He may have claimed that he’s now the ‘Happy One’ in his first press conference upon returning to Chelsea in 2013, but Jose Mourinho has unashamedly moaned his way through the past 20 months, blaming all and sundry for his team’s problems.
Here we take a look at ten subjects of Mourinho’s ire…
The ‘Campaign’
There’s a fine line between creating a siege mentality and beginning to sound like a broken record, and Mourinho may have crossed the divide with his comments about a concerted ‘campaign’ against Chelsea following a 1-1 draw at Southampton in December.
“That’s a campaign, that’s a clear campaign. People, pundits, commentators, coaches from other teams – they react with Chelsea in a way they don’t react to other teams,” said Mourinho after Cesc Fabregas was booked for simulation at St Mary’s. “They put lots of pressure on the referee and the referee makes a mistake like this. We lose two points, Fabregas earns a yellow card.”
Chelsea’s Strikers
Amid Chelsea’s collapse in last season’s run-in, Mourinho pointed a sly finger at the quality of his strikers in a bid to deflect blame for the Blues blowing their Premier League and Champions League challenges.
“Our strikers are good strikers, no doubts about that,” he told reporters. “But they are not the kind of players in five square metres, with three or four players around, they can get ball, they can dribble on, they can see the space, they can make the shot. So when the team is in a difficult situation they are not able normally to resolve the situation for us.”
Chelsea’s Defenders
They might have been let off a little easier than the club’s misfiring strikers, but Chelsea’s defence felt Mourinho’s wrath following the 3-1 first-leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s Champions League.
“We scored in our own goal, and the third goal…it’s a joke,” he said. “Not a goal, a joke. Gary Cahill said it was sloppy but I say it was ridiculous.”
Jamie Redknapp
Sky Sports’ unbearably tight-trousered pundit got it in the neck from Mourinho back in January after having the temerity to opine that Diego Costa should have been sent off for at least one of his alleged stamps on Liverpool duo Emre Can and Martin Skrtel.
“Sky calls it a crime, I have to say that it was absolutely accidental. He goes to the ball, he chases it, the opponent goes to the floor and he puts his foot there when he is looking at the ball,” said an incensed Mourinho. “It is a great campaign, we know how much that pundit loves Chelsea and particularly loves me.”
Graeme Souness
Were Redknapp feeling somewhat aggrieved by Mourinho’s remarks, it wasn’t long before he had some company on the Chelsea manager’s naughty step. Namely his Sky colleague Graeme Souness, who angered Mourinho by questioning his tactics in Chelsea’s recent Champions League exit to PSG.
“The difference between me and Souness is this,” said Mourinho, pointing upwards. “Souness as a player, up there. Jose as a player, down here…Jose as a manager, up here. Souness as a manager, down there. With another difference. I was not a frustrated man because I was not a top player.”
Ball Boys
After Newcastle ended Chelsea’s 21-game unbeaten run in all competitions with a 2-1 win at St James’ Park in December, Mourinho raged at the young children responsible for returning the ball.
“The ball disappeared every time. We want to play but there is no ball. Then when the ball comes back there is another ball. Even during extra time they keep doing the same thing,” he moaned. “Unfortunately, time-wasting is still part of the game.”
Yes it is, Jose…
Vicente Del Bosque
We’re not sure why anyone would want to have a pop at Spain’s mild-mannered, moustachioed manager, but Mourinho gave Del Bosque both barrels after Diego Costa picked up a hamstring injury on international duty in October.
“There are no rules, no laws to protect us, just the mentality of the national coaches and teams,” blasted Mourinho.
“It’s up to them to take good care of the players or to think in a selfish way. It’s up to them, not to us.”
Referees
There are plenty of examples of this particular frustration for the Chelsea boss, but perhaps none more appropriate than his rant at Chris Foy after the ref sent off Mourinho and two of his players in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa in March 2014.
“We must be very, very unlucky to have another refereeing performance like this one,” said a perplexed Mourinho.
“This is not about one mistake from a referee. This is about a performance from minute one to minute 94.”
Ball Boys #2
“I told him (the ball boy – a small child remember) not to do that because he runs the risk of one of my players to punch him or to lose his temper, so don’t do that because you are risking it,” said Mourinho after Chelsea crashed to a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in March 2014.
We enjoyed the way our Nooruddean Choudry dealt with this one…
I love this by @BeardedGenius…. #Mourinho pic.twitter.com/HuiYaSF5wM
— Louis Allday (@Louis_Allday) March 30, 2014
Chelsea Fans
It’s rare that a manager is ballsy enough to blame his own supporters for his team struggling to find form, but that’s exactly what Mourinho did following a laboured 2-1 win over QPR earlier in the season.
“At this moment it’s difficult for us to play at home, because playing here is like playing in an empty stadium,” he complained. “I was today looking around and it was empty, but not in terms of people because it was obviously full. That’s what’s frustrating.”
And before the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool, he continued: “If Stamford Bridge can give us 25% of the emotion Anfield gives Liverpool, I think we can do it.”
