Referees, opponents and even his Sky Sports hosts were on Jose Mourinho’s target list as he made a surprise appearance on “Goals” on Sunday.
A day after his Chelsea side were controversially held 1-1 by Burnley in a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho revived his complaints about refereeing standards and media coverage, taking the opportunity to let Sky Sports know directly how he feels about their coverage of Diego Costa after a clash against Liverpool last month.
Mourinho was left angered by a string of incidents in the Burnley match, which saw his side denied two penalties while Ashley Barnes was guilty of two poor challenges, going unpunished even as Nemanja Matic was sent off for his reaction to the second.
But Mourinho was also still fuming about Sky’s coverage of Costa, who was handed a three-match retrospective ban after replays showed him stamping on Liverpool’s Emre Can last month, an incident branded “Costa’s Crimes” in Sky Sports coverage.
“When I finished at the game against Liverpool, I went to the dressing room and the first thing I saw on the big screen, reading non-stop: ‘Diego Costa crimes’,” Mourinho said.
“I would like to know how to you, Sky Sports, describe the actions of the Burnley player yesterday? My English is not good enough to find a word.
“When you think ‘Diego crimes’ after he puts his boot on a hand, when this is ‘Diego crimes’, the minimum you have to say is ‘criminal tackle’.
“Did you apologise to Chelsea, to Diego or myself? You didn’t. As an institution, Sky is so important in the Premier League, you never apologise.
“When Diego Costa has a three-match ban, probably three matches to Matic … tell me how many matches this player deserves?”
Mourinho was fined £25,000 (Dh141,000) by the Football Association in January for claiming there was a “campaign” in the media against Chelsea, but maintained his attack on coverage.
“I don’t like the fact you start immediately, in that moment, the public judgement of the player,” he added, with regard to the Costa coverage. “You gave no space to the people that have to decide, the pressure was so much.
“You don’t do this with every club, with every player. Last year, Yaya Toure against Norwich, you didn’t have the same approach; Van Persie against West Ham, you didn’t have the same approach.”
Mourinho repeated his list of complaints regarding decisions which he believes have gone against his team this season, suggesting Chelsea would be 12 points clear of Manchester City rather than five had officials got their decisions right.
“I’m just trying to be honest,” he said. “If you ask me about the five-points difference I would say that if we are in a normal situation where mistakes which are part of the game are sometimes in our favour, sometimes against us, it wouldn’t be five, it would be 12.”
The Portuguese said he was sympathetic to the difficulties referees face, and suggested that more video technology should be used.
“If the referee cannot see a penalty three metres in front of him, some official in front of a screen cannot miss it,” he said.
“If we want to protect the integrity of referees and believe the mistake is a consequence of misinterpretation or a bad position or the unpredictability of the game, I think technology can help.”
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