Jose Mourinho uses Wenger’s words to criticize referee and prove a point

Chelsea had to settle for a 0-0 draw with Dynamo Kiev in part because Cesc Fabregas had a penalty shout ignored by the referee. This was just one more frustration for an already frustrated club, but it did provide Jose Mourinho with a chance to try and prove his recent point about Arsene Wenger getting away with things that he doesn’t.

“The referee was weak and naive,” Mourinho said after the match with a smirk on his face. This was a clear reference to what Wenger said about referee Mike Dean after Arsenal’s most recent loss to Chelsea. Wenger was not punished by the FA for this critique, but Mourinho was given a £50,000 fine and a suspended one-match stadium ban for a similar referee critique after his side’s loss to Southampton.

“The word ‘afraid’ is a punishment, and a hard punishment,” Mourinho said recently. “But to say the referee was ‘weak and naive’, referring to one of the top referees, not just in this country, also in Europe, to call him ‘weak and naive’ we can do.”

So, Mourinho went and did it.

For him, this creates a win-win situation. If he doesn’t get punished, he has found the magic words with which he can freely express his discontent with officials. And if he does get punished, he gets further fuel to his belief that Wenger receives preferential treatment and the governing bodies of football are out to get him. This is as satisfying as a scoreless draw can possibly get for Jose Mourinho.

3 comments

  1. Dustin says:

    “And if he does get punished, he gets further fuel to his belief that Wenger receives preferential treatment and the governing bodies of football are out to get him.”

    There is a difference between the FA and UEFA, so he can’t prove anything with what he’s doing. It would really be nice if around the world we could get true science education, maybe where we learn how to test a hypothesis or something. Maybe some educated people will make it big rather than just childish morons.

    • Brooks Peck says:

      Obviously there’s a difference, but it was a Champions League game gave him his first chance to use Wenger’s words, so he took it. I’d bet money that this was just his warm-up for the next time he feels aggrieved by a Premier League ref.

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