‘I’m curious to know what people will write’
Jose Mourinho does not feel as though Chelsea were deserved FA Cup winners. The Blues edged Manchester United 1-0 in the showpiece at Wembley, with Eden Hazard’s first-half penalty proving enough to give Antonio Conte his second trophy in English football.
United were hugely careless in the first-half, though, and Chelsea were vastly superior heading into the break. United improved dramatically following the interval, penning Chelsea back and creating chances without finding the breakthrough.
Marcus Rashford was denied by Thibaut Courtois, twice, while Paul Pogba spurned a glorious chance to equalise with a free header from seven yards out.
Three United players get 4/10 https://t.co/YNHC5zU6O7
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 19, 2018
And Mourinho feels as though his side showed enough attacking intent and ambition to lift the cup.
“I congratulated them because they won,” the Portuguese coach said.
“But I don’t think they deserved to win. I congratulated because I am a sportsman and they scored one more goal than us and they won the cup and I have to do what my job says, I have to be respectful, not just because they were my previous club but because they won – but I think we deserved to win. I think we were the best team but that’s football.
“I’m curious to know what people will say and write. I can imagine if my team played the way Chelsea did, what people would be saying, so I’m quite curious. I gave everything I could and so did the players and it was hard to play against a team who played with nine defenders. We tried everything but it’s a defeat that hurts, but I go home with a feeling that we gave everything, so I have no regrets.
“We knew that they were going to play defensively, with a bit more counter-attack but today they were really defensive. They are not stupid so they knew they could dominate by getting eight or nine players in front of the box. For me, the image of the game is that David De Gea’s only touch was to get the ball from the net.”
We can certainly see where Mourinho is coming from. While it would be easy to disregard his comments as sour grapes, United were very much on top throughout the second half, pressing Chelsea and creating chances while lacking a cutting edge.
Jose Mourinho says he doesn't think Chelsea deserved to win the #FACup.#CHEMUN #bbcfacup https://t.co/8GaDrszOAo pic.twitter.com/MUPb4FUsVr
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) May 19, 2018
If anything, he has a right to be a little miffed that Rashford fluffed his lines at one point or that Pogba, United’s most expensive player, failed to hit the target with a free header from seven yards.
Mourinho’s detractors constantly highlight United’s lack of enterprise and entertainment under him but, at Wembley, they did pretty much everything but score. It was Chelsea who defended their lead and shut up shop. It was United who pressed and tried to unlock a resolute defence.
In the end, Chelsea scored and United didn’t. It’s difficult to begrudge the Blues their triumph but it’s equally difficult to scoff at Mourinho’s assessment.
