Some words of wisdom from Jose Mourinho

kinaldo

A couple of highlights from a very long Q&A with Henry Winter in today's Daily Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/12/08/sfnwin08.xml

Q: Arsenal three years ago were the most eye-catching side you'll ever see. Would you like to build a team that pretty?

A: Arsenal were pretty when they were champions without defeat, yes. Not pretty when they finished fourth when they had to win their last game to qualify for the Champions League. Not pretty when they get zero points in two matches. Pretty when they played amazing and were champions. The key is winning and playing well, playing beautiful.

Q: Is there any part of you that envies Manchester United or Arsenal for their more expansive, adventurous football? They use wingers.

A: We had wingers last season and were told we were not an attacking team. This season we don't have them, so you cannot say that.

Q: But they have a reputation for more pretty football?

A: They sell their product well.

Q: Everyone says they are more attractive...

A: Do they?

Q: You are a very good 'power' team.

A: I don't agree. We are a team adapted to the reality, which is why Arsenal cannot beat Bolton at Bolton and why Chelsea under me have played three matches and got three victories at Bolton with zero goals conceded. You cannot play against Bolton at Bolton the same you play at home against Watford. Some teams and some managers play every game with the same strategy. Sometimes they beat someone 6-0 and sometimes they lose a game they shouldn't lose. One of the strengths is to adapt to different realities, which is what I'm trying to do with Chelsea in England and Chelsea in Europe. Chelsea cannot play in Europe the same way it plays in England.

I hope Wenger is paying attention...

---

Q: It seems English players aren't coming through, no wealth of youngsters. Should we fear for the England team?

A: There is a lot of talent.

Q: But at 18?

A: The reserve team competition should finish. It is nothing. This country has to think about a different way to give competition to young players. The competition is not good enough. If I am a father and my boy is 18, I don't want him to play in the reserve-team competition because the quality is not good enough, the motivation is not good enough, the pitches are not good enough.

At the moment we have our best kids playing at Queens Park Rangers. We sent Jimmy Smith and Michael Mancienne to QPR because it is better to have them playing in the Coca-Cola Championship than playing for the reserves on a Monday.

This country should look to other countries, to France and Spain.Do you know where the Real Madrid reserves play? In the Spanish equivalent of the Coca-Cola League.

Do you know how many times Porto kids have played against Benfica at 16 years old? Twenty. When they were 9, 10, 11, 12, they play in [Portugal's] national leagues. They are used to atmospheres with big matches. You go to our kids of 16 and you know how many times they play

Liverpool or Man United? Some of them never. They go to the FA Youth Cup and if they lose, they are finished for the season. So a competitive shape at youth level is something you should be looking at.

Q: Would you like Chelsea B in the Championship?

John Obi Mikel,

A: I would love to see it. I can tell you for sure that if that happened, players like [Lassana] Diarra, [John Obi] Mikel, Kalou, when they are not selected that weekend for the first team, they have competition to play in a different level. So they should have a look.

Q: But Chelsea could one day be first and second in the Premiership?

A: But like in Spain, they would not be allowed promotion. They don't even play in the cup to stop the possibility of Real Madrid A against Real Madrid B.

MrJoeSoap

Chelsea B in the Championship, no thanks.

We're not all here to further Chelsea's domination thanks.

PHB

While I don't agree with Chelsea B, I think the restrictions on the amount of loan players you can have should be lifted, and that some clubs would become much more active feeder clubs for the top teams, so that United could loan out Rossi, but call him back whenever they want in case of injury crisis, then loan him out again, not within the transfer window. I think this would benefit everybody involved.

mike65

Benitiz and Wenger back Jose according to fivelive just now. Rafa managed the Real Madrid b team in la Liga winning two titles in the late 80s.

Mike.

MrJoeSoap

Well of course they would, the top 4 or 5 sides would be the only ones who benefit from it.

iregk

I agree with it. It has worked great for youngsters in Spain and France so why not in England?

MrJoeSoap

iregk wrote:

I agree with it. It has worked great for youngsters in Spain and France so why not in England?

Because it will be to the detriment of smaller clubs.

event

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Because it will be to the detriment of smaller clubs.

how do you reckon that?

Rikand

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Because it will be to the detriment of smaller clubs.

How much do you love it when you go to cup games to see the big players playing ?

well if Chelsea B, etc were in coca-cola division 1, you could have that happen several times a season. If i were a travelling Notts Forest fan, i think i'd much rather go to Chelsea or Arsenal a couple of times a season than down to dank rotherham on a wet saturday afternoon ( no offense intended to any rotherham fans here )

MrJoeSoap

Well imagine that Chelsea, Arsenal and United were allowed to put "B" teams into the Championship. Whilst they wouldn't take promotion away from another team, the Championship would hardly be extended to a 27 team league would it?

