Shearer Says: “Chelsea’s win shows Mourinho had lost the dressing room.”

Chelsea win proved Mourinho had lost the dressing room

You really do have to laugh at the way the Chelsea players seemed to lift themselves this weekend after the dismissal of Jose Mourinho. I wasn’t surprised though. It just goes to show the players were capable of a lot more than they were delivering. It also goes to show that Mourinho had lost the Chelsea dressing room. I don’t think anybody realistically thought Chelsea would go down and be in a relegation scrap, but even so, they needed a performance and they got that against Sunderland.

It doesn’t really matter who the manager is, you should be playing for the shirt, club, fans and for yourself. A footballer should never sign for a manager. I know that goes on and that is part of football today. People will say it is the manager’s job to motivate the players. If you are a top player though, you don’t need motivating. The Chelsea players made it very clear on Saturday what they thought of Mourinho.

There were some players who were booed on Saturday by the spectators and those fans are entitled to do what they want. They pay their money and they can do what they feel is right. I’ve got no problem with the way they wanted to show their dissatisfaction.

Once they made the decision to let go of Mourinho, they needed someone to come in and steady the ship. Guus Hiddink has been there before at Chelsea and was successful the first time. I know it went wrong for him with the Netherlands and not getting them to the Euros but he looks the ideal fit until the end of the season. Pep Guardiola is available now by all accounts but it would not surprise me if he was off to Manchester City or if a deal had already been done with a particular football club.

Every chance we’ll see Jose in the Old Trafford hot seat

Where next for Mourinho? Well him and Guardiola are the best of their generation. When you look at the number of trophies they have won, then you now have two of the best managers around available. That means there is bound to be pressure on managers of big football clubs, especially in the Premier League as Mourinho has already said he wants to stay in the league and he does not want a rest.

I would not be shocked if Mourinho was to manage Manchester United next, he’s favourite in the betting to do so for a reason. United will be after a world-class manager if they do choose to let Louis van Gaal go. This will only put extra pressure on the Dutchman with the United board knowing that Mourinho is available. I don’t think it will be long before he is back in the game. Either way, he’ll end up at a massive football club next.

Avoid injuries and Leicester could continue magic run

Inside the Leicester camp, they will be all playing everything down. They won’t be getting involved in any talk of the title. The more people that do write off their chances, I think that will help them, as it takes the pressure of them. I still say there will come a point in the season where they will have a sticky point but they may be too many points clear of fifth place at that point for it to matter. I still don’t think they are going to win it. Their ambition has to be to finish in the top 6. But as I have said in the past, if anybody would have said Leicester would be top at Christmas, you would have been laughed at.

The one thing which would hurt them is injuries because they only have a small squad. If they can go injury free, they will have a huge chance of achieving something big. The manager has managed to keep his players fresh up until now. We are now into the stage of the season where games come thick and fast in the league and you have the FA Cup to contend with so it is a big ask to keep everyone fit. What Leicester, Palace and Watford have done this season in taking on the big boys in the Premier League is brilliant.

Watford outclassed Reds in every department

I wasn’t surprised that Watford beat Liverpool this weekend, in fact I was so certain of it I had a bet on it, but I was surprised by how convincingly they did it. They were too quick, strong and good for them on the day. Watford were better in every department. They certainly deserved to win and be where they are in the Premier League table. They have two guys scoring goals up front in Ighalo and Deeney and if they can keep those two fit, they will be a match for anyone. They complement each other so well. Deeney bullied the Liverpool defence into submission so much so Skrtel had to go off injured in the first half.

I said on Match of the Day last week that Ighalo sent O’Shea off for an ice cream at one point and I have had people sending me messages on Twitter calling it the ‘Ighalo scoop’ now!

United pay price for lack of effort against canaries

United are in a very precarious position. When you look at them and ask have they progressed after spending £250 million, you have to say no. You can get away with playing badly as long as you are winning and picking up points as Van Gaal was doing at the start of the season, but they are no longer doing that. It’s definitely not very pretty at minute.

It looks like a very similar situation to what has been going on at Chelsea. The players can certainly be performing better. There looks to be a lack of effort. The surprising thing is they did not seem to rally. After going 2-0 down I felt it was Norwich who were most likely to score than United, I know they got a goal back but there did not seem to be enough effort.

Swans need new boss in place as soon as possible

Swansea look to be taking their time to appoint their new manager but they do need to get someone in as quickly as possible. Looking at the betting, it appears Marcelo Bielsa is the most likely candidate to replace Garry Monk. The longer it goes without a permanent manager, the harder it is for them to get results. I thought they were unfortunate against West Ham. They could have taken all three points from that game.

Festive feast helps players avoid in-laws!

We’re going into the Christmas period now and this was a time of the year where I loved to play football. I know some managers and players aren’t a fan of the structure in England and encourage a winter break but I think it is great to have football on at this time of the year. Particularly when you are around the in-laws, it is great to get out sometimes!

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Alan

Do you agree with Alan’s views? Then why not head to Coral and place your bets for this weekend’s Boxing Day Bonanza?! 

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