By Walter Broeckx
Deep inside I wouldn’t have minded Chelsea having a draw at Leicester. Let that sink in. Even I don’t mind Chelsea not losing…that is something new I must admit. Now after they lost I didn’t mind them losing again. It was just that I was hoping for Leicester to make their first stumble. And to keep us in first place of course. But in the end I can live with Leicester beating Chelsea.
Now I must say that Leicester surely are having an amazing season. Only one defeat so far this season. A defeat they suffered against Arsenal. We went to the King Power stadium and beat them 2-5. In fact we were the first team to beat them when they were on an unbeaten run going back to the season before. At the time we thought it natural to go and win there. But since then, this win has taken on a different perspective. We have beaten for the first and still only time this season a team that is flying like they never did before.
The pundits must be scratching their heads collectively now. Didn’t they all predict that Leicester would be the team that would go down together with the new teams that had gone up to the PL? Yes they did. Well once again they are shown up for what they really are and know: nobodies and know-nothings. And I’m loving it very much. Now of course I don’t think even the most optimistic Leicester fan would have dreamed of the league scenario up to now. But they can enjoy it.
And that brings us to their opponent from last night: Chelsea. Another pundits’ failure. They won the league last season with an overwhelming ease, so the pundits told us before the start of the season they would do it again. Simple. Simple as their thoughts. Simple as their brains work.
Mourinho, the special one with a special fixation on Wenger is clearly losing the plot. In a way after losing yesterday, going out and blaming your players is showing his desperation. He is desperate to get sacked. Of course he talks about hoping that the board will stand behind him but that is just blah blah blah. He has never faced such a spell and is clearly not able to turn things around. And blaming your players for not making enough effort is slowly showing that he realises he has lost the dressing room.
The only thing that keeps him in the job for the moment is the money that Chelsea and Abramovitch have to pay him when they sack him. Even for Chelsea standards it is a bit too much for them. But hey, it was them that signed the contract so I’m not complaining about the situation. I find it rather funny.
What I don’t find so funny is the fact that because of the antics we have seen from Mr. Dean in our match at Stamford Bridge he gave them 3 extra points. If you take those away from their total points, even give them 1 point for a draw… then they really would be in a relegation position. If Dean had done what the FA confirmed he should have done and send Costa off and let Gabriel on, we would have at least earned a draw if not won the match. That would have given us 3 extra points and first place and would have send Chelsea to 19th place level with Sunderland. Their next opponent by the way. A real relegation top match is on…
Did any pundit predict this scenario? No, of course not. But as they are the experts, why didn’t they see this coming? Maybe because they are not that great experts after all? Somehow Chelsea and Leicester have swapped places and nobody of the pundits had seen this coming. They simply are not worth listening too.
But what the downfall of Chelsea and Mourinho prove is just another example on how difficult it is to keep a team close to the top for such a long period as Wenger has done with Arsenal. Manchester United has had their misery season and are still suffering as they have been since Ferguson left. And Manchester United have money to burn. Their own money but still lots of money to burn and to buy new players. Alas they didn’t read Untold well enough and now have found out that lots of transfers are failures.
And Chelsea… the champions of last season who even added “outfield players” to their already strong team. Money to burn is even a pale description to describe them. Lots of money to burn. And so they did. I have been told that they have the second most expensive squad in the PL behind Manchester City. And they have done all what the experts and the aaa said that you need to do. Even spend some more, even when you are the champions. And the result… Chelsea playing a top match against Sunderland to avoid them entering the top 3 (if you start counting the league from bottom to top).
And here we are. Arsenal. And their manager. Wenger. All these years he got ridiculed for doing what no other team can do despite having all the money in the world to buy all the players they want. Wenger had no money but kept us in the top 4. All the abuse aimed at him all these years by fools who thought they could do better than him because they were experts in computer games. All those pundits who jumped on bandwagons in blaming Wenger but who never really were good enough to manage a pub team themselves. Shame on you!
In the difficult years after spending our money to build the Emirates we always have supported Wenger for his achievements of keeping us near the top. We also got abuse and were ridiculed. But I think that in this season it just becomes clearer and clearer even for the biggest Wenger haters, that it is not an easy job to have done what he has done. WITH NO MONEY AVAILABLE and fighting against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City. If they don’t realise and admit now what an enormous job he has done, they are too blinded by hate or just stupid. For me Wenger has performed a labour of Hercules in keeping us in the top 4 all those years.
Mourinho of all people being the ultimate proof on how difficult a task this really was and still is. Is he being sacked already when this is published? Mourinho I mean of course….
Arsenal on this day – (click here for the full list across the year, or on the home page for all today’s anniversaries)
15 December 1995 the European Court ruled the retain and transfer system introduced in 1893 following a court case involving Arsenal, was prohibited by Article 39(1) of the EC Treaty. Bosman had arrived and the world would never be the same again.
15 December 2000: Christopher Wreh sold to Al-Hilal. Although he kept Ian Wright out of the FA Cup Final, after Arsenal he is reported to have been to seven clubs, but played rarely. However Christopher has denied the many strange stories that have circulated about his life after Arsenal.
The Untold Books
Woolwich Arsenal the club that changed football, is now available on Kindle at £9.99. For more details and to buy a copyplease click here or go to Amazon Kindle and search forWoolwich Arsenal.
