In Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge this afternoon, Mourinho was seen sarcastically clapping on the touchline when referee Mark Clattenburg decided not to issue Lucas Leiva with a second yellow card following a challenge on Ramires. While the travelling Liverpool fans were jeering, the Stamford Bridge faithful were throwing their support behind their under-fire manager. Next press conference I will bring you nice glasses. But in fact recognising their performance would not only show a few humility, it could also work in his team’s favour. Diego Costa stomped on Martin Skrtel and somehow avoided any punishment, while Lucas easily could have seen a second yellow after tripping Ramires in the midfield. The Chelsea manager answered to interviewer Des Kelly, “Nothing to say”, “No” or “Nothing” to eight separate questions that were put to him. You are not punished by the FA.
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“There are things that are out of our hands”, he said. “There were two minutes of added time (in the first half) and we conceded the goal after two minutes and 35 seconds”, he aded.
He elaborated slightly when asked whether he had a message for the supporters, who had chanted Mourinho’s name after Chelsea fell behind, saying: “The fans are not stupid”.
The man they called the “magician” had not really been living upto expectations (which were pretty high given the kind of cash Arsenal splurged to get him from Real Madrid) in the past, but has been in prime form this season. If you want to write, you write.
Asked if he thought it was his last game in charge, he said: “No, I don’t”.
“I go home, I go find a sad family”, he said. “Then I will start preparing the training session for tomorrow morning and the game for Wednesday [against Dynamo Kiev at home]”.
Trojaar notes that 70 points is the lowest total a Premier League side has amassed to reach a top four position, this would mean Chelsea need to go on an absolutely epic run from now until the end of the season. I’m not sure it was a foul. A lot of players were in finishing circumstances and didn’t do it. Not one player but more players so that’s a little bit frustrating. But then, a refereeing decision that even Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce considered a tad fortunate saw them get a penalty and Newcastle lose a player.
Liverpool won 3-1 win away at Chelsea, an achievement all the more remarkable as they fell behind to a sloppy goal early on and have only scored more than one goal in a game on one other occasion this season.
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It was the kind of start that has eluded Mourinho of late and it allowed Chelsea to retreat into their own territory and play on the break.
