Following his teams impressive 2-1 victory over fellow title challengers Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has spoken out in defence of his players and in condemnation of Liverpool Striker Luis Suarez.
Speaking in his post game press conference Mourinho was extremely critical of Luis Suarez.
The incident in question was in the last few minutes and involved an off the ball challenge by Chelsea forward Samuel Eto’o.
“It is not a tackle. Suarez lost the duel with Azpilicueta, who has the ball and is leaving the box,” said Mourinho.
“Now he is doing an acrobatic swimming pool jump to try to get a penalty.”
He added: “He is so clever because he also knows he is in the area with the Liverpool supporters behind him.
“But [referee Howard] Webb is 10 metres away and I think the only mistake he did was not to give him a yellow card.”
“I am always happy when I see him [Suarez] play because I love his quality, his commitment, his ambition to win. He is absolutely a fantastic player,” continued Mourinho.
“But this country is a special country. I’m not English or British but I feel I have also responsibility in defending some values in this football.
“One of the things that we have good is that we don’t like people with simulations.
“This situation in the box with Azpilicueta and Eto’o, stop with this or give him a yellow card because it is not good for our game.”
Mourinho enjoys stirring the emotions up post game and many people will find it ironic that he mentions simulation given that he has managed the likes of Didier Drogba, Deco, Arjen Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo. People will also remember that his Porto team were masters of simulation, especially during their run to victory in the UEFA Cup back in 2003.
My take on Mourinho is that he is good value, especially when he feels his teams are going to be criticised. He likes to set up an us and them mentality around his teams.
We’ve seen this before in this country in his first spell as Chelsea manager and both in Italy with Inter and in Spain with Real Madrid.
If you can see past all the bluster you will still see an excellent manager but one who certainly does wind up opposition fans.
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