José Mourinho made an extraordinary appearance on television on Sunday morning in which he accused Burnley’s Ashley Barnes of a “criminal” tackle on Nemanja Matic and turned his fire on refereeing standards and media coverage.
Chelsea’s manager had little to say on Saturday after the 1-1 draw to Burnley, simply listing key moments in the match, but appearing at his own request on Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday programme he railed for 27 minutes against perceived injustices and claimed:
Barnes had perpetrated a “criminal” tackle on Matic;
Burnley should have been down to 10 men and Chelsea should have received two penalties by half-time;
Diego Costa in particular is being unfairly targeted by the media;
Video technology should be introduced to help referees.
Matic was sent off on Saturday for retaliating to a dangerous challenge by Barnes and Mourinho was outraged that the Burnley player went unpunished. He claimed that Matic’s reaction was understandable because the tackle by Barnes could have ended the Serb’s career, and on Sunday evening Chelsea said they would be appealing against the red card.
He expanded on the theme to castigate Sky Sports again for its coverage of Diego Costa’s stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can last month, for which the Chelsea strikerreceived a retrospective three-game ban. The channel repeatedly showed that incident under the strapline “Costa’s crimes”.
“When I finished at the game against Liverpool I went to the dressing room and the first thing I saw on the big screen, reading non-stop – ‘Diego Costa crimes’,” he said. “I would like to know how you, Sky Sports, describe the actions of the Burnley player yesterday? My English is not good enough to find a word. When you think ‘Diego crimes’ after he puts his boot on a hand, when this is ‘Diego crimes’, the minimum you have to say is ‘criminal tackle’. Did you apologise to Chelsea, to Diego or myself? You didn’t.
“As an institution, Sky is so important in the Premier League, you never apologise. When Diego Costa has a three-match ban, probably three matches to Matic ... tell me how many matches this player deserves?”
Mourinho was fined £25,000 by the FA in January for suggesting there was a “campaign” in the media against Chelsea but he maintained his attack on Sunday. “I don’t like the fact you start immediately, in that moment, the public judgment of the player,” he added of the Costa coverage.
“You gave no space to the people that have to decide, the pressure was so much. You don’t do this with every club, with every player. Last year, Yaya Touré against Norwich, you didn’t have the same approach; [Robin] van Persie against West Ham, you didn’t have the same approach. This one [on Saturday] was even worse. This can be end of career. Matic is a very lucky guy.
“I can’t find the word to describe what that player [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 also repeated his belief that Chelsea should have had two penalties against Burnley and Barnes should have been sent off for a challenge on Branislav Ivanovic even before the one on Matic. Although he said those incidents were not open to interpretation, Mourinho said he did not doubt the integrity of the referee, Martin Atkinson.
“I can’t imagine that the four incidents of this game are open to interpretation,” he claimed. “It is what it is. I think if you say it in a way where you go over the line with your comments, I think it’s understandable, but if you just say what is obvious, without attacking the integrity of the people, if you’re just honest and objective in your comments then it shouldn’t be a problem.
“The best players in the world can make mistakes. They miss penalties. The best goalkeepers make mistakes. This gentleman is one of the top referees in European football. He can also make mistakes. He made important mistakes yesterday. I know to be a referee is so difficult. Sometimes I referee in the training session and I ask for assistance. But there are situations that are not open to interpretation.”
Mourinho said video technology would banish the murkiness around contentious decisions. “If the referee can’t see a penalty three metres in front of him, an official in front of a screen can’t miss it,” he said. “If we want to protect the integrity of the referee and believe that the mistake is the consequence of misinterpretation or a bad position, I think technology can help.”
Mourinho also addressed Frank Lampard’s departure from Chelsea, saying that the club wanted him to stay and thought he was leaving them to move to the USA.
“We let him go for different reasons,” said Mourinho. “First of all, I think the motivation Frank has to have this role at City wouldn’t be the same motivation he has to have the same role at Chelsea. Secondly, we open the door for him to choose his future and we thought he’d go to the States and would come back after a couple of years to do what he wants. We would have found a new department for him! What he did for Chelsea for more than one decade was something amazing.”
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