‘His teams win respect but will never be loved’
JAMIE CARRAGHER last night blasted Chelsea players as ‘disgraceful’ for their reaction to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s tackle on Oscar, and suggested it is the reason Jose Mourinho’s team are unloved.
The Sportsmail columnist, speaking as a studio pundit during Sky Sports’ live coverage of the Champions League, did not hold back with his criticism after nine Chelsea players surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers following the Swede’s first-half challenge on the attacking midfielder.
The former Liverpool defender said: ‘The reaction from the Chelsea players is disgraceful. It’s something that’s sad that is coming into the game. It comes from Jose Mourinho’s teams, they have this reaction, it’s not a one-off.
‘I always think with Mourinho’s teams that they will always be respected but they’ll never be loved because of situations like this. They take winning to another level that no other team or manager does that I’ve seen over the years. We all want to win but the reaction of the Chelsea players has definitely played a part.’
Carragher’s Sky colleague, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, was less critical of Chelsea’s methods, admitting his former club were guilty of similar behaviour. Neville said: ‘ I’m not as damning about Chelsea reacting, partly because it happened during my career when you tried to influence the referee. Here, we’ve got a team that is shrewd.
‘People at home might not like it but if the boot was on the other foot, we’d call PSG shrewd. It comes from Mourinho, he knows how to play the game.’