Jose Mourinho dismisses criticism of Chelsea

JOSE Mourinho joked about a future brand of football devoid of goals after his Premier League champions-elect Chelsea were labelled “boring”.
Jose Mourinho urges his side on in a key game against Arsenal and Chelsea match at Emirates Stadium. Picture: Getty ImagesJose Mourinho urges his side on in a key game against Arsenal and Chelsea match at Emirates Stadium. Picture: Getty Images
Jose Mourinho urges his side on in a key game against Arsenal and Chelsea match at Emirates Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

Arsenal supporters chanted “boring, boring Chelsea” at the end of Sunday’s goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium which kept Mourinho’s men ten points clear and within two victories of the title. As he had on Sunday, Mourinho railed against the accusation that his side were boring, saying that “cannot be true”.

“In any point of analysis in any criteria you can find, we are the best team or the second-best team. As simple as that,” the Portuguese said at a press conference to preview tomorrow night’s match against Leicester.

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He added: “I ask myself if in the future, when I am a granddad and I am at home with my grandsons, and maybe the future of football is a beautiful green grass carpet without goals.

“And in that beautiful grass pitch the team with more ball possession wins the game. Because everybody says ‘oh, my team plays fantastically well, we had great ball possession’. Good. ‘Oh, we build very well’. Good.

“It looks like the goals are not there. Sometimes you speak about ‘boring’ and you consider boring a team that scores as many goals as we do, but you don’t consider boring a team that has 70 per cent of the ball possession and cannot win the game. It’s quite a big contradiction.

“Football started a few centuries ago and the objective was one, but now it looks like the objective is another one.

“For me, I am very simple in my analysis. Football is about putting the ball in the net of your opponent and stopping your opponent.”

The Blues boss immediately after Sunday’s draw criticised Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for not trying to win the game and for the Gunners’ 11-year wait for the title.

Put to him yesterday that Arsenal fans felt Chelsea were boring, Mourinho said: “I’m not sure of that.

“I met an Arsenal fan this morning, a gentleman that lives almost next door to me, an Arsenal fan for more than 50 years and he congratulated me for my press conference, saying that I was spot-on.”

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So good have Chelsea been this season that Mourinho believes the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Premier League Team of the Year should have been his men from one to 11.

As it was, the Blues had six players in the team of the year and the individual Player of the Year in Eden Hazard.

Yet Mourinho feels “all” positions in the line-up, voted for by Premier League players, should have been filled by members of his squad.

“I think that team wouldn’t win the Premier League, because that team is four defenders, [Nemanja] Matic and five only to attack,” said Mourinho.

“It’s a team without any balance. That team is missing a midfield player. And I think that midfield player should be [Cesc] Fabregas.”

Mourinho acknowledged his bias and insisted the debate was “not important”.

“I look now as a football supporter, not a football manager. It looks like I am in a pub discussing these things that are not important, because the important thing is to be champions,” he said.

Mourinho will congratulate Hazard on his individual accolade, but wants the collective prize as champions.

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Chelsea will be Premier League winners for the first time in five years with six more points, a scenario which could happen as soon as Sunday with wins at Leicester and at home to Crystal Palace.

“It’s more important to be champions. But this is nice,” added Mourinho, who is on course for his third Premier League title after wins in 2004 and 2005. “Obviously I’m happy for him and I’m happy for every player that helped him to achieve the level he’s achieving this season and that made him win the Player of The Year.”