Difference is Mourinho game plan would be to play for a nil nil. And Mourinho would do it against inferior opponents.
And how do you know his plan is to play for a nil nil? Black magics?
You're talking about in the context of our respective positions last season. Then yeah, of course United have made tremendous improvement whilst Chelsea have regressed in that respect. But I get the impression that a lot of people believe that United has been the better team this season.
I see what you mean. However, we have struggled against some dreadful sides when we played without strikers recently, so in my opinion the lack of striker somehow stifles the quality of those players. I'm certainly surprised by how well we played because we have been shit in almost every game we have played without a striker since 2013! You're certainly right that Barca being possession oriented team does not explain 75/25 figure, but I specifically said this was due to the lack of target man. I actually believe we could take the game to Barcelona with we had a fit and in-form Morata. Not sure if he'll do it in the away game.
Mourinho parked the bus against 10 man PSG and paid for it.
It's unfair to compare the absolute stubborn warriors that Lampard, Drogba, Terry & Co were to these weak livered bunch who have to be babied by Azpilicueta. They did show some guts last night though so there's that.
You clearly don't know him if you think otherwise.
This !!! It made little sense they kept doing it since it already got them in tight situations in the first half. If they were playing it safe, why not avoid that risk ?
This might be true if He's up against Barcelona or any other big teams, playing very defensive (Even that, I doubt it's for nil nil) but combined with this:
It's just ridiculous. Such a hyperbole.
His literary held the same strategy his entire career against big opposition. Draw away and win at home.
I'm not surprised by the result in the slightest. Earlier in this thread I said Chelsea would give a good account of themselves and the chances of them being heavily beaten were very unlikely.
Considering their season and Barcelona's, I think a 1-1 draw is more than respectable. I think they'll do alright in the return fixture, too.
I don't think a complete rout was on the cards but an unbeaten in x record amount of games Barca vs a supposedly in-crisis Chelsea...think it was clear that Barca were favourites (hence 'comfortably beaten').
He does.
I bet youre that guy shouting "how about something funny for once?" at standup comedy shows.
But what would have been the result of not trying to hold on to the ball - something like 12% possession? If they tried long balls under pressure as plan A while sitting deep, they would have been completely strangled, imo. Almost every time Courtois was forced to hoof it yesterday, Barca had it easy to collect the ball. And since Giroud isn't fully fit yet apparently, who should have been the guy to hoof to?
Yes, it's obvious there's a risk involved, and the mistake didn't come out of nowhere either. I just think there's a vital upside to taking these risks as well, and I'm not sure there's a viable risk-reduced MOR approach against high pressing like Barca's. If you show fear to play a clean pass under intense pressure, they can probably bully you into conceding possession most of the time.
That’s because they have been. Utd have more points, have scored more goals and have conceded less. The difference may be marginal but it exists.
Yes, will be interesting to see, also in terms of midfield/forward personnel (2 or 3 in midfield, genuine CF yes/no). But I'd be surprised if they survive the Camp Nou after yesterday's result.
Jose will likely try and recreate the 2-0 win last season, hopefully Conte is mindful of that and adjust's accordingly.
It's a daunting situation, but if anyone can go to the Camp Nou in such an adverse position and pull the rabbit out of the hat, it's us.
Are these the same weak livered bunch who comfortably won two titles under extreme pressure?
