Chelsea have played negative football away at all their rivals this season, and yet Mourinho criticised West Ham for doing the same at Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho is a shameless hypocrite.
The Chelsea boss, who famously accused Jacques Santini’s Tottenham of “parking the bus” during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, tore into West Ham for playing for a point in west London last night.
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“This is not the best league in the world, this is football from the 19th century,” a visibly frustrated Mourinho told BBC Sport.
“The only [other] thing I could bring was a Black and Decker [tool] to destroy the wall.
“It’s very difficult to play a football match where only one team wants to play. It’s very difficult,” added Mourinho, whose side are now three points adrift of league leaders Manchester City.
“A football match is about two teams playing and this match was only one team playing and another team not playing.”
Given his own philosophy, it was astonishing that Mourinho’s jibes carried no hint of irony. The Portuguese has built his title-winning teams at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid on a solid defensive unit and has always played for draws at the homes of his biggest rivals.
With David Moyes’ Manchester United arguably there for the taking, Mourinho’s Chelsea arrived at Old Trafford in August without a recognised striker and ground out a terse 0-0 draw – the first at the Theatre of Dreams since May 2009.
It was an identical story at the Emirates in December as Chelsea – fielding a workmanlike midfield of Frank Lampard, Jon Obi Mikel and Ramires – stifled high-flying Arsenal in a dreadful stalemate.
A look back on Mourinho’s comments after the Arsenal match throw his hypocrisies into an even greater light.
“I think boring is a team that plays at home and cannot score a goal,” Mourinho told The Daily Telegraph.
“That’s boring. Because you go to your stadium and you fill your stadium, in weather like we had on Monday, to see victories.
“There is not a home fan in any club in the world who goes to the stadium and expects his team not to score or win. If any team was boring, they were boring because Petr Cech made zero saves.”
With that in mind, the Special One should have lambasted himself and his misfiring forwards on Wednesday, rather than West Ham’s dour but effective tactics.
The Blues have also drawn at White Hart Lane and lost at the homes of Everton and Newcastle this season, leaving them with a dismal three points from a possible 15 away at the top eight clubs.
At the same time as Chelsea were struggling against Sam Allardyce’s side, Manchester City were dismantling Tottenham for the second time this season, albeit with the help of some questionable refereeing decisions.
City’s five goals took them to 68 in the Premier League this season, more than they managed in the whole of the previous campaign and with 15 games still to play.
Chelsea visit the Etihad on Saturday and there is little doubt that Mourinho will again look to contain and hit City on the counter-attack. The 50-year-old would be delighted with a draw and would snatch one before the game if offered.
Mourinho at least conceded the Hammers needed a point but refused to fully condone their negative approach.
“I told Big Sam and I repeat my words: they need points and, because they need points, to come here and play the way they did, is it acceptable? Maybe, yes.
“I cannot be too critical, because if I was in his position I don’t know if I would do the same. Maybe.”
Mourinho only manages clubs who have significantly more financial muscle than the majority of their opponents, so if he is not used to visiting teams playing for a draw already, he must adapt quickly and would do well to remember his own tactics before being critical.
Allardyce, meanwhile, had no time for a fancy analysis of his side’s approach or for Mourinho’s criticisms.
“I don’t give a shite to be honest,” Big Sam told The Guardian.
“He can’t take it can he because we’ve out-witted him.”
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