DYC.

Scholes 2004, Abidal 2009, Milito 2010 – Jose Mourinho is a disrespectful hypocrite for his post Real Madrid-Barcelona rant Goal.com's Carlo Garganese agrees that Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho "went too far" on Wednesday night, and blasts The Special One's hypocrisy and selective memory By Carlo Garganese Apr 29, 2011 5:30:00 PM "Mourinho is the best coach in the world, but as a man he still needs to learn manners and respect." These were the words just a few months ago of none other than Mario Balotelli. Now when the Manchester City enfant terrible, whose string of misdemeanours reads longer than today's Royal Wedding guest list, offers you advice in regal protocol and etiquette then you know you have an attitude problem. This writer happens to be one of The 'Special One's biggest fans. By the time he retires, there is no doubt in my mind that he will go down as the greatest club coach of all time. Having already won everything in Portugal, England, Italy and on the European stage, Mourinho's next mission is to do the same in Spain (the Copa del Rey has been secured), then Germany, and then internationally. He has bagged six league titles and two Champions Leagues (just one less than record-winning manager Bob Paisley) among many other trophies, and at the age of just 48 could easily double that number of domestic championships. The modern game is desperately short of star quality - technically, tactically, personally, professionally, both on and off the pitch - and Mourinho's charisma, controversies and cunning genius enchants us all. But as Barcelona stated in announcing their intention to report the Portuguese trainer to Uefa, "on Wednesday night Mr Mourinho went over the line". His post-match rant, which can be read in full here, slammed referee Wolfgang Stark for the sending-off of himself and Pepe, plus the yellow card that will see Sergio Ramos suspended from the Camp Nou return leg next week. Jose then went on to suggest that the events in his side's 2-0 defeat in the Spanish capital were just further evidence of a pro-Barcelona conspiracy within Uefa, even questioning whether the Blaugrana's ties with Unicef was the cause. But it was his quotes directed at Barcelona opposite number Pep Guardiola that were truly out of order, and downright disrespectful - not to mention hypocritical. "I hope for Pep that he will win the Champions League without any incident at one point," Mourinho roared. "I've won two Champions League titles with teams other than Barcelona. I won the tournament with Porto, a team from a country that doesn't usually win, and I won the Champions League with Inter, who hadn't won the trophy for 50 years [sic] and weren't even among the favourites. We won those trophies with hard work, pride, effort and sweat. "Guardiola is a great coach, but I'd be embarrassed if I'd won the tournament like that after the scandal at Stamford Bridge [two years ago]. If he wins the competition this year, it will be marred by the events at Santiago Bernabeu." Mourinho may be blessed with the memory of an elephant, but he certainly chooses to use it very selectively. Mourinho didn't win his Champions League trophies just with "hard word, pride, effort and sweat" - he also received some favourable refereeing decisions (and fortune) along the way. In the 2003-04 edition, his Porto side were on the verge of elimination during their second round tie with Manchester United. Ahead 1-0 in the second-leg at Old Trafford, the dominant English champions had a Paul Scholes goal scandalously disallowed for a non-existent offside decision. This meant that a last-minute strike from Costinha, following a shocking goalkeeper error by Tim Howard, put Porto through 3-2 on aggregate. Mourinho didn't complain, instead he raced down the touchline for his famous celebration. In the 1-0 semi-final victory over Deportivo, Jose also benefited from outrageous refereeing. In the first-leg in Portugal, which finished 0-0, one of Depor's star players Jorge Andrade was sent off for playfully kicking at former team-mate Deco. The pair unsuccessfully remonstrated with referee Markus Merk that they were just fooling around, Andrade repeating the words: "He's my friend, he's my friend". The red card had a huge bearing on the tie. Without their rock in defence, Deportivo lost the return 1-0 at home, and Mourinho's Porto proceeded to the final where they beat Monaco 3-0. Fast forward six years to Mourinho's second Champions League triumph, and once again Inter's success was not as black and white as he'd like us to think. Granted, the Nerazzurri were deserving champions, but they had their rub of the green on the path to glory too. In the second round first leg with Chelsea at San Siro, the Londoners would have probably returned to Stamford Bridge with a 2-2 draw had referee Mejuto Gonzalez awarded Chelsea a penalty for a clear last-man trip on Salomon Kalou by Walter Samuel, which could have also potentially resulted in a red card for the Argentine. In the classic semi-final win against Guardiola's Barcelona, Mourinho has every right to complain about Thiago Motta's unjust red card in the second-leg that forced Inter into a heroic rearguard action in Catalonia. But he overlooks Diego Milito's offside third goal in Milan, which was ultimately the difference between the two sides on paper. As for Guardiola's supposedly "embarrassing" Champions League successes, the 2009 semi-final second-leg at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Barca is in danger of turning into a mythical old wives' tale with Barcelona as the evil baddie. The truth is that of the five penalty claims that were turned down by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, only one was a penalty – the clear handball by Gerard Pique. Dani Alves' obstruction on Florent Malouda may have been inside the area, but obstruction is only a penalty offence when really serious, and this was not. The same can be said for Eric Abidal's slight pull of Didier Drogba's shirt before half-time, which preceded a one-second delay before the Ivorian catapulted himself onto the floor like he'd caught the plague. In the episode involving Drogba and Yaya Toure on 56 minutes, both were wrestling each other, and even if Kolo's younger brother did draw back the Chelsea hitman, it was well outside the area. Finally, regarding Michael Ballack's last-gasp appeal against Samuel Eto'o, the Cameroonian may have had his arm higher than usual, but it was clearly ball-to-hand (the very top of his arm and back), while he also had his back turned. FIFA's 'Laws of the Game' at the time were crystal clear on this. It is amusing that Mourinho conveniently overlooked the fact that Abidal was wrongly red-carded on 65 minutes for a 'professional foul' when Anelka had tripped over his own feet. This forced Barcelona to chase the last 25 minutes of the game with just 10 men. As a result the space opened up for Chelsea on the counter-attack, and it was only after this dismissal that the stonewall Pique penalty incident occurred. It is also peculiar how Mourinho discarded the performance of referee Wolfgang Stark (Yes, the same WOLFGANG STARK from Real Madid vs. Barcelona) in the first-leg at Camp Nou. During that game, Stark waved away an excellent Thierry Henry penalty shout, failed to send off Ballack, and also harshly booked Carles Puyol, forcing Barcelona to start a left-back at centre-back, and a centre midfielder at left-back in the second-leg. The semi-final comparison to be drawn between Chelsea 2009 and Real Madrid 2011 is that both teams played anti-football against Barcelona. While Mourinho got his tactics spot on in the first two Clasicos of April, and Real Madrid picked their moments to attack Barca, in Clasico III the Special One was far too negative and brought the problems on himself. Pepe's red card was undoubtedly harsh, but once again Mourinho ignores the fact that his naturalised countryman should have been sent off during the Copa del Rey final a week earlier. The big decisions in Valencia went the way of the Blancos. Mourinho must realise that, despite his genius, he cannot win every single trophy every year. That is an impossibility and he needs to accept his rare defeats with grace. To attempt to downgrade the achievements of a Barcelona side who are probably the most exciting club XI we have ever seen - and on their way to challenging the likes of Ajax 71-73, Bayern 74-76 and Milan 89-94 for the title of greatest ever club team - is truly dishonourable. To be unable to support his wild theories with facts is hypocritical and slanderous. Link

