Mourinho should not feel the need to answer critics
Chelsea may have been criticised by Arsenal fans for boring, defensive tactics in their goalless draw away to the Gunners on Sunday, but Jose Mourinho’s stance was fair enough.
The Blues are 10 points clear in the English Premier League (EPL) table with five games remaining, therefore the onus isn’t on them to pursue — “risk and gamble” — against third-placed Arsenal.
Arsenal had also, up until this point, won their past eight consecutive games and would rightly have been considered a threat, especially playing at home.
Instead of criticising Chelsea, Arsenal fans would have been better off questioning their own side. Where was the solution to combat Chelsea’s conservatism?
Arsenal only had one shot on target to Chelsea’s three and the Blues also had three calls for penalties, so it wasn’t necessarily the visitors who weren’t trying to score.
In all, the statistics aren’t in Arsenal’s favour. The Gunners haven’t scored against Chelsea in the last five meetings across all competitions and they have also won just two of the past 13 games against Chelsea. In fact, with Mourinho as coach, they’ve never lost against Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in a total of 13 meetings.
The fact is Arsenal, who haven’t won an EPL title since 2004, don’t have an answer to Chelsea’s tactics.
A true champion is as good in defence as they are in attack. Chelsea balance this perfectly, setting up their squad according to their opposition, making them worthy of their fourth EPL title, which they will now confirm if they win their next two games away to Leicester City and at home to Crystal Palace.
Uncalled for
What was unnecessary was Mourinho’s retort to Arsenal fans, saying: “I think boring is ten years without a title.” This just reopens the spat that earlier saw Mourinho label Wenger an “expert in failure”. There’s a lot to be said for Wenger’s consistency over 19 years at the club and Mourinho’s criticism of that has often been uncalled for.
Winning, or in this case drawing, with class is to walk away from provocation. Mourinho shouldn’t feel the need to justify the tactics he employed and needn’t apologise for the reasons he deployed them.
True fans of football will realise a masterclass in defence can be as entertaining — or at least as important — as a lesson in attacking, free-flowing football. In this regard an opportunity to take the moral high ground was lost.
The statistics aren’t in Arsenal’s favour. The Gunners haven’t scored against Chelsea in the last five meetings across all competitions and have also won just two of the past 13 against Chelsea.