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
Forthcoming titles:
- The Arsenal Yankee By Danny Karbassiyoon
- Arsenal: The Long Sleep 1953-1970. By John Sowman. Introduction by Bob Wilson.
Thank you – agree. Wenger also keeps producing sides that you actually like to go and watch unlike Chelsea under Moaning Mou and, lately, ManU.
Walter – to be fair, I don’t think anyone would have predicted this! I recall some punter getting 10,000-1 on Leicester winning the League and Chelsea being relegated only a few weeks ago…
But very entertaining nonetheless. I wonder how Wenger would react in a similar kind of situation…? Guess we just don’t know as it hasn’t happened…
I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Leicester fan who, while still pinching himself, said that Leicester are actually playing very good football and are, in general, deserving of their results. Perhaps the turning point (for both teams) came when Villa threw away a two goal lead late on to lose 3-2 at Leicester?
Hahaha….
Thank you Walter. I live far from Europe. Rwanda to be precise and guess what? For the past four years local pundits declared Mr Wenger clueless. Mourinho was the man (knew it all). Am only happy that it’s the same Mourinho that’s now proving a genius that Mr Wenger is
Different from you Walter, I hope Roman doesn’t sack Jose at less until this season over. Sacking is an easy way for Jose to escape. He never completed three season at his club. From England to Italy to Spain and back to England. Chelsea final result this season will give new perspective about Jose’s ability to handle crisis. We should respect Arsene more. We’ve been at Chelsea’s position about 3 years ago but still managed to finish third. At this stage, Chelsea’s shape should bring humiliation to Jose’s career. This is like torturing his dignity. I would like to see the end of the special one.
Very true Walter.
At least Mourihno’s demise this season has stopped all the high & mighty claptrap about how He (Mourihno) “would never allow such n such a thing to happen to one of his teams”.
Listening to Mourihno’s after-match interviews has been one of the highlights of this season. I really do hope Abramovitch pre-longs the entertainment & doesn’t push the “NEXT” button just yet.
As for the pundits, the so called experts on the Beeb are worthy of mention. Here’s a list containing 30 pundit predictions for this seasons Premier League Champions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33764700
Not many weeks ago Shearer called Mourinho the best manager in the Premier League. He said it in the context of advice to a player which team to go and play for, so it was clearly a dig at Arsene Wenger. Shearer can’t stick Arsene at any price.
Yet here is Mourinho exposed as a manager who does not know how to deal with the hard times, and publicly blames his players in order to exonerate himself. He even said that last season he made them better than they really were. How do you retain your players’ confidence after saying something like that?
There should be a universal press apology to Arsene Wenger for the abuse he had to endure for years for keeping Arsenal in the top four. A labour of Hercules is right.
C’mon now! It wasn’t just the pundits who didn’t predict Chelsea’s fall ( or Leicester’s rise ), but most sensible informed football fans and more importantly the bookies who usually get it right.
Although I take pleasure in the current situation re our respective league positions I don’t blame the pundits or journalists ( and bloggers ), for getting it wrong. You just could not have predicted this.
I truly hope Jose will remain in the job. I’m really enjoying their struggles.
The biggest ego in football now says the players BETRAYED him… Everything is about him. Compare that with the humble gentleman that is Wenger, who has always put the club first for two decades.
Pete
Villa didn’t throw away anything but rather it was Leicester City who clawed their way back into the game after a slow start. Ranieri moved Mahrez from the wing, where he wasn’t getting enough touches, into a more central position, and he took villa apart in the second half.
Against Chelsea last night, Mahrez was again not getting enough of the ball on the right wing, and every time he did get it , he looked very dangerous.
Mourinho can talk about warning his players about Mahrez’ left foot all he wants to, but it was his failure to double team Mahrez who, when left to be defended one on one, is simply unplayable.
Leicester might’ve surprised many with how well they are doing but it’s no fluke. There are sound fundamentals behind their success, like enormous industry and togetherness , sprinkled with a touch of quality by Mahrez, Vardy and especially Kante, who doesn’t get the headlines but who is at the heart of everything that’s positive at the club.
At 5’5″ Kante is Leicester City’s Coquelin. He outfought and dispossessed Willian on numerous occasions last night and was the fittest player on the pitch on minute 93, running past Chelsea players like they were going in reverse.
Stats-wise, in Vardy, Mahrez and Kante, Leicester City have three of the best league players in their squad , and payed a whopping €6M combined for all three. No wonder Arsenal are hard after Steve Walsh – the Leicester City scout responsible for these signings ( allegedly).
Walter hindsight is a wonderful thing…but i supposed you predicted they would be where they are.As for Leicester ,they are a breath of fresh air for the premiership.Along with a few quality players it just shows that belief,hard work and commitment can go far.I just hope we have the same attitude when we face Barca in the CL.
“Pride goeth before a fall” says the biblical text and nothing is more true in relation to Mourinho.
So stuffed up with pride that he gave himself the name of “Special One”.
Such pomposity……
John (and Serge), NO I didn’t predict this to happen at all. Fully enjoying it of course.
BUT the fact is that those highly paid pundits also didn’t see this one coming. And if they would pay me all that money I might have foreseen it myself 😉
They are the specialists. I’m just a little writer on a blog who they probably look down upon from their high pedestal they have been put on. And nothing more fun than to see the mighty get it completely wrong. 🙂 My bad character….