Therefore three teams would have to drop a division to accomodate these teams. Believe it or not, not everyone is there to further the advancement of the bigger sides.

Rikand

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Well imagine that Chelsea, Arsenal and United were allowed to put "B" teams into the Championship. Whilst they wouldn't take promotion away from another team, the Championship would hardly be extended to a 27 team league would it?

Therefore three teams would have to drop a division to accomodate these teams. Believe it or not, not everyone is there to further the advancement of the bigger sides.

If the FA were to ever allow this, i would say that the B-teams have to start off in the conference or somewhere and if anything win promotion to Coca-Cola 1....never get to the championship. Coca-Cola 1 is the best they can achieve

MrJoeSoap

Rickylovesuall wrote:

If the FA were to ever allow this, i would say that the B-teams have to start off in the conference or somewhere and if anything win promotion to Coca-Cola 1....never get to the championship. Coca-Cola 1 is the best they can achieve

Its irrelevant really though, and perhaps even worse that way, as it is still going to put lower teams out to facilitate the bigger clubs.

I really don't see any positives with the system at all. I don't see any problems with the current system.

MrJoeSoap

For and against the "B Teams"... Gerry Armstong and David Gold.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/12/13/should_premiership_clubs_field.html

kinaldo

MrJoeSoap wrote:

For and against the "B Teams"... Gerry Armstong and David Gold.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/12/13/should_premiership_clubs_field.html

Both make good arguments and it's an interesting idea alright but I can't see the football league clubs ever agreeing to it.

iregk

MrJoeSoap wrote:

I really don't see any positives with the system at all.

I take it you dont watch football in Spain then? While I understand your point and your concerns I do agree with the main focus of the argument. It gives lesser players more competitive experience without having to send them out on load. This has many advantages.

a) you dont have to worry about recalling a player in time if your hit with an injury crisis.
b) players that would ordinarily be out on loan are now training with you week in week out so you can keep a closer eye on their progress.
c) as they are still with your club and training with your club its much easier to make the step up to the first team rather than being reintegrated after a loan spell. finally
d) as lesser players get more experience and game time whilst still training with better players that are the first team they will ultimately become better players and thus the average standard raises.

redspider

B Teams
I'm against B teams being allowed to compete with A teams in concept because it allows too much concentration and favours the big clubs. The big clubs will get bigger and the small clubs will get smaller and the gap will grow. Chelsea B will be beating the likes of Leeds A. Success brings money/income which brings success, its a virtuous circle. The B Team system helps maintain that circle.

In some countries its already in place, but it has only served to help the bigger clubs stay big, such as Real Madrid and Ajax. (Ajax B were in their cup final or semi-final some years ago!).

Loans
I'm also against the concept of loans. Thats just another way of spreading out a clubs domination. Just because a club can afford to employ so many players that are good that they dont need, the loan system actually perpetuates the club's strength and control, keeping their players match sharp, etc, and you can be sure that if the player is on fire that they will get recalled. I think players should be registered to play at one club and one club only for the season or 6 months. Clubs should have limits on the no. of players they can employ so they cant dominate the market. By the way Chelsea are not the worst offenders in this regard. I was shocked to see the size of the PSV squad recently.

Youth System
I agree with Mourinho that there is a problem with the youth system, and the reserve system is clearly under marketed and performing. There are two solutions. You could promote a Youth U-19 league, and play the games as warm-up entertainment to the A games. I am sure many fans would then get an opportunity to see their youth players and it would provide a big stage for the players.

Reserve League
For the reserve league, you have to ask if its really needed in its current format. Players do need practice matches but its not good for players to play to no fans for a whole season. The reserve league should also match the A league, so it would be a quasi system without relegation and promotion based on performance but teams following the A league. The results in it shouldnt matter as managers can experiment, etc, as that is what they will want to do. It probably should be kept on practice grounds, rather than promoting it to fans, etc, as that would in effect set up a B league. That in itself perhaps would be okay, but there is a risk that it will only benefit the major clubs.


Overall, if you want to prevent a hadful of clubs dominating, the sytem needs to be set-up to prevent that. Loans dont and B teams being allowed to play with A teams dont.

Redspider

Kingp35

iregk wrote:

I take it you dont watch football in Spain then? While I understand your point and your concerns I do agree with the main focus of the argument. It gives lesser players more competitive experience without having to send them out on load. This has many advantages.

a) you dont have to worry about recalling a player in time if your hit with an injury crisis.
b) players that would ordinarily be out on loan are now training with you week in week out so you can keep a closer eye on their progress.
c) as they are still with your club and training with your club its much easier to make the step up to the first team rather than being reintegrated after a loan spell. finally
d) as lesser players get more experience and game time whilst still training with better players that are the first team they will ultimately become better players and thus the average standard raises.

