In the mind of Jose Mourinho, it’s never his fault. Not his approach, not his tactics. It’s always the referee, the other team wasting time or playing to not to lose or even the fans who have something to do with the loss. Chelsea losing their first match didn’t rattle him too much, but brought him to his finest whining form.
Mourinho, unlike popular belief, has no problem throwing his players under the bus when it suits him. When he feels like there’s nothing left to achieve in a season, he’ll blame individual players after matches without hesitating. He doesn’t have to be pushed by the media for it. Mourinho controls every interview and press conference he’s in. Every word that comes out of his mouth is calculated and though of before. There are no kneejerk reactions or reflexes to questions he wasn’t prepared for.
Chelsea did miss quite a lot of chances in the first 30 minutes of their 2-1 loss to Newcastle, but didn’t play all that well against 10 Magpies on the pitch, fighting to come back from behind. Mourinho’s substitutions didn’t make a difference (something he never refers to when it doesn’t work) and his players resorted to crossing without discrimination or any thought in attempt of getting the equalizer Mourinho thinks was deserved.
As for the time wasting? It’s funny hearing Mourinho complain about it. He makes fun of journalists who questioned his tactics with Chelsea last season in almost every away match. Chelsea have proven that a team parking the bus plays to win as well, only has very different approaches to that end. This season Chelsea have used that tactic only once (in the away draw with Manchester City), so maybe Mourinho suddenly feels he has the moral high ground.
He doesn’t. Mourinho simply uses these words to create an alternative reality in which he is never to blame and for now neither are his players. If everything goes smoothly from now until the end of the season, it won’t change. But if the title race suddenly flips on him, we might see a different side to the smiling, supporting manager.