I did predict however we would be in the title race 😉
Yes, the downfall of Chel$. I wonder what they are all thinking at the club, from the owner to the players?
Leicester City flowing like a river and the only rock stone to hinder their flow is the Arsenal.
Public apologies:
What a senseless apparition. If ANY one ever tried to give me a public apology i would tell them to “move dem rass”, well you get the idea. It’s a worthless waste of time for grown ups to be “forced” into doing this.
let this shit continue. We all can have a big laugh. Hhahahahaha
Am truly enjoying myself with the present situation of chelsea. Walter’s right! prior to the beginning of the season, i remember Gary navil saying that chelsea would easily retain the EPL title, he even went further to say that most players in the rival teams could not pick a shirt in a chelsea team of Mourinho. But today, the very special one is now the most confused one.
When we lose or struggle Wenger says “We didn’t do that we didn’t do this”. Special One says “I did this, Players didn’t do this, Doctor didn’t do that, the ball Boy did this.. blah blah blah.” nothing is wrong from his side. This is a speciality of the “Special One” or the “only one”. I guess at end of the season he will be the only one who will be the first and last to relegate a Team after spending so much Money. Think of the loss Chelsea will go thru if they relegate, all the Players might have to be let to go for free (I am sure they will have it somewhere in their contract) and they have to build from the start again which is spending another 300 Million to build from the scratch. Most of us (Mr. Morgan specially) will not realise the imporatance of having Wenger. He has kept us in the top for a Long and the most difficult era of EPL. Most of us have forgotten that we have pushed ourself above our weight for the past 10 odd years. You can do it for 1 or 2 or even 3 years.. but 10 is Long and exhaustive. Hats off to Mr.Wenger.
Although it’s clearly true that no one predicted the positions of the Tinkermans team or of MaureenOs team, the issue is that these self proclaimed experts have got it so dramatically wrong. If the Chavs were 6th/7th and Leicester were 10th then the pundits would only have been wrong, but this level of ‘wrongness’ really shows that they’re no better than the man on the street, with their preconceived ideas and underlying bias….But for some reason many simpleminded supporters seem to take these guys words as gospel rather than actually make their own opinion.
Guys, don’t you think Leicester is a bit like liverpool circa 13/14 ?
i fully expect them to fight for title with MC till the very end, hopefully we don’t throw it away like we did that year and stay in the mix
Walter
Every team is in the title race on the opening day of the season.I just hope we are there in april and dont fall away like we usually do because of injuries.
This is priceless in terms of entertainment value.
Before I visited UA today I just thought let me Google the name Mourinho to see what they’re saying, and they’re all at pains trying to shift the blame from him to his squad, with some even applauding him for his honesty in his post match interview others are reassuring him nothing will change regarding his position…. etc etc. But wait till Arsenal draws or loses one match, and I mean one only, and see what happens. Wenger out! He’s lost it. He’s stubborn. Anything one can think of, so long as it’s negative. And when we say Arsenal are treated differently to other sides we’re accused of being paranoid.
It still seems like a dream or something seen in a movie. It is as if this season’s epl is taken out of the wwe book. It doesn’t look real, more like a dream or a movie. The person (or God) writing this script cannot do a better job.
I never perceived Chelsea will slump to this point and the more I look at the table, the more I remember the biblical text mentioned above “Pride goes before a fall”. Who is the specialist in failure now? Who is laughing now?
Even is Arsenal does not win the league, this season is already a success for me cot’c of Chelsea’s comic season. O how the mighty are falling!!!
Al – I thought something had been missing from UA recently… the trolls! It’s been quite a while. Does this mean they have changed their minds – or that they can’t cope with the reality?
I am happy to come on here defending Wenger and the club after a bad result – a pity that the Wenger-out brigade are unable to front up after a good result. In all honesty, after nearly 20 years the odd result here or there makes absolutely no difference. Spineless.
@Tom, I told my mate the other day that Best XI of Premiership so far are:
Cech-Bellerin, Smalling, Alderweireld, Nacho-Kante, Cabaye-Mahrez, Ozil, Deulofeu-Vardy.
Kante leads the league in interceptions by a country mile and I must say he is the only Leicester player I would like to see at Arsenal. I don’t want Vardy because he is a racist and Mahrez still looks to me as a Michu type of wonder. Once he faced a real left full-back, he ended in his pocket and that left full-back even picked an assist himself. (Yes, Mr Nacho. 🙂 )
I just looked the history of 2003-04. Ranieri had led Wenger by a point after GW15. After GW16 Leeds had collected 15 points and were eventually relegated.
I’m just sayin’… 😉
Walter, the list for the UEFA EURO 2016 refs has been announced. Total of 18 refs, one from each nation. Except for England, where Martin Atkinson and Clattenburg both have been selected for the tournament which goes against their own ruling !
|||The UEFA Referees’ Committee has appointed the 18 referees who will take charge of the 51 matches at UEFA EURO 2016.
