kursaal
Well-Known Member
- Aug 20, 2013
- 2,282
- 7,974
THERE should be some welcome for Jose Mourinho when he walks out at White Hart Lane this evening.
Arsenal may be the old historic enemy but there is a real deep-seated loathing for Chelsea.
And while some Spurs fans have a grudging respect for Arsene Wenger, most Tottenham supporters cannot abide Mourinho.
The Chelsea manager will arrive fresh from his outburst at Southampton last Sunday when he accused football of a vendetta against his club following the booking of Cesc Fabregas for a tumble in the box.
Yes, this time Chelsea were hard done by — denied a penalty and awarded a yellow card instead.
Most neutrals, though, adopted the line that Chelsea had this coming for some time in light of their players’ tendency to take a dive.
It was their fourth booking for simulation this season and their sixth since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
The pungent aroma of irony filled the air.
Video:
Jose: No easy away games in the Prem
Football
MOURINHO won't complain about tough fixture spell as every team is a challenge
Though Mourinho always has some excuse when his teams fail to perform, he has been making an effort lately to become more user-friendly.
Last season he laid about all and sundry, the lowest point arriving when he called Wenger “a specialist in failure”.
This didn’t go down too well with the Chelsea top brass and it was suggested to Mourinho by those closest to him it might be an idea to clean up an act that had seen him described as “the enemy of football” in his first spell at the club.
And Mourinho did try.
Over the last few months, his pre-match press conferences have been notable for his determination not to get involved in any unnecessary controversy.
We had the smiling Mourinho, the diplomat side-stepping questions that previously would have been the launchpad for him strapping on the armour plating, mounting his high horse and charging off into the latest war of words.
But his own lack of irony coupled with an inbuilt sense of injustice meant it would never last.
Rather than shrugging his shoulders at Southampton and reflecting that you win some, you lose some — which would have been a real vote-catcher — the old Mourinho resurfaced.
And now he is off to White Hart Lane, where everything comes full circle.
For it was at Tottenham last season where Mourinho launched a tirade against... play-acting and diving!
It was a game in which Fernando Torres had a running battle with Jan Vertonghen.
Much of it was handbag stuff with Torres booked for tripping the Belgian before grabbing at his face and later being sent off for an innocuous challenge on the same player that earned a harsh second yellow.
Vertonghen’s role in getting Torres red-carded was dismal.
When Andros Townsend then did a fair impersonation of Tom Daley off the 10-metre board, Mourinho had seen enough.
“It’s a disgrace,” he claimed. “I will strongly criticise any Chelsea player who dives.
“I tell my players the whole time that I hate it. If this happens in a country where I work, I feel I owe the country to speak out against it.”
Not long after, Ramires conned a penalty out of referee Andre Marriner in the fourth minute of added time to salvage a 2-2 draw with West Brom at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho, a twinkle in his eye, insisted Marriner had got it right — even though referees’ boss Mike Riley would later ring West Brom manager Steve Clarke to apologise for Marriner’s mistake.
Since then, we have had all the other incidents.
It should be an interesting 90 minutes at the Lane today.
Arsenal may be the old historic enemy but there is a real deep-seated loathing for Chelsea.
And while some Spurs fans have a grudging respect for Arsene Wenger, most Tottenham supporters cannot abide Mourinho.
The Chelsea manager will arrive fresh from his outburst at Southampton last Sunday when he accused football of a vendetta against his club following the booking of Cesc Fabregas for a tumble in the box.
Yes, this time Chelsea were hard done by — denied a penalty and awarded a yellow card instead.
Most neutrals, though, adopted the line that Chelsea had this coming for some time in light of their players’ tendency to take a dive.
It was their fourth booking for simulation this season and their sixth since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
The pungent aroma of irony filled the air.
Video:
Jose: No easy away games in the Prem
Football
MOURINHO won't complain about tough fixture spell as every team is a challenge
Though Mourinho always has some excuse when his teams fail to perform, he has been making an effort lately to become more user-friendly.
Last season he laid about all and sundry, the lowest point arriving when he called Wenger “a specialist in failure”.
This didn’t go down too well with the Chelsea top brass and it was suggested to Mourinho by those closest to him it might be an idea to clean up an act that had seen him described as “the enemy of football” in his first spell at the club.
And Mourinho did try.
Over the last few months, his pre-match press conferences have been notable for his determination not to get involved in any unnecessary controversy.
We had the smiling Mourinho, the diplomat side-stepping questions that previously would have been the launchpad for him strapping on the armour plating, mounting his high horse and charging off into the latest war of words.
But his own lack of irony coupled with an inbuilt sense of injustice meant it would never last.
Rather than shrugging his shoulders at Southampton and reflecting that you win some, you lose some — which would have been a real vote-catcher — the old Mourinho resurfaced.
And now he is off to White Hart Lane, where everything comes full circle.
For it was at Tottenham last season where Mourinho launched a tirade against... play-acting and diving!
It was a game in which Fernando Torres had a running battle with Jan Vertonghen.
Much of it was handbag stuff with Torres booked for tripping the Belgian before grabbing at his face and later being sent off for an innocuous challenge on the same player that earned a harsh second yellow.
Vertonghen’s role in getting Torres red-carded was dismal.
When Andros Townsend then did a fair impersonation of Tom Daley off the 10-metre board, Mourinho had seen enough.
“It’s a disgrace,” he claimed. “I will strongly criticise any Chelsea player who dives.
“I tell my players the whole time that I hate it. If this happens in a country where I work, I feel I owe the country to speak out against it.”
Not long after, Ramires conned a penalty out of referee Andre Marriner in the fourth minute of added time to salvage a 2-2 draw with West Brom at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho, a twinkle in his eye, insisted Marriner had got it right — even though referees’ boss Mike Riley would later ring West Brom manager Steve Clarke to apologise for Marriner’s mistake.
Since then, we have had all the other incidents.
It should be an interesting 90 minutes at the Lane today.
