Mourinho: Five steps to FA Cup torture
Jose Mourinho gave his post-mortem of Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final defeat and tabled the five reasons why his team lost.
Mourinho has been criticised for his graceless reaction to the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford.
He did not shake hands with Rafael Benitez and seemed reluctant to give the Reds much credit for their win.
Instead he blamed a combination of mistakes by his own players and referee Graham Poll.
::Didier Drogba missed a great chance to put Chelsea in front.
::Referee Graham Poll gives a free-kick for no reason and John Arne Riise scores.
::John Terry has equaliser disallowed for no reason.
::Defensive mistake gives Liverpool two-goal lead.
::Joe Cole squanders late chance and Chelsea would have won in extra time.
Mourinho said: “The first goal is always important especially in big matches. We had a big chance to score the first goal but we didn’t.
“The next situation, the ball goes to the box and there’s a very fair challenge but Mr Poll gives a free-kick and after that Riise took it very well.
“I don’t know why John Terry’s header was disallowed. I think it was a goal.
“Their second goal was a defensive mistake. When you make mistakes, sometimes you are punished.
“The reaction was very good. They defend with 10 or 11 players. We dominate, score the goal and we have a big chance to go to extra time.
“An open goal, just with the keeper in front, you have to put the ball in the net but I never like to go individually and make player responsible for defeat so I prefer honestly to say that we lost.
“If you go to extra time, you go with a psychological advantage but football is about putting the ball in the net and we missed that chance like we missed at Anfield last season in the Champions League in the last minute.”
The Chelsea boss did not accept suggestions that his tactical decision to play full-back Paulo Ferreira in midfield had backfired.
Mourinho said: “They played well. We played 4-4-2 in the last three matches, the team was playing well and I think Paulo played a very good game for us.”
| Related Stories: |
|