The list of referees who have been selected:
Martin Atkinson (England)
Felix Brych (Germany)
Cüneyt çakir (Turkey)
Mark Clattenburg (England)
William Collum (Scotland)
Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Ovidiu Hategan (Romania)
Sergey Karasev (Russia)
Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)
Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Milorad Mažić (Serbia)
Svein Moen (Norway)
Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
Clément Turpin (France)
Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)||||
I don’t think anyone could have predicted a fall from grace so spectacular as Chelsea’s but as it is happening and Jose has been constantly sniping at Arsene Wenger I have no sympathy. I would prefer the media to concentrate upon what a wonderful job Ranieri and Leicester are doing and of course that despite our injuries we are right up there with Leicester, United and City. It’s all very exciting and that’s why we watch football.
Dark days for the Stamford Bridge chapter of Arsenal supporters, Wenger is just starting to get a microscopic amount of the praise he deserves in our media, whereas Jose is fast becoming a joke figure.
Remember, Chelsea have been poor for nearly a calender year, not just this season
I cannot say for certain Jose has completely lost the dressing room, or is trying to get fired, but it is becoming clear that his players are not giving their all for him, and after yesterdays comments, not hard to see why.
Jose is a toxic character, wants all the glory when things go well, and wants to blame all and sundry, whether it be players, or medics when things go wrong. He clearly cannot properly apologise, or admit he is wrong,at least in public, and for that reason, his teams woes will most likely continue until he goes. He will leave with his reputation permanently and justifiably tarnished.
yes, he has won trophies, cultivated relationships with top agents and clearly some referees, he even cosied up to a ref selecting alpha manager, but his cheating, lack of class and increasingly obnoxious personality contrasts so much with the demeanour and behaviour of the manager he seems to despise the most
Mean hearted man writing a mean, mean article! Oh , how I’ve enjoyed this one! Thoroughly I’d say. One thing is for sure. Mourinho was right. Wenger IS a specialist in failure. He can take certain failure and turn it to resounding success.
It takes strength and supreme intelligence to manage a team to retain top four status for these many years on the budget he had. Wenger is more intelligent, has a better understanding of the game than Mourinho and most of those clowns.
I never got carried away with Chelsea or Man U before them. I always thought they were not as super as people made them look, especially the press. I even told a friend or two that Chelsea was only living on borrowed time. Something didn’t feel right about the success of Chelsea last year.
Arsenal will rule the roost for some time and that is a fact born out of the solidity being built into the team over the years before our eyes. These boys and their manager know how to win and they also know how to lose and turn losses to wins afterwards. It is not about winning all the time.
Mourinho clearly lacks the ability to manage crises and turn the complex scenarios of a football manager’s job into a real legacy like Wenger has done. He is too full of himself and behaves like a brat, a spoiled child most of the time.
Why should I feel sorry for him? Am really enjoying this. Can’t wait to see them fighting for their survival in the Premiership come April/May. He has looked good at Wenger’s expense too many times. Now the boot is in the other foot. Tough luck, Jose.
Leicester have 3 players in form that make them better than mid-table. Kante (but despite him they let lots of goals in), Vardy who is a real hard worker as well as a man whose hit some outstanding form at the moment, and Mahrez who is also very talented. At least 1 of them will get injured (possibly all 3 of them) and they’ll start to look average, with a few draws and losses racking up. They may hang on for a CL place but I think a Europa Cup position is more likely.
But I’m not a ‘pundit’ or pretending to be an expert. Just a guy with a considered opinion. I’m not pretending I know it all, just to get paid by an equally dim-witted journalist/TV exec, and I’m right at least as often as the ‘pundits’!
Mandy Dodd
“…….but his cheating, lack of class and increasingly obnoxious personality contrasts so much with the demeanour and behaviour of the manager he seems to despise the most.”
But who of the 2 do the media adore, and who do they hate?
We know the answer, and it says everything you need to know about there nature when it is such an obnoxious character that they love.
Stan the man, I think MaureenO manages his teams very well in self-created crisis mode, but only for a short time. He gets them into a “the whole world’s against us” mentality which can work for a season but then the players realise he’s been playing psychological games with them, and the brighter ones stop listening to him pretty much totally. He really needs to change 75% of his squad every 2 years for this to work for any length of time, but luckily for them they have the resources to do that….
How on earth can Atkinson be considered one of the PL best refs. The guy is an embarrassment to everyone except Mike ‘the twat’ Riley….
There was a late night October 1986 rain storms in Zaria town Nigeria that came with heavy ice blocks, some about the size of a tennis ball or even more(according to eye witnesses) that broke the wind glass screens of motor cars that were packed outside and damaged the sink roofing sheets of some houses. I have lived in Zaria town long enough where I did part of schooling and later worked and retired. But I can’t remember ever seen such a violet hail rain storm. And those older than me also said the same thing.
Alas! We didn’t know it was a sign of a violent happening to come. Then, out of no where, March 10th-11th 1987 – was the year of the burning all the Christians Churches in Zaria town and environs that followed that sign.
Then, by early Oct this year 2015, there was this heavy violent rain storms in Zaria town again that lasted for about 10-15 minutes from 5:30 am to 6:00 am in the early morning. I was awoken by the violent storm noise. And I started praying to God to shield me and my house from the force of the storm, only to hear a heavy sound of a collapse noise outside. After the storm had stopped, it was the blocks building partition fence of my neighbour’s house that parted our houses that collapsed. But thank God it didn’t get to where my car was parked. I later heard of the serious damage the storms had caused in the whole town as trees were reported to have been fell, roofings blown off and some houses collapsed.
