Ahead of every weekend this season I will give you my three thoughts on what’s going on in the Premier League. These might not always be the biggest stories, but rather my personal observations as the games approach each Saturday.
Here’s what makes me somewhat intrigued ahead of Matchday 11.
Mourinho against the world
No game this weekend comes close to matching the prestige of Chelsea vs. Manchester United. So much so, I’ll focus my three thoughts on Sunday’s contest at Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho is in full “Jose Mourinho” form at the moment. It seems at every press conference he makes reference to “the experts” not approving of his management style, how they are constantly criticizing his team despite some very good results, and an exceptional defensive record. He suggests that other sides would be lauded in similar circumstances. Mourinho is probably right, but when United has built its global reputation through attacking, expansive football, you can understand why they are being held to such a high standard.
Of course, this could be a typical “us against the world” managerial tactic, something Mourinho is savvy at doing. How Mourinho sets his team up against Chelsea will be interesting. Will he revert to form and park the bus as he has done on such regularity at big grounds? Or will he smell the blood in the water, and try and get at a Chelsea side that was defensively incompetent against AS Roma midweek in the Champions League?
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Whatever happened to managers sticking it out?
There are clearly problems at Chelsea, maybe even problems that go deeper than the fact that N’Golo Kante and Victor Moses have been missing through injury for some time.
Reports continue to surface that Antonio Conte is no longer happy at Stamford Bridge, and that he will return to Italy next summer, if not before. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, but it has me thinking: Whatever happened to managers or management sticking around when things don’t go their way, trying to dig their clubs out of the muck?
In modern sports, teams are so quick to pull the trigger, make the change, and throw the responsibility on to someone else. Conte could be leaving, Slaven Bilic is close to an exit at West Ham United, Jurgen Klopp is feeling the heat at Liverpool, Simon Grayson was just fired at Sunderland, Arsene Wenger at Arsenal… well, we know all about that one, don’t we?
Just once I would like to see a manager stick around for the long haul, whether he decides he’ll fight the good fight, or whether the club decides to stick with the man they thought was the answer when they hired him. Imagine the reaction if they win, if they figure it out. Don’t forget, Sir Alex Ferguson was almost fired once upon a time at Manchester United.
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Mourinho’s legacy at Chelsea
Mourinho was musing this week that it does still not quite feel normal for him to take on Chelsea, the team where his legend first blossomed. However, he concedes that in four or five years he will be able to go to Stamford Bridge and people will have forgotten that he was ever at the club.
I am not sure whether Mourinho was hoping to get some love from the Blues faithful with that comment, but let’s be honest, as time goes by if anything his legend at Chelsea will grow even more. The volatility of his departures will be forgotten, and a recollection of what he meant to Chelsea, as the man that helped the club grow from a perennial wannabe to a super power, will be the lasting legacy.
