Mourinho taunts Man Utd over lead

deSade · 3 Jan 2007 at 10:34

From the BBC:

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho claims Manchester United have wasted a chance to open up an unassailable lead in the Premiership title race.

United hold a six-point Premiership advantage after Chelsea's goalless draw at Aston Villa.

He said: "Considering the problems Chelsea have had, Manchester United should be 10, 12, 14 points clear of us. I am happy to be six points behind.

"In my opinion, Manchester United did not take advantage of our bad moments."

I know there's the psychological aspect to managing a club now - but I think Jose really believes this!

I like the "Man U did not take advantage of our bad moments", as though there won't be any more!

Full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/6227021.stm

Andybtsn · 3 Jan 2007 at 10:41

He's correct really.

6 points isn't much really, JT will be back for next game, I'm sure confidence will be back in the Chelsea camp soon enough.

deSade · 3 Jan 2007 at 10:47

andybtsn said:
I'm sure confidence will be back in the Chelsea camp soon enough.

It may well be too late by then. The one thing that gets me is that people seem to be forgetting that Man Utd have consistently played the better football this season & look the better team.

Andybtsn · 3 Jan 2007 at 10:49

All good things come to an end.

semi-pro waster · 3 Jan 2007 at 11:37

This could well come back to embarrass Mourinho, it isn't generally a good idea to give another team more ammunition to fire them up given how often it goes wrong. He might be right about the gap not being enough but I hope not, simply for the fact his arrogance and myopia becomes a shade wearing after a while.

deSade · 3 Jan 2007 at 11:41

I know that they really need JT back, but IIRC the surgeon that performed his op suggested 3 months rest.

I'd be worried that he could seriously screw his back up, coming back so soon.

CliffyG · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:29

andybtsn said:
He's correct really.

6 points isn't much really, JT will be back for next game, I'm sure confidence will be back in the Chelsea camp soon enough.

And just remember that Arsenal are only 9 behind Chelsea

.

Andybtsn · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:31

Anything can happen!

4T5 · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:31

deSade said:
It may well be too late by then. The one thing that gets me is that people seem to be forgetting that Man Utd have consistently played the better football this season & look the better team.

For Truth.
Without doubt they have been the better team so far this season. A ways to go yet though and at least we have a battle this year.

mcdermos · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:33

Mourinho is just deflecting criticism of his team

Raymond Lin · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:42

deSade said:
It may well be too late by then. The one thing that gets me is that people seem to be forgetting that Man Utd have consistently played the better football this season & look the better team.

Add to that, Man U have always played better in the 2nd half of the season. Reading that brings back memories of Keegan going off on one back when he was with Newcastle.

deSade · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:43

mcdermos said:
Mourinho is just deflecting criticism of his team

What, after coming out with this himself:

"In this moment Chelsea cannot defend. I am the first to know that.

"Maybe we are not as good as we think, maybe I am not such a good boss, maybe the players are not such good players."

Strange he wants to deflect criticism now, after damning his own players in such a public way a just a few days ago!

hethers · 3 Jan 2007 at 13:58

deSade said:
What, after coming out with this himself:

"In this moment Chelsea cannot defend. I am the first to know that.

"Maybe we are not as good as we think, maybe I am not such a good boss, maybe the players are not such good players."

Strange he wants to deflect criticism now, after damning his own players in such a public way a just a few days ago!

It could also be argued that he has realised that lambasting his players in public is not going to help his cause.

Long may he have-a-go at (Man) United and any other team for that matter. Shows he's rattled!

His latest rant on the cost of players is laughable

mcdermos · 3 Jan 2007 at 14:09

deSade said:
What, after coming out with this himself:

"In this moment Chelsea cannot defend. I am the first to know that.

"Maybe we are not as good as we think, maybe I am not such a good boss, maybe the players are not such good players."

Click to expand...

Strange he wants to deflect criticism now, after damning his own players in such a public way a just a few days ago!

Managers tend use the same excuses
-opposition tactics
-referees
-injuries
-luck
-internationals
-fixture pile up

As you say its rare for managers to blame their players or themselves. I feel by doing both in one statement he's just trying to diffuse any criticism by pre-empting the media. Mourinho seems to be able to create teams with a lot of spirit and that statement IMO won't harm that.

deSade · 3 Jan 2007 at 14:19

mcdermos said:
Mourinho seems to be able to create teams with a lot of spirit and that statement IMO won't harm that.

I'm not sure the likes of Shaun Wright-Philips, Andriy Schevchenko, etc would necessarily agree with that!

Loki · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:37

This is the Same JM that proclaimed after the draw at Old Trafford that they expected to overtake Utd and be top by Xmas because they had more strenght in depth?????

The same Chelsea that could only manage a draw against a Villa side with no wins in six ?

Or is this the special one who broken up the tested formation that won them the Premier league two years in succesion just to squeeze in one more or two more names into his Fantasy Football team. The team and the manager are being found out imho

Player for Player they are propbably better but at the moment we look a more balanced squad 1-16 with cover in pretty much all departments except centre Mid and we have more players in form than Chelsea

A lot of football still to be played but I think we are in good position to win it with a six point lead +14 goal difference on them

dokko · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:46

Jose gets one player injured and its a crisis at Chelsea :rolleyes:

Pathetic.

NUFC have had half their team injured all season and GR has just got on with it.

Chelsea should be 6pts ahead with the amount of money and players they have at their disposal.

Really hope manure win the title.

elroberto · 3 Jan 2007 at 18:46

If we were 12 points ahead right now We'd have only dropped 6 points in total.

Fair play Jose, I would loved to have seen that!

Errol · 3 Jan 2007 at 18:57

Mourinho is pathetic.

HangTime · 3 Jan 2007 at 19:08

I'm with Mcdermos.

Mourinho has done this several times before, it's all part of his psychological approach. People who have read a little about his history will appreciate that. He's a lot more intelligent than many give him credit for, he often comes out with these bold, aggressive statements as he knows that it will attract all the attention towards himself and away from the team. He also likes to build up a seige mentality 'everyone is against us' type thing and builds up a strong winning mentality within the team. Remember all that nonsense in 2005 when the fixture list came out, how Chelsea had all the hardest fixtures playing away before european games blah blah blah etc. He knows he's talking nonsense but it all serves a purpose.

When he arrived in England 2.5 years ago it heralded a new era, no longer were Wenger/Fergie free to conduct their own private mind games. Many people like to simply laugh off his comments as drivel spewed forth by an arrogant fool, but more often than not he comes out on top.