From Brendan : Bilic, Mourinho
Hi Myles,
I hear what you’re saying about Slaven Bilic.
When he was interviewed on MOTD and talked about “doing the same things” in all matches against ‘big’ teams, I thought about your comments about football being all about habits, and coaching therefore being about making sure that players pick up the right habits.
I know that from my dealings with kids’ football! And it’s the same sport, after all.
Watching West Ham, you can see how they can stop ‘big’ teams from scoring by being super organised, always being able to go man for man, and wait until the opposition gives them a chance to break. With the players they’ve got, they could also afford to open up more against weaker teams.
The other story is obviously Mourinho and Chelsea.
I predicted as soon as he came back to England that it was just a matter of time before he and Chelsea imploded.
He simply cannot do anything over a period of time. His brand of management does not allow for that, because it is necessarily predicated on the siege mentality, instilling a sense of exceptionalism in those around him, which comes directly from his own sense of being exceptional.
Intelligent players will see through this soon enough and I think some already are – i.e. Fabregas and Hazard. They are a million miles from where they were last season.
It’s not going to get better for them, either. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsea end up in the bottom half of the table.
This is nothing to do with being a bitter Arsenal supporter, fed up with the barbs and abuse from Mourinho, fed up with being in Chelsea’s shadow.
Even when they beat us earlier this season at Stamford Bridge, I never believed that the game itself meant anything for the season.
It was a game, in fact, which probably set the tone for Chelsea’s season, when millions of football fans and some Chelsea players started to wonder just how special Chelsea and their manager were when they have to cheat so flagrantly to win a game.
Mourinho is bitter about the fact that Wenger ‘gets away’ with statements about referees, when he gets punished.
Maybe, instead of being bitter, Mourinho should focus on earning the respect in the game which would result in him being given the benefit of the doubt in the way Wenger is, for example.