that dressing room able to say boo to a ghost.

19 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Vinicius went from a Brazilian Rooney under Ancelotti to Mbappe's little pet and it's clear the issues stem entirely from Mbappe's toxic presence.

I've written at length about the endemic f**kfaceitis which has spread within that Real Madrid squad (Bellingham is now also infected). Neymar was patient zero.

55 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Just seen that he had a 70.58% win percentage as Madrid manager, why the f**k did they sack him lmao Zidane and Carlo didn't even have results that good.

Toxic dressing room. Very few managers last. In fact I think in the last 25 years only Jose, Zidane, and Ancelotti have survived more than one season.

11 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

I've written at length about the endemic f**kfaceitis which has spread within that Real Madrid squad (Bellingham is now also infected). Neymar was patient zero.

When has Neymar ever played for Madrid?

3 minutes ago, Riccardo said:

When has Neymar ever played for Madrid?

Like so many cases of venereal disease, he caught it in Paris.

5 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

Like so many cases of venereal disease, he caught it in Paris.

Spare us your personal experiences, FFS.

Marco Silva now emerging as the favorite to replace Mourinho at Benfica.

2 hours ago, GarnachoCheese said:

If Alonso is coming the SD's have to give him control and the ownership have to give him time.

Neither of which will happen so expect another wasted 12-18 months.

I'd like to give Alonso the benefit of the doubt and assume he isn't dumb.

He's likely going to demand some level of control that the dimwits upstairs have been incapable of ceding since they've been here.

If Silva goes to Benfica, then Benfica should forever be in our debt.

IF we do get Alonso it would be great and also really annoy The Dippers (many of whom, want rid of Slott). Didn't expect Alonso to get our job but would be happy if it does happen.