Why I despise José
This morning I was incredulous to read Mourinho's post match comments on his side's Champions League defeat at the hands of Barcelona last night:
"How do you say cheating in Catalan?"
"Can Messi be suspended for acting? Barcelona is a cultural city with many great theatres and this boy has learned very well. He's learned play-acting."
"I don't want to say too much because then I will be suspended, but I am very proud of my team."
The unashamed hypocrisy is stunning from such a high-profile sporting figure. Arjen Robben's acting to get Jose Reina sent off recently was a far more extreme case of cheating. In case Mr. Mourinho suffers from some form of selective amnesia, he couldn't help but see in the same frame of the Del Horno/Messi incident last night that Del Horno made equally as much a theatrical disgrace of himself as Messi did.
As for the course of the game, personally I beleive Del Horno's challenge on Messi was calculated and cynical and agree with Kevin McCarra that he deservered a straight red card for it. At best it was an extremely clumsy challenge which certainly warranted a yellow card. I didn't see Sky or RTE give a replay of a challenge Del Horno made on Messi ten minutes earlier which was pretty disgusting and should have resulted in card action for Del Horno. Del Horno raised his foot and did get the ball first but followed through and planted his studs on the inside of Messi's knee, shredding what looked like a knee support or bicycle shorts he was wearing. What ever way you toss it, it seems to me Del Horno was out to get Messi and had the ref made perfect decisions Del Horno would have received at least two yellow cards.
Neither does Mourinho seem inclined to acknowledge Chelsea's awesome ability to get away with penalties. I'm convinced some of their defenders were goalkeepers in previous lives. Also Carvalho has a consistently cynical, calculated habit of fouling players (while defending corners) and goalkeepers (while attacking corners) on the blind side of the referee, which he hasn't been pulled up on yet. Last night again, Chelsea got away with two cast-iron penalties.
Chelsea's whole game is based on keeping it tight, packing space behind the half-way line when you don't have the ball and nicking a goal. Sure in games where they get that one goal early they open up and sometimes go on to play some football and score some goals. It will be very interesting to see how Chelsea approach the return fixture at the Noucamp. They can't afford to play Mourinho's game. On a bigger pitch (with grass on it) and in front of an inferno of home support I really fear for Chelsea considering they have to score two goals not to go out.
Published by Paul.
"How do you say cheating in Catalan?"
"Can Messi be suspended for acting? Barcelona is a cultural city with many great theatres and this boy has learned very well. He's learned play-acting."
"I don't want to say too much because then I will be suspended, but I am very proud of my team."
The unashamed hypocrisy is stunning from such a high-profile sporting figure. Arjen Robben's acting to get Jose Reina sent off recently was a far more extreme case of cheating. In case Mr. Mourinho suffers from some form of selective amnesia, he couldn't help but see in the same frame of the Del Horno/Messi incident last night that Del Horno made equally as much a theatrical disgrace of himself as Messi did.
As for the course of the game, personally I beleive Del Horno's challenge on Messi was calculated and cynical and agree with Kevin McCarra that he deservered a straight red card for it. At best it was an extremely clumsy challenge which certainly warranted a yellow card. I didn't see Sky or RTE give a replay of a challenge Del Horno made on Messi ten minutes earlier which was pretty disgusting and should have resulted in card action for Del Horno. Del Horno raised his foot and did get the ball first but followed through and planted his studs on the inside of Messi's knee, shredding what looked like a knee support or bicycle shorts he was wearing. What ever way you toss it, it seems to me Del Horno was out to get Messi and had the ref made perfect decisions Del Horno would have received at least two yellow cards.
Neither does Mourinho seem inclined to acknowledge Chelsea's awesome ability to get away with penalties. I'm convinced some of their defenders were goalkeepers in previous lives. Also Carvalho has a consistently cynical, calculated habit of fouling players (while defending corners) and goalkeepers (while attacking corners) on the blind side of the referee, which he hasn't been pulled up on yet. Last night again, Chelsea got away with two cast-iron penalties.
Chelsea's whole game is based on keeping it tight, packing space behind the half-way line when you don't have the ball and nicking a goal. Sure in games where they get that one goal early they open up and sometimes go on to play some football and score some goals. It will be very interesting to see how Chelsea approach the return fixture at the Noucamp. They can't afford to play Mourinho's game. On a bigger pitch (with grass on it) and in front of an inferno of home support I really fear for Chelsea considering they have to score two goals not to go out.
Published by Paul.
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