Saturday 12th Dec 2015 was the day the Army descended violently on the Shiite leader, Al-Zakzaky and his followers in Zaria town and killed more than 1000 of them that included his only surviving son who survived from a past Army killings of the Shiites in Zaria that killed 3 of Al-Zakzaky’s sons. This story is according to some eye accounts.
Any bad thing, small or big that will happen to the public, individual, nation(s) the World at large, is mostly preceded by a warning sign. But we don’t normally care to take note of these signs and pray over it. We ignored them. The scriptures tell us to be carefull and observe the signs, because all day are are full evils.
The current predicament of Jose Mourinho and the rise of Leicester City FC in the League table must have been preceded with signs which we don’t know. But we are now witnessing the wonders part of the signs. And for how long these 2 wonders will last, Is only God that can say. But as for me a human being, Leicester are title pretenders. And the credentials Jose Mourinho should recover from his Premier League campaign setback. While Arsenal MUST beat Man City this Monday night to keep Arsenal title charge momentum in running without suffering another break.
Pete
The trolls are very much alive, they have just been shut up by the good performances we have been putting in (or they maybe too distraught at Chelsea’s slump which they kept reminding us would never happen with Mourinho in charge 🙂 ), so they just resort to clicking the dislike button on our posts.
Good to see the arrogant Odious One and his gang of cheats, divers and thugs getting what they deserve. They are just off the relegation zone – and would be in it had they, aided and abetted by Dean, not stolen three points from us.
I look forward to the day when the odious king of anti football is removed from the EPL.
Afternoon.
I have regularly claimed that Mourinho is a classic cheque book manager. I made the point about him actually being the highest spending manager out there and said this afforded him the record that he had. These views were roundly condemend in some parts purely based on Porto, a one season wonder with a team that to my reckoning were the biggest cheats I have ever seen. Celtic fans will agree.
Mourinho almost destroyed Real Madrids reputation. Roman Calderon claimed Mourinho was their biggest ever mistake because of how he dragged the club into the gutter. He knew he didnt have the tactical nous to out football Barcelona so he send his players out to stop them by whatever means were necessary. Who can ever forget that terrible eye poking incident. Seriously, what Manager thinks poking another in the eye is any way to behave?
The Sapnsih media knew what he was, they dispised him and his pathetic antics and his time in Spain came to an embarrassing end.
He was lucky at Inter, yes he did a good job but at the end of the day yet again he inherited an already successful team. Its what he does.
The media in England are an absolute disgrace. They took this arrogant, eye poking, cheque book manager with his win at all costs mentality and stuck him on a pedestal. This is what we do here, we idolise this sort of behaviour for some reason. The fcat he was acting like a bully with his cheque book was totally ignored. In fact, the derision was saved for Arsene Wenger, a man who had to battle the forces of evil (financially doped clubs) with both hands tied behind his back. Selling players he had made good, trying to break even while Mourinho was poking fun at him and the media joined in.
The culmination of the medias love for Jose and hate for Wenger resulted in the interview in which Mourinho called Wenger a specialist in failure. An insult that was utterly disgraceful and made no allowance for the differences of the two clubs resources over the years. An insult that Wenger did not deserve to be recycled and repeated by those who decided Wenger was the devil incarnate and Mourinho some kind of angel.
Has Jose been found out?
He managed clubs with fear and by buying the very best player available for the position required. Defensively he is a great coach and tactician but offensively he hasnt a clue and thats his achilles heel. Along with hs arrogance.
His win at all cost attitude started this slip down the table. He had encouraged his players to dive, waste time and basically use all the tricks the ex pros like to praise as gamesmanship. Cheating is a more accurate desription. The first game of the season, Hazard tried to waste time but it backfired. Needing someone to blame, after all its never Mourinhos fault, he chose the physios. An integral part of the squad who work closley with the players but to mourinho they were there to be abused and insulted for failing to recognise time wasting tactics. So he created bad feeling and division. Bad results followed and instead of taking a nhard look at himself, he decided to slaugher the players publicly. This is the Mourinho book of motivation but a massive character flaw. Hes not a nice man, in fact he’s a nasty piece of work. These people get found out, usually when they are under pressure and things aren’t all rosy. He has demotivated a team that cost multi millions and somehow won the title last season.
When things go pear shape Mourinho folds. When his defensive structure shows fragility and leaks goals he doesnt have the technical ability to change things offensively, so they make up for teh goals they ship. Hes fine playing without a striker to get a point but he is out of his depth offensively. Diego Costa has picked up on Mourinhos behaviour and behaves like Mourinho would on a football pitch. There league position is of Mourinhos own making. He can blame the players but at the end of the day he is resposnible for demotivating that group of players. 1 point off relegation with those players, is he serious?
Arsene Wenger is a class act. He is dignified and unlike Mourinho has huge respect afforded to him for the way he develops and treats players. Despite buying second tier players to work within a budget over the years of austerity and the frustration of constantly losing players only to rebuild again, Wenger never turned on or abused his playing staff or any of his staff for that matter. Not when Mourinho was baiting him or when the media too were treating Wenger so unfairly. Despite the challenges Wenger faced, I can’t remember us hovering one place above relegation after more than a third of the season had passed. Wenger has developed players, he has given youngsters a chance unlike Mourinho who walks around waving his chequebook like some rich banker looking doiwn his snout at everyone else.