I hate to break it to you but there are other clubs out there other than the big 5. Why should smaller clubs miss out just because bigger clubs are moaning about there young players not getting games?

Modern football is becoming more and more catered towards the big clubs and its certainly not a good thing. The gap between the bigger and smaller clubs is getting bigger and the introduction of B teams will only widen that gap.

iregk

Kingp35 wrote:

I hate to break it to you but there are other clubs out there other than the big 5. Why should smaller clubs miss out just because bigger clubs are moaning about there young players not getting games?

Modern football is becoming more and more catered towards the big clubs and its certainly not a good thing. The gap between the bigger and smaller clubs is getting bigger and the introduction of B teams will only widen that gap.

Who ever said this B team idea was exclusively to and for the BIG teams? Why not a Leeds B team?

In response to redspider I like the idea of the 19's playing before the main event so fans can also see progress and potential stars in the making. That said with some premiership pitchs already under serious strain and starting to break up I dont think doubling the amount of games it has to support would be good. Also do we really want to see a premiership match ruined because the u19 game before hand destroyed the pitch coming up to christmas?

patmac

For a start is it not the case that 4 teams are dominating anyway? Since 1996 the league and FA Cup has been won by either Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool no one else, if their reserve teams are allowed enter the Coca Cola they will just dominate more, I'm not sure about the other clubs being against it, would a ground attendance be bigger against a Man Utd "B" side than say Plymouth or Luton (no offence).

Kingp35

iregk wrote:

Who ever said this B team idea was exclusively to and for the BIG teams? Why not a Leeds B team?

Leeds can hardly field an A team never mind a B team

I understand that it wouldnt be exclusively for the big teams but lets be honest here, its the big teams with the big squads that are going to benefit from this. Also where do you draw the line as to who is allowed to have a B team. If you let all Premiership sides have a B team and some championship sides that could mean about 30 smaller clubs losing their league status.

Its just a very poor idea imo.

PHB

You could promote a Youth U-19 league, and play the games as warm-up entertainment to the A games.

It would wreck the pitch

MrJoeSoap

iregk wrote:

I take it you dont watch football in Spain then? While I understand your point and your concerns I do agree with the main focus of the argument. It gives lesser players more competitive experience without having to send them out on load. This has many advantages.

Why would you take it that I don't watch Spanish football at all? I do, I don't support any particular club but I still realise that the B teams only function to further the monopoly that the bigger clubs already have, the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and others in Spain, as well as the big German clubs. It is a team where youngsters are placed to grow, rather than where out-of-favour first-teamers are left to rot. Real Madrid Castilla are the only 'B' side in the Spanish Segunda, whilst there are currently 13 'B' sides in the third division.

These sides, of course, have little or no travelling support, have horribly low average attendances and centre their attention on experimenting with new tactics/formations once their main goal of avoiding relegation has been achieved.

The main problem here, of course, is that for every B team that is allowed into a lower division, be it the Championship, League One or Two or Conference, an actual league team with all those years of history will have to suffer. Why? For the benefit of a bigger club who can afford to field two teams.

a) you dont have to worry about recalling a player in time if your hit with an injury crisis.
b) players that would ordinarily be out on loan are now training with you week in week out so you can keep a closer eye on their progress.
c) as they are still with your club and training with your club its much easier to make the step up to the first team rather than being reintegrated after a loan spell. finally
d) as lesser players get more experience and game time whilst still training with better players that are the first team they will ultimately become better players and thus the average standard raises.

All those points are well and good, but for Chelsea. Where is the benefit for Southampton, Southend, MK Dons, Torquay or any of the other hundred or so clubs in the four divisions below the Premiership?

Necronomicon

How would the promotion system work? Say there were Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea B's in the Championship. What if, say, Chelsea finished first, a regular Championship team finished second, Man United finished third etc? If the B teams weren't allowed promotion, it would complicate things if they all finished in the top 6 or so.
How does it work in Spain?

evad_lhorg

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Chelsea B in the Championship, no thanks.

We're not all here to further Chelsea's domination thanks.

we arent here for that alright but you really dont want Chelsea's C team destryoing Southampton. thts all youre against:p

MrJoeSoap

evad_lhorg wrote:

we arent here for that alright but you really dont want Chelsea's C team destryoing Southampton. thts all youre against:p

Har har, well at least you realise I'm talking about Southampton and not Shelbourne.



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