Mourinho brushes off Neville criticism and aims dig at Manchester United Jose Mourinho shrugged of Gary Neville’s criticism about Chelsea’s perceived lack of killer instinct and claimed that Manchester United’s equaliser last Sunday was ‘not a goal’. The Red Devils legend believes that the Blues let the Manchester sides rescue a point when they should have killed the game off instead. He told Sky Sports: “I was semi-critical of Chelsea a few weeks ago away at Manchester City because when City went down to 10 men I thought they let City off the hook,” Neville said. “At 1-0 up, I think Chelsea let United off the hook, I really do. There was a mentality shift if you look at the average positions for the first 53 minutes of the match compared to the period from minute 54 to 67 when John Obi Mikel came on. “It was not the manager changing it, but a mentality shift of the current players on the pitch who had worked themselves into a 1-0 position. They sat deeper. “If you look at the possession against Manchester City, in the 10 minutes before the goal and the 10 minutes after the goal it’s staggering. They went from 55 per cent possession in the 10 minutes before the goal to 26 per cent possession in the 10 minutes after - and City had 10 men. That can’t be an instruction from the manager. “Yesterday they went from 64 per cent to 45 per cent. They switch off. Something happens for them.” Chelsea have also conceded late on against Crystal Palace and Shrewsbury in recent weeks. But Mourinho brushed off the criticism and, in a flashback to his response to Liverpool’s ‘ghost goal’ in the Champions League semi final in 2005, claimed that United’s equaliser should not have stood. He said: “We conceded a goal against Man City, against Crystal Palace... against Shrewsbury. Nothing else. United? Ah, that was not a goal. Not a goal.” He added on Neville’s comments: “That’s his opinion. I don’t have to comment on his opinion. “He’s paid to give opinions, and I’m not paid to comment on his opinions. I’m paid to coach my team. I try to do the best I can.” He added: “We did [go for the second goal]. But, in the last part of the game, the wind was very strong. It was too windy. We couldn’t do better.” Despite those problems, Chelsea still sit at the Premier League’s summit and Mourinho is satisfied with how his side have performed this season. He added: “In terms of objectives, the pragmatic ones, the numbers the results. We are where we want to be. “We are first in the Champions League, first in the league and in the quarter- finals of the League Cup. “So in terms of numbers we are there. In terms of performance and the quality of the team, no team is perfect. We are not perfect, but I’m happy with what we are doing.” london24/sport/football/clubs/chelsea/mourinho_brushes_off_neville_criticism_and_aims_dig_at_manchester_united_1_3829714
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 08:18:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015