That was purely about his strikers, he wanted to add another striker to his squad. Higuaín was out and Benzema wasn't performing so he only had one non-performing striker at his disposal.

Yeah it still hasn't truly hit me yet. And good call LDN.

Dennis Bergkamp, no doubt. You're really in the thread-making mood, aren't you MM .

And I'll say this just so nobody starts thinking the opposite, Mourinho is a great coach and he achieved great things at Chelsea.

Again, it's not just about the goals. Just because a team won 1-0, doesn't mean their play wasn't entertaining. And who wouldn't rather win than draw or lose.. I think it's better we just stop here and agree to disagree .

Sigh, I stopped reading here. I'm not anti-anybody. Like I said before and will say for the last time, not trying to take any credit away from Mourinho but you can also exaggerate someone's achievements. I have nothing but love and respect for Mourinho, just don't agree with his 'all about the results' mentality. I'm a lover of the beautiful game.

It will be so easy to lay the blame on CA (if we don't win to be clear) if he changes the formation after a good run with the 4-3-3.

But that was what Henrique meant, at least that's what I think he meant. Exactly. And the fact that the players got used to Chelsea and/or England before he came only made it easier for him.

I'm sorry but that's a horrible way of looking at things. You're saying that if you spend a lot of money and you don't win a title, you've failed. That's unrealistic. Mourinho spent 70-80 mil at Madrid and (it looks like) he's not going to win the title or the CL and he even benefited from the 250 mil spent in the summer before he came. Has he failed? Of course not, Barcelona are better than them. No shame in that, just like there's no shame in finishing behind The Invincibles. There's so much more to winning the league title or the CL than having a good team (and a good manager), you also need luck. And you're turning this into a 'Mourinho did better than Ranieri' discussion (of course he did better than him). That's not what this is about. I said Mourinho isn't the only manager who could've managed to lead Chelsea to two titles (especially with the resources he had).

You sure about Rainieri spending more than Mourinho did in his three years (and a few months) at Chelsea? And I wouldn't call finishing 2nd in the league behind the Invincibles and reaching the semi-finals of the CL failing. I was wrong about Arsenal in the 2004/2005 season but they did start to decline, especially from 2005/2006 going, and that's when the new project started. And I didn't say everybody could've led us to succes but Mourinho not being the only one (ignoring records and such because nobody would mind a championship without breaking a single record). And I'll say it again, not trying to take anything away from Mourinho's achievements.

