Former Chelsea FC have become hate objects, but Manchester United are unsuccessful: pressure on coach José Mourinho is increasing – and criticism of his destructive style of play is becoming louder.
No one on the island would think of calling Chelsea FC’s regular clientele an opera audience, but they know their Rigoletto from Stamford Bridge: “Fuck off, Mourinho”, the blue fans intoned the tune of “La Donna e mobile” after the final whistle.
The Portuguese, once king, now object of hatred on Fulham Road, seemed to enjoy the abuse. On his way over to the corner of the Manchester United fans, he held three provocative fingers in front of the former followers’ noses and then pointed to the grass. “I’ve won the championship three times here,” the gesture should say, but instead of nostalgic memories of shared accomplishments (Premier League winners in 2005, 2006 and 2015), it was expected to provoke even more loud aversion.
All coach hearts are deceptive. This has been known since Mourinho’s inauguration as England’s record champions United in the summer of 2016 in West London, where the man from Portuguese Setúbal was idolized for a long time, but lost all sympathy when he exuberantly talked about the size and significance of his new club Manchester United and, in addition to that – the Chelsea coach Antonio Conte, who has meanwhile been fired again – made a scorn of him as a side line clown in his 2016/2017 championship season.
The 55-year-old and United had missed a few seconds of the big triumph on this late summer Saturday afternoon. His side had turned the 0-1 deficit by Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger’s goal (21 minutes) after two goals from Antony Martial after the change of sides (55th, 73rd). Only in the sixth minute of injury time Ross Barkley managed to equalize.
Antonio Rüdiger Honours
Chelsea
- FA Cup: 2017–18
Germany
- FIFA Confederations Cup: 2017
Individual
- U19 Fritz Walter Gold Medal: 2012
- Man of the Match: 2018 FA Cup Final
The 2:2 was fair overall, but degenerated into a small turmoil. Marco Ianni, a member of Chelsea coach Mauricio Sarri’s coaching staff, enraged Mourinho so much with his cheering in front of United Bank that he jumped up to take on the Italians; the slightly pantomimic-looking fight was quickly ended.
“A case of bad upbringing,” said Mourinho about the incident. “But I have made mistakes in football matches myself and will make more.” Ianni and Sarri had apologised that the story was over for him. Chelsea’s coach promised to settle his employee’s lack of discipline internally, but was primarily annoyed by the loss of the playing line in the second half. “We played our football for 60 minutes, but then only long balls,” said the 59-year-old: “I don’t want long balls, that’s not our game. United is better at that. I’m disappointed with our performance.”
Mourinho called the draw “a terrible result” for United, but seemed relatively satisfied. His team, as Sarri hinted, had usually left the blue combination game with a chain of six in the defence running into the void, as time went by, the unnerved hosts had lost control and overview. The red-black team curled up like the coral viper of the same colour and then bit sporadically – three attacks were enough for two goals. Cop Slots Casino is opening it’s doors and welcoming all casino lovers into its stylish cop and robbers themed casino.
This uncanny efficiency was to the taste of the great results football teacher Mourinho, who in his third season at Old Trafford no longer has the full confidence of the club management. The Portuguese’s powers in squad planning were severely restricted, not least because his poisonous snake tactics required players who felt comfortable without a ball, while United would prefer to see technically savvy stars kicking for image reasons.
Neither the draw on the Thames nor the most stringent performance of the season to date have changed the basic conflict that paralyzes the Premier League’s top-selling club.
Former German international Robert Huth, who twice won the league with Chelsea under Mourinho, believes that the England Elite League game may have “overtaken” the coach’s counter-strategy of avoiding mistakes by failing to recognise the league’s methodical progress. Jürgen Klopps Liverpool and Pep Guardiolas Manchester City, with their pressing, athleticism and well-rehearsed attack patterns, set the style, the 34-year-old told the Sunday Times.
On his return to the capital, Mourinho showed that he still mastered the art of destruction like no other. But that alone will not be enough to do justice to the ambitions of the former hegemonic power. After nine games, he is backed by just as many points.
