Liverpool FC Forum

by **JC_81** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:22 pm

LFC2007 wrote:I think it's conceivable that the threat will arise from more than one team. We haven't had a league contested between three or four teams until the death, for a long time.

Although some people have suggested Chelsea will improve now that Mourinho has gone, I think the opposite will happen. I don't know a lot about Avram Grant, but all of Mourinho's back room staff have left with the exception of Steve Clarke. Is their new manager going to alter their philosophy, will he be as meticulous as Mourinho in his planning, how will training change? Will their fitness regiem change?
There are many questions that need answered. You only have to look at the state of FC Porto in the immediate post Mourinho period to understand why they may have a few problems. If Grant fails miserably short term, will Abramovich persevere with him until the end of the season?

I can certaily see the unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge that Mourinho held going at some stage this season.

The Mancs will always be hanging around at the top somewhere.

Porto were poor in the post-Mourinho period because the likes of Deco, Carvalho, Ferreira, Maniche and Mendes all left as well as the manager. The same thing won't happen at Chelsea, at least not straight away anyway.

Mourinho was a good manager no doubt, but Chelsea have still got a hell of a squad left for the incoming manager which makes this a completely different situation from when Mourinho left Porto.

My personal point of view is that Avram Grant won't last. I don't think he'd be the Chelsea fans' first choice and unless he manages to win either the league or CL this season he'll definitely be replaced in the summer. I do expect him to last the season, mainly because it will be difficult for Chelsea to land one of their top targets right away.

by **LFC2007** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:32 pm

john craig wrote:Porto were poor in the post-Mourinho period because the likes of Deco, Carvalho, Ferreira, Maniche and Mendes all left as well as the manager. The same thing won't happen at Chelsea, at least not straight away anyway.

Mourinho was a good manager no doubt, but Chelsea have still got a hell of a squad left for the incoming manager which makes this a completely different situation from when Mourinho left Porto.

My personal point of view is that Avram Grant won't last. I don't think he'd be the Chelsea fans' first choice and unless he manages to win either the league or CL this season he'll definitely be replaced in the summer. I do expect him to last the season, mainly because it will be difficult for Chelsea to land one of their top targets right away.

All I said was, you only have to look at the post Mourinho state at Porto to understand why there may be problems. They had something like 2 managers in the space of a month, 3 in total for the season. In terms of stability in the short term the effect was very negative. This was partly down to losing many of their key players, but it was also down to losing their most successful manager in their history, it was a combination of both. The EPL is a much tougher league than the Portuguese Liga, the de-stabilising effect may be even greater in a league that requires greater planning and concentration. It's very easy to attribute how poor they were as being solely down to losing some of their key players. I would suggest that had Mourinho stayed, some of those key players would have stayed in any case, and even if a few left, they would still have been stable and competing very strongly for the Portuguese league at the very least.

by **JC_81** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:46 pm

LFC2007 wrote:
john craig wrote:Porto were poor in the post-Mourinho period because the likes of Deco, Carvalho, Ferreira, Maniche and Mendes all left as well as the manager. The same thing won't happen at Chelsea, at least not straight away anyway.

Mourinho was a good manager no doubt, but Chelsea have still got a hell of a squad left for the incoming manager which makes this a completely different situation from when Mourinho left Porto.

My personal point of view is that Avram Grant won't last. I don't think he'd be the Chelsea fans' first choice and unless he manages to win either the league or CL this season he'll definitely be replaced in the summer. I do expect him to last the season, mainly because it will be difficult for Chelsea to land one of their top targets right away.

All I said was, you only have to look at the post Mourinho state at Porto to understand why there may be problems. They had something like 2 managers in the space of a month, 3 in total for the season. In terms of stability in the short term the effect was very negative. This was partly down to losing many of their key players, but it was also down to losing their most successful manager in their history, it was a combination of both. The EPL is a much tougher league than the Portuguese Liga, the de-stabilising effect may be even greater in a league that requires greater planning and concentration. It's very easy to attribute how poor they were as being solely down to losing some of their key players. I would suggest that had Mourinho stayed, some of those key players would have stayed in any case, and even if a few left, they would still have been stable and competing very strongly for the Portuguese league at the very least.

