• Premier League

Mourinho lashes out at 'stupid' critics

ESPN staff
April 30, 2014
Mourinho: I will stay at Chelsea forever

Jose Mourinho has hit out at the "stupid" critics who questioned his tactics during Chelsea's 2-0 victory at Liverpool on Sunday.

Mourinho has come under fire in his recent weeks for his game-plan designed to grind down teams.

The Portuguese manager, whose sarcastic responses to reporters' questions have landed him in hot water already this season, said: "You know, at this moment, football is full of philosophers; People who understand much more than me; full of people with fantastic theories and philosophies.

Rodgers backtracks on criticism

Mourinho: 'Brendan is my friend' © PA Photos
  • Jose Mourinho has revealed that Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers changed his tune on post-match and called him to congratulate him on Chelsea's 2-0 victory at Anfield.
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"It's amazing. But the reality is always the reality. A team that doesn't defend well doesn't have many chances to win. A team who doesn't score lots of goals, if they concede lots of goals, is in trouble. A team without balance is not a team.

"After that, I can't say much more than this. When Atletico has the ball, we have to defend. When we have the ball we have to attack. When they have the ball, we have to try and stop them scoring. When we have the ball we want to try and score. This is football, the football that I know.

"Opponents have the ball, you have to work and be defensively organised. You have the ball, you have to try and play according to the qualities of your players and the qualities of your opponents. You know?

"I remember to say in my first period here, if you have a goalkeeper like Petr Cech who puts the ball in the opponents' box, and a striker like Didier Drogba who wins everything in the air, why play short? Because you are stupid?

"If your opponents are very fast on the counter and want space behind your defensive line, if you give them that space you are stupid. So when a team plays strategically and thinks about his team and the qualities of the opponent, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, good teams, intelligent teams.

"In this moment, depending on the coach and the club obviously, the critics, they speak. But, no problem."

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