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

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

October 20, 2015

“The referee was weak and naive!” @ChelseaFC boss Mourinho’s stern assessment of the officials tonight. #UCL https://t.co/CqEM1QAGSE

— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) October 20, 2015

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.

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