The sooner this ‘specialist in being an arrogant prick’ disappears from these shores the better for all of us. We need role models and managers like Ranieri, not some king of the dark arts so in love with himself that he pokes fun at those less fortunate than himself. We also need an apology from the media for getting it so wrong about Mourinho and for using him as a stick to beat Arsene Wenger with.
Thought I’d check out the dictionary definition of “pundit”
“any learned man; an authority; now commonly – one who considers himself an authority”
If you were to check back pre-season I bet 99% of newspaper and TV/radio pundits picked Chelsea or Man City to win the EPL. They all said the same thing! Why, because it’s the easy (and lazy) way to collect your pay-check. And they back this up with trite sayings about Chelsea’s opposition e.g. Arsenal will always let you down, can’t win the pressure matches, Man City are no good without Kompany/Aguero/Yaya (delete as appropriate)
And almost everyone of those pundits actually admire Maureen as the archetypal modern manager/coach, and his team (John Terry et al) as the ideal professionals. What we see now is a man and a team who are unravelling, and fans of the 19 other teams in the EPL are so sad!! The Germans have a word for it – Schadenfreude.
You cannot doubt that he has an outstanding record of winning titles at different clubs, and you cannot doubt that he is an unpleasant individual, and new we can see the type of unhinged behaviour from his final season at the Bernabeu.
COYG
I can’t help but notice that this article has jumped the gun.
By that I mean it criticises Mourinho (believe me NO ONE is happier than me to see the odious little toad flounder) for their current lowly position, yet as we all know Arsenal have struggled and been miles off the pace in previous seasons.
On this day last year we were 13 points behind league leaders Chelsea, when the season finished we were 12 points behind the Chavs.
Now I’m not suggesting that Chelsea are going to turn it around to such an extent that they actually win the the title, or even finish in the top 4, but the fact is they might. Those players haven’t become useless overnight (well Terry probably has), it is likely that Mourinho will get sacked but if he doesn’t and if he does turn it around and Chelsea do by some feat get into the top 4 will we still be so smug?
It doesn’t matter where a side is in the table in December (unless you’re bottom of course) it’s where you are in May that counts.
This is why I think double standards are being used to dismiss Mourinho and Chelsea, while this very site would never hear a bad word said against Wenger during all the difficult periods he has faced over the past 10 or 11 seasons.
I have been guilty in the past of criticising Wenger following bad, if not humiliating defeats (there are too many to list) and have often questioned whether a new manager would have done a better job but I have also strongly defended him for doing a brilliant job keeping us in the top 4 through the stadium move and repayment years.
What I’m trying to say is that I really, really hope we don’t look back at this season as a missed opportunity. Had we signed 1 or 2 top quality players to strengthen the side in key areas in the summer, given how crazy this seasons results have been so far we could conceivably be 5 or 6 points clear at the top.
My biggest fear is that we will suffer more injuries to key personnel and we’ll drop points against teams we should beat once again – Norwich and West Brom for example.
I just don’t think we should collectively be singing and getting all cocky because of our current good fortune (and Chelsea’s current woes), when it was just 2 weeks ago that we went the whole of November without a league win!
khitb77
“This is why I think double standards are being used to dismiss Mourinho and Chelsea, while this very site would never hear a bad word said against Wenger during all the difficult periods he has faced over the past 10 or 11 seasons”
Double standards? This is a man who the AAA, the media, the pundits and Mourniho himslef said was special. This is the man that has had a warchest of hundreds of millions of pounds to spend. This is the man who everyone said was a tactical genius. This is a man who has never had to develop players or work within a strict budget.
Double standards?! Are you nuts……………….?
Wenger has never said he was special. To my knowledge he has never called another manager a failure. To my knowledge he has never been able to wave a magical cheque book around while other teams were selling their best players.
Double standards?
To my knowledge wenger has never poked another manager in the eye. He has to my knowledge never insulted his medical team in front of a packed crowd. To my knowledge he has never slagged off his own players in public to mask his own mistakes.
Double standards?
To my knowledge Arsene Wenger has never taken the club one point off relegation one third of the way into a season. With or without a multi million pound side.
Sorry, there are no double standrads.
Jose Mourinho is a nasty piece of work who has nobody to blame but himself. It is a shame he has been used as a Champion for the Wenger haters both in the media and in the Wenger Out club. Speaks volumes in fact.
We’re currently above not one but two billionaire owned clubs. Thing about that for a second. Regardless of where we end up at the end of the season, it shows just what an incredible job Wenger has done for us. Chelsea have spent ten time as much as we have over the years, yet they would love to be in our position right now. Leicester have spent even less than us & are above us, big credit to them.
Hopefully this helps usher in the end to silly spending at clubs.
Excellent points Proud Kev.
Would love to know what RA really thinks, but ultimately, it is his fault for:
1/ bringing him back
2/ giving him a new contract this summer
3/ not questioning his transfer dealings relationship with some agents,why he has let seriously good players go…have their replacements been any better….and just who has profited? He does like his Mendes deals from time to time
But I guess when you are winning, such things dont come under scrutiny, the trouble is, cannot see him winning at Chelsea any more.
IF the players have decided not to take any more from someone, who, from the outside looking in, gives the appearance of an ego driven bully, then good on them. If they were appalled at his treatment of a woman in place at the club to help and care for them, then they go up in my estimations. But we may never know.
