In the first half of what turned out to be a great game of football between Chelsea and Everton at the weekend, controversy struck when Andy Johnson went down in the area. Opinions were split on whether the ref was right to wave on play, as clumsy new signing Boulharouz’s hand seemed to make contact with Johnson’s back, as goalkeeper Hilario charged out.
Jose Mourinho jumped up claiming the player had dived, whilst Moyes angril reacted, telling Jose to watch the replay.
After the game, Mourinho, who has been fined countless times for his comments and actions since joining Chelsea, spoke out about the incident. “I think he (Johnson) is not fair,” he said. “And I think if the ref gives him a yellow at that moment for the rest of the game he doesn’t do it. I think he should be embarrassed. A great player but too much of that (diving).”
Andy Johnson later responded, saying it wasn’t a dive, and Everton encouraged Jose to retract his statement. However, Mourinho has failed to do so, and now Everton have made an official complaint to the FA.
The PFA chief executive has now got involved, saying managers need to bite their tongue. “Jose likes to be controversial to say the least and there is certainly a lot of publicity attached to it,” he said. “I get a little bit worried sometimes about the way managers are too keen to make points about other clubs’ players. There are enough people out there in parts of controversy and it’s for the game, the crowd, the analysts and the media to make comments and judgements. When those from within the game are biting at other managers’ players, and again people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones as it can then happen on their own doorstep with their own players. It has to be acknowledged that a manager is responsible for his own players and it’s only going to create antagonism and resentment to a manager and to players when they hear such comments coming from other managers.”
What do you think? Should managers be free to criticise opposition players? Or should they keep their opinions to themselves? Leave your comments below.
I am an Evertonian who has to confess a liking for Mourinho. He has often been controversial, but I normally detect a twinkle in his eye when he has a dig at the ManU, Arsenal, Liverpool sides – all part of psyching out his rivals.
However,Jose was totally out of order in the way he behaved at Goodison on Sunday last. If Andrew Johnson had been awarded a penalty after “leaving a trailing leg” while vaulting over Hilario, I’m sure that Jose (genuinely not having seen the push by Boulharouz)would have complained that he did not think it was a penalty, and that he thought AJ had dived. I would have hoped that he would have said that at least justice was done that Chelsea got all 3 points, and left it at that.
I doubt if Evertonians, or Everton FC, or AJ would have taken offence. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, properly expressed.
However as clearly seen on Sky, (i) AJ did NOT leave a trailing leg. (ii) Neither AJ, nor the rest of the team, nor David Moyes, appealed for a penalty, screamed at or rushed up to the referee or assistant referee, or created any kind of fuss, and no penalty was given.
Jose obviously had a pre-conceived view of Andrew Johnson which no invitation by David Moyes on the touchline to view the monitor was going to shift. His gesturing to the ref to book Johnson would in itself be worthy of a booking under EUAFA guidelines if one of his players had done it. His press conference afterwards when he accused Johnson of being “not to be trusted” and “ashamed of himself” and “behaving himself during the rest of the match” was a totally unprofessional and outrageous attack, far in excess of merely accusing him of “diving” in an incident that led to an unjustifiable penalty.
In the “heat of battle” anyone, even a manager of Jose’s calibre, can temporarilly “lose it”. If reeling under the emotional strain of lost points, a manager can be unwise in his choice of words in a post match interview.
There can be no excuse for Jose’s personal and unprofessional attack on Johnson, however. I would merely say to him, Jose, if you are as “great” as you seem to think you are, be a Man, and admit that you made a mistake, and that your comments were not what, on reflection, they should have been.
Maybe that’s less than a full apology, but its the least that Andrew Johnson deserves.