That was great telly.
Anyone who’s watched Sky Sports show Goals on Sunday, presented by the affable Ben Shephard and the gaffe-tastic Chris Kamara, will be know it’s a pretty laid-back affair.
Shephard and Kammy run through the action from the previous day’s Premier League games and get involved in some light ‘banter’ with their guests, keeping it nice and easy before setting up the day’s live action. When the theme song is ‘easy like Sunday morning’, you’re not going to get hard-hitting analysis or debate. It’s all very relaxed.
That is until Jose Mourinho shows up.
The Chelsea manager was on the show this morning and went on the warpath. Referees, Sky Sports, Burnley’s players, Arsene Wenger they all featured in an engrossing tirade from the Angry Special One.
Mourinho has already expressed his displeasure with a Sky Sports caption, titled ‘Costa Crimes’, during Chelsea’s League Cup semi-final second-leg against Liverpool last month. Costa received a three-match ban for appearing to stamp on Jordan Henderson, and Mourinho took the fight to frontline this morning, directly calling out Sky Sports.
‘When I finished the game against Liverpool I went to the dressing room and I was reading non-stop about Diego Costa’s crimes,’ Mourinho said. ‘I would like to know how do you, Sky Sports, describe the actions of a Burnley player yesterday? My English is not good enough to find an adjective to qualify. I don’t find a word to describe’.
Mourinho then had his say on the general standard of refereeing, saying officials are trying their best, ‘but they are not doing well. It is not fair. That is not my opinion, that is in the eyes of everyone’. The Chelsea manager also believes his side are the constant victims of poor decisions, and had some choice words for yesterday’s referee Martin Atkinson.
‘The best players in the world make mistakes. This gentleman [Martin Atkinson] is one of the top referees in European football, he can also make mistakes. He clearly made four important mistakes yesterday’.
‘He is like the lawyer who is consistent because he lost 15 of 15 cases. You don’t want that lawyer’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2qNRVZjGb4
‘I am risking my place in the dugout for the [League Cup] final by having this discussion. I cannot go too far. But the reality is that week after week we are having these decisions [against us]. Football is football, but I think it is too much. I think my players don’t deserve that. Yesterday I was calm in the press conference but my players are not getting the respect they deserve.’
Mourinho also defended Nemanja Matic’s reaction that led to his sending off yesterday. The midfielder was incensed after receiving a dangerous tackle from Burnley’s Ashley Barnes. ‘Football is about emotions and clearly Nemanja Matic had a reason to lose his emotions,’ Mourinho said.
‘What are the consequences of his push, nothing. The consequence for Matic from the tackle? It could be the end of his career. A criminal tackle’.
‘If you call Diego Costa’s actions against Liverpool a crime, the minimum you have to say is this is a criminal tackle. As an institution Sky did not apologise to Chelsea, to Costa, or to me’.
‘Diego Costa has a three-match ban. Matic will probably get three. You tell me how many games you think they deserve?’
The Chelsea manager also wasn’t about to miss a chance to stick it to old rival Arsene Wenger. Mourinho said his Arsenal counterpart has ‘a dream job’ and that all managers would like Wenger’s job as he can ‘buy, sell, rebuild and wait for success’. Ouch.
Why don’t you tell us what you really think, eh Jose?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8riy_g10Tw
https://twitter.com/jonathanliew/status/569461863764897792
https://twitter.com/milanaknez/status/569461101282385920
https://twitter.com/grahamruthven/status/569459082769223680
https://twitter.com/grahamruthven/status/569459676435197952