As for Wenger would never sink anywhere near the depths of this man, he would never want to, or have to.
Proudkev
Excellent as usual.
Al – Had a couple of dislikes but no one fronting up. But I did – after holding my breath – read the Comments section in Online Gooner and the usual suspects are continuing to snivel away. Extraordinary.
What amazes me is that any so called journalist or football official could’ve, should’ve, (probably have) read: “The Special One” by Diego Torres.
This book outlines exactly how the person we’re talking about – carries himself and how he manages clubs and their players. Having read this book nobody could be surprised by what’s happening now because it all follows a pattern.
It appears “people” have read this book and pretended the documentation of the time spent at RM simply didn’t exist. Instead, the one is portrayed as some kind of saviour/sage, etc.
As ProudKev has written, the Presstitutes never mention the chequebook manager conundrum, and all that implies.
There’s a continual showing of Wenger supposedly pushing Moano, and there’s never any context applied to that incident.
(You know, like Cahill deliberately trying to break Sanchez’ leg whilst others in that team do like wise to other Arsenal players. When showing that footage there’s no Context applied to the attacker’s previous eye-gouging, suggesting that if a previous offender marches into your space, you’d better defend yourself. It’s all portrayed as though none of this stuff ever happened and Wenger is some vicious so and so).
And yet the supposed team rifts, tactical nuances, public player derisions, staff sackings, slanders on rivals – they’re all in that book!
If I read this, all the football officials know this. The plundits either don’t know or they’re in denial. And there’s yet another possibility/probability, that I wouldn’t explore here.
.
Mandy
You make an excellent point about Roman A.
He made Maureen CEO of his team for the second time knowing full well his style, attitudes and behaviour.
As in business the CEO sets the style, which is soon picked up by the rest of his team.
Over the years, we’ve seen many companies with the bully boy leader where winning is the only thing. They succeed for a while and are feted and applauded for their performance.
But if the proverbial hits the fan, or the wheels fall off, the team cannot cope because they are not winning, and they know no other philosophy. They struggle to turn things round because, in short they have no lasting values as a team.
As hilarious as the current situation is at Chelski, it’s unlikely they will go down, because they have lots of money for the January window, and there are two or three far worse sides.
Abramovich should NOT sack Maureen, he should make him stay, make him take responsibility, publicly apologise to the medical staff he has caused to be sacked, and SHUT THE F*** UP about other managers, whose shoes is not worthy to lick clean!!
COYG
Let’s be perfectly honest. The despicable one has only had success over the years because he has only been to rich clubs with bottomless pits of money (the only exception being Porto, and we know how they played). If he were at any current Championship club he would be shown up as an ordinary manager with very limited success. The sooner RA sends him packing, the sooner I will be delighted.
Agree Barry, a public apology to Dr Eva and her colleague would not go amiss, may even happen as part of the settlement.
He should be forced to stay, partly, he is being paid for his services, partly for amusement for the neutrals, and partly, the longer he stays, the more damage to the reputation of this odious man.
I have never met them person, but I am sure most managers are pretty ruthless driven people, some may have a bullying side to them, but Jose just seems to completely lack any humility.
But, I must thank Jose for Petr Cech, he should read the linked article below, and weep
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15118/10100774/petr-cechs-influence-already-showing-at-arsenal
Rantetta.
I haven’t read that book. However, I have listened to a number of interviews regarding Mourinhos time in Spain and how disliked he was. I never liked the man and this started back in the Porto days. The way that team behaved was a disgrace, they took theatrics and time wasting to whole different level – all coached by Mourinho.
It is hugely embarrassing for me as an Englishman to listen to the way our media have conducted themself over Mourinho. It is beyond bizarre that he is lauded as some kind of hero here, a sad reflection of what I call the ‘Jurassic’ approach we have to football in this County. We really are a nation of backward thinkers where football is concerned. Unfortunately, the media (and lets face it a lot of so called Arsenal fans) seem unable to reconcile the money he has spent with his achievements. They see it as a fair fight between Mourinho and Arsene and take real delight everytime the Portugese makes fun of Wenger or waves his Premier League medals around. As if it’s impressive to win by outspending everybody else.
The media take the side of evil over good, Mourinhos brand of negative defensive football, where no prisoners are taken, praised because it wins trophies. No mention of the fact that it was actually the money that contributed more than the style of football or that having the best players counts for anything. Or that it’s actually easier to coach a defensive mindset than it is a free flowing, attacking one.
On a human level Mourinho is a nasty, snidey piece of shit. The way he treats people is absolutely disgusting. I am sure a lot of the members of our media look at Jose and see a lot of themselves in him. After all, they too take great pleasure poking fun of people with smug satisfaction.
I am proud of the football club I support and I would be protesting if we ever employed a disgusting human like him to manage our club. Arsene Wenger is 1,000 times the man Mourinho is and has more right to feel aggrieved than Mourinho. I will take these years spent growing the club with Arsene in charge than any of the years that filthy man and the equally filthy Russian Resource thief have bankrolled.
Jose Mourinho will not be getting a Christmas Card from me. He will have received enough from the fornicating media and the AAA not to have to worry about that.
