AN ANGERED JOSE Mourinho used his appearance on Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday to bemoan a series of decisions he feels have gone against Chelsea.
Mourinho has once again alluded to perceived unfair treatment of his side, suggesting decisions are going against them “week after week”.
The Chelsea manager has frequently expressed unhappiness with referees this season and was angered by a number of incidents in his sides’ draw with Burnley on Saturday, a result that allowed Manchester City to close the gap on leaders Chelsea to five points.
Chelsea saw two strong penalty shouts turned down in that match, while Ashley Barnes escaped sanctions for challenges on Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic that Mourinho believed were worthy of red cards, with the latter tackle prompting a furious reaction from Matic that saw the Serbian dismissed.
He made his frustration clear, while acknowledging he may yet face further FA punishment for speaking his mind.
“I am not attacking the honesty, the dignity of anyone. I am not trying to – and in this country you love this sentence – ‘bring the game into disrepute.’ I am trying to be honest,” he said
“I am risking my place in the dugout for the [League Cup] final by having this discussion.
“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.
“I can’t find the word to describe what that player (Ashley Barnes) did. I can clearly understand that football is about emotions and sometimes you lose emotions. Clearly Matic had a reason to lose his emotions. What could be the consequence of his push for the other player? Nothing. The consequence for Matic could be end of career.”
Mourinho went on to suggest Chelsea’s advantage at the top of the Premier League should be greater, highlighting a host of matches in which he felt his team have been wrongly penalised and claiming only one significant decision – which saw Liverpool denied a penalty in a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in November - had gone against the leaders.
“If we are in a normal situation, in this moment it [Chelsea's lead] would not be five, it would be 12,” he added. “It’s not in my eyes – it’s in the eyes of everyone.
“The Diego Costa penalty story started on day one of the season. He should have had a penalty against Burnley in the first game of the season and he got booked for a dive. We have this history since day one. I remember one decision all season that went our way and that was a doubtful one.”
In a rant that lasted the best part of 45 minutes, Mourinho then launched an attack on Sky Sports for their description of Costa’s conduct.
“When you describe Diego Costa as ‘crimes’, my English is not good enough, I do not have an adjective to describe that player [Barnes].
“When you say Diego’s crimes … did you apologise to Chelsea or to Diego or to myself – as an institution, Sky?”
As Mourinho continued, presenters Chris Kamara and Ben Sheppard were getting more than they bargained for as they were left speechless.
“I would like to know how do you, Sky Sports, describe the actions of the Burnley player yesterday,” Mourinho continued.
“I don’t like to act that, in my opinion, you start immediately in that moment the public judgement of the player.
“You don’t do this with every club. You don’t do this with every player.”
