The Classless One
Following Inter Milan’s 3-2 aggregate win over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final at Camp Nou, Jose Mourinho said the following:
“This is the best loss of my life. It is a shame I couldn’t play: I would have been awful on the pitch but I would have shed blood as my players did”.
Judging by his classless romp around the football pitch, it is increasingly evident that Jose Mourinho suffers from an inferiority complex. I fully understand that the Special One’s teams thrive off of an ‘Us against the World’ mentality, however after the battle has been waged and won, it is imperative that the victors not needlessly shame the losers. Never have I seen anyone, particularly a coach, so blatantly go out of his way to taunt the opposition after a victory. What is he overcompensating for? His statement above leads me to believe that he wishes he were a professional footballer. Why else would he run around the pitch as if he played and say such things?
He increasingly sounds like a war-obsessed politician that has never served his country. It is usually these types that talk tough as if they have been there before. “When the moment of leaving everything on the pitch arrives, you don’t leave the skill, you leave the blood” he said. Not to dampen Inter’s magnificent win, which was well deserved, but the manager needs to take a step back and carry himself in a more respectable manner. I suspect that if he had experienced top-flight football, he would know better than to behave so boorishly. Perhaps that is why Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola could lose with such grace. After all, these are two men have played and coached at the highest level. They have won and they have lost. They know what it takes and they wouldn’t dare rub their victories in on those who fall short.
The Bad Salesman
Owen Coyle says he won’t stop Gary Cahill from leaving if a bigger team comes along looking to buy the player. Coyle might as well have hung a ‘For Sale’ sign around the defender’s neck. That is not to say that he doesn’t rate the player, he obviously does, but it looks as if Bolton would rather cash in on this prized commodity so they can buy a few younger players to sell at a later date. Could Coyle possibly be trying to tempt Arsene Wenger? It is no secret that Arsenal is in need of a good central defender. Perhaps a swap; Arsenal buy Cahill and in exchange Bolton keep Jack Wilshire on loan for another year?
The Great Anfield Historian from Manchester
Life is riddled with hard choices. For Liverpool, it may soon be the most difficult of choices. Do they roll over and lose to Chelsea, or do they soldier on and try to gain a point from the encounter? Either way you cut it, it will surely hurt. If Liverpool beat or tie Chelsea, they will all but certainly be helping United top Chelsea in the race for the Premier League crown. That wouldn’t be so bad, if it weren’t for the fact that this coronation would be the 19th for United, one better than Liverpool. No longer will Liverpool fans be able to fall back to that old reliable refrain, that they have more titles than everyone else. Should they lose, they will all but certainly be eliminated from contention for the last Champions League spot. Such a fate may mean that they have to sell players such as Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. What does a team in turmoil do?
Now Alex Ferguson chimes in with the following jewel to stoke Liverpool’s fire (that is if they have any fire left):
“I am confident they will do their maximum,” he said. “Great clubs don’t throw their history and traditions away for one game. They have been in 11 European finals. They have won 18 titles. That is a fantastic history. You don’t throw that away. The fans know that too. Do you think the fans want to go home saying their players capitulated and they didn’t try and thinking it wouldn’t happen again?”
I wonder if he would say Liverpool is a great club after the match? Never have such nice words come out of the Scotsman’s mouth about Liverpool. I wonder why? Don’t worry Fergie; I’m sure the Liverpudlians are moved by your kind words. This will be a game to watch.
Talk about Bad Timing
Roberto Mancini has reportedly told Carlos Tevez that Tevez can leave the club if he is still unhappy with the manager’s training methods. The player allegedly isn’t fond of the Italian’s two a day training regimen during weeks when the team doesn’t have a midweek game. Far be it for me to side with a well-paid player, but could the timing of Mancini’s rebuttal have been any worse? City is in the midst of a tight race for the last Champions League spot, with only three games left. Instead of creating an unneeded diversion from the task at hand, I think the manager should have bit his tongue and voiced his stance when the season was over. It would be a shame if the team didn’t achieve the lofty expectations set at the start of the season started and Mancini found himself on the unemployment line at season’s end. I say tell Carlos off, just don’t do it until he has gotten you to the promised land. If he could keep West Ham afloat, he can get Manchester City to the CL.
