Humiliated Mourinho takes aim at Conte
JOSE MOURINHO accused Antonio Conte of disrespect in a heated touchline rant as the ‘Special One’ suffered a humiliating return to Chelsea. And the bad blood from Manchester United’s 4-0 loss spilled over into the tunnel after the final whistle as a member of Mourinho’s staff snubbed a handshake from Conte. On his first return to Stamford Bridge since being sacked last December, the Old Trafford boss watched his side slump to a heavy defeat in front of the fans who used to adore him. His team were swamped by goals from Pedro, Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante. Mourinho could not keep a lid on his disappointment just moments after the end, approaching opposite number Conte and having what looked like an angry word in the Italian’s ear. It is understood Mourinho spoke to Conte in Italian, accusing him of humiliating United by trying to whip up the home support moments after Kante scored Chelsea’s fourth goal. Italian TV reported that Mourinho had said: ‘You
don’t celebrate like that at 4-0, you can do it at 1-0, otherwise it’s humiliating for us.’ Both managers insisted they wanted to keep the details of the spat private, but refused to deny that Mourinho was angered by Conte’s touchline enthusiasm. And the Chelsea manager insisted he did not regret his antics, despite irking his predecessor. ‘I was a player. I know what the feeling is like (to score). I only told the fans to applaud the team because the team deserved it,’ said Conte. ‘There has always been respect for all, and naturally for Manchester United. ‘Nothing happened. I did something absolutely normal. I didn’t do anything to humiliate Mourinho. ‘I think that, today, it was right to call our fans. In that moment I was listening only to the supporters of Manchester United at 4-0. So I called the fans to give the players a great clap after this kind of performance. ‘The players, after a 4-0 win, deserved a great clap. It’s very normal. ‘We live with emotions. If you want to cut the emotions, we can stay at home and I will change jobs.’ Tensions between the two teams were clear to see in the tunnel when members of staff were embroiled in further verbal disputes. Sources claim that a member of Mourinho’s backroom team refused to shake Conte’s hand after the final whistle, causing a row. It is understood the incident did not involve any former Chelsea staff now working under Mourinho at Old Trafford. Mourinho, who fears Eric Bailly is set for a lengthy lay-off after limping off with a knee injury, says his team were made to pay for their errors.
‘I’m not unhappy with the performances, but with the mistakes,’ said Mourinho. ‘Defensive mistakes are very important. When my teams have perfection in their defensive performances, you say that is not important. But the reality is that it is important. ‘We made an incredible defensive mistake in the first minute and then the game is different. ‘We put ourselves in a situation where we gave them the game they wanted.’ Mourinho enjoyed an emotional embrace with his former Chelsea captain John Terry before the game but received a mixed response from the Stamford Bridge crowd. Chants of ‘You’re not special any more’ echoed round the stadium in the first half but later home supporters sang Mourinho’s name. ‘I didn’t feel it (the reaction). I was in the game,’ added Mourinho. ‘For sure it was not negative. It had no reason to be.’ Chelsea’s David Luiz might have seen red for a challenge on Marouane Fellaini, but Mourinho refused to discuss it. ‘After a 4-0 defeat if I’m going to speak about a referee, you (the media) are going to jump,’ he said. ‘If I am going to be criticial of a referee, people will say: “What are you doing?”. ‘If you think playing against 10 men for one hour, more or less, would be significant and could be an important change in the game, then you have to say it, you have to write it, but not me.’ Conte, meanwhile, downplayed the significance of the win and preferred to look forward to Wednesday night’s EFL Cup clash at West Ham. ‘I have already told my players that United is the past and now we must be focused on Wednesday because there is another tough game against West Ham,’ he added.