I didn't suggest Porto's problems were due to 'solely losing some of their key players' as you put it. Their problems were clearly due to a combination of losing their manager AND half their team.

I do think that Mourinho leaving will have a destabilising effect on Chelsea, but until they've played a few games under Grant it's difficult to say how much it will have affected them in the short term. In the slightly longer term, Chelsea will have some rebuilding to do. Some of their players will want to leave and a new manager will want some of his own players brought in, that's a fact. But I don't expect major surgery to their squad until next summer. Until then they still have a quality squad with the potential to win trophies.

by **Bad Bob** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:11 pm

I think AB's got a point to a point...

Arsenal have started well and, like United showed last season, a good start can snowball. Never discount the value of momentum.

But, a big question for me is their squad depth. The African Nations cup will hurt them as will injuries--if they stay true to form and have the kinds of injury problems they've had in the past couple of seasons. An injury to Van Persie, Fabregas or either CB (I'm sorry but Senderos is a big step down from Toure and Gallas) would really hamper them. They may avoid the injury lottery this year but if they don't it could be their undoing.

And, just so Peewee knows he's not invisible (

)...I completely agree about Mourinho. Some call him a "character" while I consider him a c.unt: he did everything in his power to bend/break rules and I have no respect for him as a result. The Frisk incident was outrageous and the persistent intimidating of refs and diving by Chelsea players is on him as well. Plus, his "good copy" in the press was, IMHO, pathetic. The whole "ghost goal" mallarky is a great case in point: the man has no shame and will say anything if he thinks he'll get away with it. A character? Well, not for me. Character and Jose Mourinho don't belong in the same sentence. :no

by **AB's Red Army** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:43 pm

To be honest I never hated Mourinho. Sure he irritated me with his comments after losing a match, but I didn't hate the bloke.

I hate Neil Warnock,Alex Ferguson,David Moyes and Sam Allardyce. But Mourinho, not that much.

by **Wilhelmsson** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:02 am

I would love to do a Roy Keane on Cesc, I can’t stand him, and he is an arrogant little :censored:

a nice crunching two footed lunge into his leg would sort him out.

by **LFC2007** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 1:49 am

Wilhelmsson wrote:I would love to do a Roy Keane on Cesc, I can’t stand him, and he is an arrogant little a nice crunching two footed lunge into his leg would sort him out.

Muppet

by **AB's Red Army** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:06 am

Can't we keep at least one thread civil? Please?

It's not that serious. No need for insults out of the blue.

by **LFC2007** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:07 am

Endorsing the act of breaking someone's leg merits a frosty response.

by **AB's Red Army** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:28 am

LFC2007 wrote:Endorsing the act of breaking someone's leg merits a frosty response.

I know it's a bit hypocritical for me to say '' keep it civil '', considering that I've been involved in my fair share of heated exchange of words.

But there is a better way to respond to such a comment or better yet just ignore it.

I think we all need to reshape the way we react to certain posts on here, if we want to maintain the longevity of this place.

by **LFC2007** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:30 am

Or better still, never say such things in the first place.

by **AB's Red Army** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:32 am

LFC2007 wrote:Or better still, never say such things in the first place.

Well mate we can't control what people say.

by **LFC2007** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:36 am

What he said places him firmly in the realm of Muppetdom.

But let's not detract from the topic of the thread.

by **Bad Bob** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:07 am

AB's Red Army wrote:I think we all need to reshape the way we react to certain posts on here, if we want to maintain the longevity of this place.

Amen Brother! :nod

by **The Manhattan Project** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:54 pm

Manhattan predicts that Jose Mourinho will be Liverpool manager within the next three years.

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