While the disastrous competitive Arsenal debut made by their former number one Petr Cech has sparked widespread hilarity and taunting among the knuckle dragging Chelsea fans, they have hardly had the perfect start to their own campaign to win the Premier League.
Unlike Arsenal, Jose Mourinho and his hugely expensive squad did not manage to win a single game in pre-season, apart from with the lottery of a penalty shoot out. And I am surprised that their fans are so keen to bang on about keepers after their new number one Thibaut Courtois committed a foul on Swansea striker Gomis, that earned him a red card and gave the visiting team the penalty that brought the scores level.
And as well as reading with glee that their stupidly optimistic and pointless appeal against that red card was denied by the FA, I was happy to see that the Stamford Bridge club’s inner problems seem to be on the increase with Mourinho’s bizarre rant at his medical staff carrying on, as he has now banned the team doctor from match days and even the team hotel. Seriously Jose WTF?
But as I was reading about that in The Mirror today I spotted what looks like a slip of the tongue from their mouthy manager and I could not help thinking that he has inadvertently admitted to the cheating (or gamesmanship) that Arsenal fans have long suspected. While talking about his annoyance at the doctor going to treat Eden Hazard, Mourinho basically admitted that he knew the player was not hurt. How I wonder? Could it be because that is a clear tactic that Hazard and other members of the Chelsea team use all the time, with the full knowledge of their boss?
He said, “I was not happy with my medical staff. Even if you are a kit man, doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game.
“You have to know you have one player less and when you go to the pitch to assist a player you have to make sure your player has a serious injury.
“I was sure he hadn’t a serious problem. He had a knock, he was very tired, but my medical department – on an impulse – was naive and left me with eight outfield players in a counter attack after a set-piece.”
Maybe you should have let your medical staff in on your tactics Jose. Will this make EPL officials even less likely to fall for Chelsea’s tricks? And will that help Arsenal to get the bragging rights back over them and shut their mouths about Cech?