@Pete 4:01pm just looked at “Online Gooner” too….it is Masochists Corner,so many ‘fans’ that set the performance expectation bar so high that they will be disappointed 99% of the time!!
Proudkev
Excellent analysis. Agree with all you say. I absolutely loved your assessment of the English media 🙂 They’re an absolute disgrace. Come to think of it, the Spanish media used to poke fun at him, this despite the fact the Spanish media is pro-madrid. In Italy it was the same. Only in England do they seem to think that he walks on water.. You summed it well. Actually, I think you may have given the lying toad a lot more credit than he deserves (he deserves nothing) by saying he’s a great coach defensively – what he does is no different to what Pulis or fat Sam do; park the bus. Anyone can ask 10 men to mill around in the box so there’s no shooting space 🙂 You nailed it that offensively he’s got no clue, his record v Guardiola is laughable. Wenger has a much better record v Guardiola, on his shoestring budget, something this vile and slimy thing couldn’t achieve with a team assembled for more than £1b.
Like you, I can’t wait for the day he’s eventually despatched from these shores. I know some are saying roman should keep him a little longer for the comedy he’s providing, which I’ve to admit I’m enjoying, but my desire to see him gone far outweighs any enjoyment I could ever derive from watching him wallowing in his misery.
Enjoy “The Special One)’s temporary loss of composure.
Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, have proved that the subject in question, has ability.
Chelsea are still in four competitions, the same as Man City.
I am pleased that Leicester City beat Chelsea. I am annoyed at the Dean chappie!!!
You cannot keep a good ? man down, but Mourinho is not David Moyes nor Gary Neville. Mourinho speaks English.
COTG.
Someone at the Metro might have read Proudkev’s brilliant posts on the odious one 🙂 I don’t think I’ve ever seen any paper(or anyone in the media for that matter) say Mourinho ought to apologise to Wenger, but the Metro does suggest he should here.
In case someone reads and it actually gets saved, there is some issue with posting a reply. Did try under 2 email addresses, with firefox and IE, when i click post, it refreshes the page and no comment appears. or am I being censored for whatever reason ?!?!
Amazing link Al…..cannot believe this is the UK media.
What can it mean?
So Wenger is the specialist in failure, responsible for any Arsenal game lost….and the Not so Special Anymore one is not ever responsible for games lost, as he explained it, his players are….get a life….
Don’t know, Mandy. It just might be the Metro but at least it’s a good start. Considering the telegraph have referenced their articles previously let’s hope that spirit continues in this case 🙂
I find this website quite confusing – after Wenger bought no one apart from Cech the message is that spending money is no solution – then articles like this which bang on about how well Wenger has done compared with clubs that have the unfair advantage of being able to spend money. Make your mind up!
Isn’t it possible to take a balanced view of Wenger, neither persistently abusing the man (LeGrove), nor hailing every time he breaks wind as the act of a genius (Untold)? Wenger is a very good manager, but he is not infallible, he is getting on a bit and is ever more susceptible to being caught out. The current team is better than it has been for a few years, mainly through actually spending money – i.e. astute buying of quality players to compliment the home-grown or young players (and not selling). Arsenal have money now and arguably could have done with one or two more this season to push them on a bit – yes, second in the league, but over most of the last few years one of Chelsea, City or United would have been on a run by now and we would be looking at an 8 to 10 point gap. Still, because it is so open, if they can get through the next few weeks without too much damage, a revitalised Sanchez coming back could be the catalyst to a special season.
Aw go on ProudKev, send him a card.
No sorry, I’m being hypocritical. I need to send one to Mr Wenger, thanking him for the last 20 years.
Your summaries are excellent. Thanks.
I do hope that the Chelsea board meeting today don’t sack Moanin’inho , but give him the (dreaded ) vote of confidence ! Oh , and more money to spend in January’s transfer window ….. panic buyings are so much fun !
@ Tasos -December 15, 2015 at 9:21 am – That link was priceless , and funny . Will refer back to it at the end of the season when the idiots of the year awards are given !
I do hope that some computer savvy AKB make and put up a clip showing the ostriches predictions then and their backtracking and arse covering later. You know a ‘Then and Now ‘ or ‘ Before and After’ , side by side with lots of canned laughter of those laughing babies , apes or this mirthful toothless guy !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM5Of17L1k0
I have to do a presentation in my office on something I am passionate about and its ironic that I have chosen AWs achievement at Arsenal.
I have always told my friends in Nigeria, that if Mourhino were to manage the of players Wenger has been buying throughout the period that the emirate project started, Arsenal would have been playing championship football for all these years. He had to sell his best year in year out and was buying players that were mostly below £17-20m in most cases and yet we maintained top 4 for over 15 years running.
All Hail Arsene Wenger!He is d ideal Manager every club shuld aspire to acquire;Mou’s fall has provided a veritable platform to silence those ignorant so called Arsenal Fans who actually are haters nd enemy of AW nd *rsenal in real life;now d worth nd exemplary work AW has accomplished in d Club has become more evident nd self appraising;AW’s product is a brand dat his Colleagues nd Clubs shuld desire, winning trouphies is nt d only reason a club exists even if its d ultimate goal bt d mission nd vision of AW for Arsenal shuld be d ulimate goal of every club wit history, dats wat AW has achieved for Arsenal nd dat sets d Club apart Frm d rest,Bravo Wenger! Kip. Up d gud works!!!