We get it. A manager has to stand up for his team, his players and his tactics. Jose Mourinho doesn’t actually believe his team was better in the European Super Cup. He doesn’t believe Ramires shouldn’t have been sent off. But he can’t change his way of approaching failure. By blaming it on others, and making himself look like a man that UEFA, through the referees, are out to get.
Chelsea lost in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw through the first 120 minutes. Bayern Munich, overall, were the better side in the match. Chelsea did control the match through the first 20-30 minutes due to Guardiola choosing Lahm as his defensive midfielder instead of Javi Martinez, but he rectified his early mistake and Bayern were the dominant side from that moment.
Ramires getting sent off didn’t help Chelsea, although they did manage to lead through 30 minutes of extra time after Eden Hazard scored a wonderful goal. Half an hour of Bayern pressure and Petr Cech saves ensued, and Martinez scored the goal he and his team deserved.
Mourinho? He didn’t see all of that. He saw his team being robbed of victory.
The best team lost and for me by far the best team. For me, they dominated 15 minutes of the second half, but we always had the game under control. Even with ten men, the team played fantastic and dealt fantastically with the situation.
With 10 men, Chelsea barely got past the halfway line. There were moments with 11 men in the second half when they barely crossed the halfway line. This wasn’t a replay of the Champions League final in 2012, but the 19-9 difference in shots on goal tells part of the story of how much better Bayern Munich were during the match.
Mourinho, who gave up on actually trying to do anything in the final 7 minutes by throwing in John Terry for Eden Hazard, was honest enough to recognize he might have made a mistake.
Pride, okay we have pride, but we lost. We played for a long, long time with ten-men, the team was tired, the team was staying back and back and back. In the last period of the game I put John Terry on as the game was about them crossing balls into the box. Did we make a mistake maybe, but if football was a little bit fair, then we win the game.
Just like Mourinho. For a moment, you may think he’s actually talking about the things that happened. But then he starts twisting things around, and directs, with the bottom line, all of his wrath and blame at the referee.
Mourinho forgot to say that for the millionth time, one of the tactics his team used was trying to hurt opposing players. Ramires went with a high boot into Gotze’s leg, in a way that could have easily become a serious injury. For some referees that’s an automatic red, not just a yellow. But Mourinho, obviously, doesn’t see it that way.
The referee must have passion for the game and the game eleven vs eleven was much better. It was not a situation where Ramires hurt the opponent, was not a situation where the opponent was in a dangerous counter attack, was not a situation where you need to show the second yellow card. This is my situation with UEFA for a long, long time and it is best that I saw nothing other than the best team lost. That is enough.
That’s Mourinho. Lies peppered with some truths, and some weird conspiracy theory that UEFA are out to get him and his teams. He forgets that he uses negative tactics almost every time he’s facing a quality opponent, not to mention using over-physical force in order to win. He shouldn’t be surprised he had 10 men left at the end of the match. He should be surprised his team actually made it to the penalty kicks.