Just watched a fascinating show on Management from the point of view of past employers and employees. One bloke in particular was a carbon copy of Jose as regards attitude and behaviour, and it got me thinking, which is never a clever thing. Everyone has an opinion and here's mine. Jose's lack of self confidence causes problems for Chelsea. His whole demeanour and behaviour are classic signs of low self esteem hidden behind an abrasive and combatative outward nature. It is fear of failure that drives him, not the allure of success. That's why too often he sets up not to lose, as opposed to sets up to win. This season he has singled out and in some way alienated or marginalised some of our best and most popular players. Lets start with Lukaku. Bad attitude was the accusation, so off to Everton he goes when we are desperate for his goals. Isn't man management one of the the most important jobs in the Managers life?? Next came David Luiz. Not as bad as Lukaku but given a hard time nevertheless. De Bruyn had an attitude problem as well allegedly so out he went. Then there's Ashley Cole, who was totally ignored and why?? For attending a party with Arsenal ex team mates apparently. Our back 4 then played way too many games because he wouldn't even consider Cole. JT gets injured, Azpi and Ivan run out of steam. Of course we can't forget Mata. Doesn't fit our style, i.e. too many attacking instincts, not enough defending. Now it's Hazards turn, despite his Young Player Award, he's now come under public fire, same accusation as Mata .Whatever the rights or wrongs of the specific goal, a seemingly ridiculous criticism, totally unnecessary and poorly timed. Does nothing but belittle the player and position Jose as the one who will "sort it all out", when there's no problem to begin with. My guess, Hazard will soon be out of the line up and /or off. Is there a common thread ?? All are talented and popular, and all want to play football. My feelings are the popularity thing is as big a problem as the football thing. Ballotelli and several Real players will tell you the same. I'm sure others will put forward other reasons for players being let go, but I'm sticking with my theory, which is all it is, based on recurring patterns over the past 5 or 6 years, and helping a close friend, a hugely successful Business man with exactly the same behavioural and personality traits, currently undergoing Cognative Therapy with great results. Doesn't make Jose a poor Manager, far from it, but maybe explains a little bit why he's like he is. Or more correctly why I think he's like he is.
It depends how far you are willing to sacrifice the players for the team. I do genuinely believe Jose is hardest on the players he expects most of, and I reckon Hazard will only improve after this.
Excellent article. I've always said he has issues, whether it's anxiety, depression or something more inbedded into his character like ADHD. Some of his reactions just aren't that of a balanced human being, I may mock him occasionally as an arrogant attention seeker but I think you could well be right in suggesting a mental condition may be the cause. As I've also said plenty of times, he is without doubt one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, sadly for him he is more likely to be remembered for other incidents...
100% agree with you only on this. But other things about personality - abrasive, attacking were exactly the traits of Alex who showed how successful one can be with those qualities for close to quarter of a century. Also, Juan, Romelu, Kevin performances are not that great for Moanu, Everton & Wolfsburg - after Jose shipped them. to me, Manager = Club then players = club and one player <> club !!
Very good point about Sir Alex, but also consider this, when Alex got stuck into a player for whatever reason ,he did so largely without impacting negatively on the team because the Team was always the most important, or so it seemed to me. With Jose, there are sometimes negative effects on the team, a la the back 4, my theory being he is more fixated on his own image, sometimes to the detriment of the team. Not saying I'm right, it's all too deep for me, but again that's how it seems to me. Anyway, I regretted posting this as I expected a torrent of abuse which has not happened. I stress this is all hypothetical and hopefully interesting enough for people to comment on.
Don't think you would get flak for this. This is a good hypothesis to mull over. Jose doesn't have any problem with teams which are not star studded - ex: Porto, Chelsea make 1, Inter to some extent. With star filled team not all players go with Jose all the time. That brews trouble. Not all star players are like Eto'o - to run through brick walls - if their manager asks them to. Lets see what Eden does today / tomorrow.
Decent point as he does have the footballing equivalent of a Napoleon complex. But like Napoleon, who had no shortage of detractors, genius can be thought of as a form of mental condition anyway, so you have to take him warts and all. If we play with better balance and stability without these star players then so be it. And like Napoleon, he will probably end up defeated, exiled, and bitter - but not before he has held the whole of Europe in his sway, which wont hapoen until he has managed the Portuguese national team.
Love it !!! Great analogy, especially when you see shots of him ,hands in pockets in "The Coat" . Have no doubt when the time is right for him he will make Portugal a real force in world football and piss off a few more purists.
Unfortunately Jose's past comes back to haunt him. He has always appeared to play to the camera and been given over the years "God " status , but when things come unstuck , as they have recently, the volcano blows up! I suppose someone had to bear the brunt of the fallout, and no better person to blame than our star player! However I'm hoping(and praying) that some good will come of it and we can start to plan for glory next year!
Our star player was reposible for two of the goals , but I see its the usual suspects on this thread..so i'm out
Yes Andre would have been better. as they say - genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration - perhaps Eden lacked that engine after that injury and long season!!
It's all for, and played out in, the media. The fact he got under Wengers, Rogers and Pellegrinos skin is just classic Jose, whilst only dropping two points against all of them. I see people like him every day of the week, amazing people who are also as fallible as the rest of us.