Mourinho's tactical mastery would mean nothing without Roman's millions. And not trying to take any credit away from Mourinho but let us please not act as if Mourinho was the only one who could lead us to succes, especially since the only serious challengers for the title were a average Man Utd side and Arsene's new project.

Oh dear.. Why change a good thing, 4-4-2 sucks.

That would be the best way to nullify Tottenham's centre midfield duo.

Great great player (come to think of it, add another great to that) on his day and a real joy to watch. He even got better and better as he aged. Lack of consistency stops him from being a football legend/one of the best strikers in the history of the game sadly. But a Chelsea legend indeed. A (huge) side of me wants him to stay but Drogba is not a player you put on the bench, the same goes for Torres. And I don't see Torres performing with Drogba walking around. So maybe it's for the best for him to move on, go to Marseille (where he is adored) and try and win the title with them. He can probably still be a huge player for Marseille for two years.

Nah those aren't the reasons. It's simple really, Chelsea - defensive football (at times super defensive) = bye bye hardest team to beat. Just look at Madrid right now vs Barca, it seems almost impossible to score against them.

Love how those fantasy teams are always so unbalanced . But Cannavaro in the Real side though? His period at Madrid was decent but he was past his prime and Spanish football didn't suit him.

That's not true. VDV was great at Real Madrid. Pretty much every time he got the opportunity to play he did well or great and he was effective too. But he's not a 'Galactico' and '€65 Mil Kaka' is and always got picked when fit even though he was average in his first season. Spurs play to his strengths? No they don't. VDV is a technician, ground football is his game, possession football is his game. A huge part of Tottenham's game is aerial, and quick counter-attacking, so it's quite the opposite. And he has been playing as a second striker for most of the season, even played on the wings a few times, as well while he's a classic number 10. But since he's very multi-functional, he does a good/great job in multiple roles. The VDV you see at Tottenham is not the true VDV. Best Summer (Loan) Signings: Peter Odemwingie (WBA) Javier Hernandez (Man Utd) Chris Smalling (Man Utd) Raul Mereiles (Liverpool) Yaya Touré (Man City) David Silva (Man City) Rafael Van der Vaart (Spurs) William Gallas (Spurs) Cheik Tioté (NUFC) Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland) D.J. Campbell (Blackpool) Danny Welbeck (Loan - Sunderland) Nedum Onouha (Loan - Sunderland) Worst Summer Signings: Christian Poulsen (Liverpool) Milan Jovanovic (Liverpool) Joe Cole (Liverpool) Paul Konchesky (Liverpool) Bebe (Man Utd) Sebastien Squilacci (Arsenal) James Milner (Man City) Best Winter (Loan) Signings: Luis Suarez (Liverpool) David Luiz (Chelsea) Darren Bent (Aston Villa) DanieL Sturridge (Loan - Bolton) Worst Winter (Loan) Signings: Fernando Torres (Chelsea) Edin Dzeko (Man City) Stephen Ireland (Loan - NUFC) *2010/2011 Most Improved Players: Lucas Leiva (Liverpool) John Obi Mikel (Chelsea) Stewart Downing (Aston Villa) Samir Nasri (Arsenal) Rafael (Man Utd)

Exactly. Benayoun offers something different to us, something every side needs. But he's not Chelsea starting material so yeah. When Chelsea finally sign a true playmaker, coming summer hopefully, we have a good back-up in Yossi. His age seems to just be an number for now since he's still got pace and looks (very) fit and that's something for a 30-year old coming back from a long-term injury. I wish he would play more but maybe he's not fully fit yet.

I'm sorry but I had to comment on this alone. Briliant Technique? Not even in his best days did he possess great technique. Drogba beats him in terms of technique, easily. Anelka's technique is better than Torres' too.

Agree. Both players are at their best in the lone/main striker role up front. No reason to force players in unfamiliar roles in the starting line-up.

Was surprised by how happy I was for Fernando when he scored . And to see The Bridge explode like that was great to see, hope it helped boost his confidence even more. But this is only step 1 for Torres. If he goes on another goalles run, he'll get slated again. So he has to add a goal or two to his tally in the remaining games. That first goal was absolute class well, great build-up.

That's exactly why he's more useful coming on later in the game (forgot to add that in my post). But I guess we disagree with each other, no Anelka in the starting line-up for me. I prefer the directness, the willingness to make a run behind the opposition defence, width and pace on the ball Kalou offers, though he was average today. If it wasn't for the slowing down and drifting away from his position so much (and in this case, Anelka's disappearance act in big matches), I would agree with you that Anelka's the better option for the right-attacker role.

Drogba, Torres and Anelka all in one side? I'm against Anelka in the starting line-up to be honest. We've been a lot more direct and quicker in building up attacks without him and that's no coincidence. He just keeps slowing down our attacks and I can't take it anymore. Not to mention the fact that he never performs in big matches.