• Premier League

Mourinho calls for tactical breaks

ESPN staff
August 25, 2014
Jose Mourinho insists Chelsea will adopt an attacking approach © Getty Images
Enlarge

Jose Mourinho has called for managers to have breaks in the game that would allow them to make tactical changes.

The idea would see a touchline technician being handed the chance to step into a match and alter its direction, which he argues Louis van Gaal did successfully during a water break he used to change his tactics for Netherlands against Mexico at this summer's World Cup finals in Brazil.

"Football is very slow to change the rules," said Mourinho. "How many years have we had to wait for goal line technology, for the third substitution?

"I hope I am still in football when they give the coach the chance to stop the game during the first half once and during the second half because you can make the game much better.

"Louis van Gaal in the World Cup, the ref stopped the game for the water break, and he changed the system of his team and managed to win the game. So maybe I will one day have the chance to stop the game in the first half and once in the second half."

Meanwhile, Mourinho has insisted Chelsea will adopt an attacking style this season, rejecting suggestions that they had become a negative side against their main rivals.

"We never lost our identity, we never started playing in a different way," added Mourinho. "We are a pass and move team when we have the ball. We believe in that.

"We won't give up this style. The reality is that our way of thinking about football, the DNA we want in our team, is this one we are trying to show. We are showing a different style of play and we have the players. It is good to have a certain identity."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
ESPN staff Close