Mourinho hits back at ‘boring’ Arsenal
JOSE MOURINHO launched a fresh verbal attack on Arsenal last night, branding their 11-year wait for the Premier League title as ‘boring’. Led by captain John Terry — whose performance was described as his best ever by Mourinho — Chelsea produced a defensive masterclass in a 0-0 draw at the Emirates to take a step closer to clinching the title. Frustrated at what they perceived as the visitors’ lack of attacking intent, home supporters chanted: ‘Boring, boring Chelsea’ throughout the clash. Their views were shared by Arsene Wenger, who insisted that Chelsea only ‘came to defend’. But Mourinho, who started the game without a recognised striker, hit back, claiming Arsenal’s 11 years without winning the league is truly mundane. ‘I think boring is 11 years without a title. That’s very boring,’ said Mourinho. ‘You support the club and you’re waiting, waiting, waiting for so many years without a Premier League title. Maybe they weren’t singing to us. ‘Maybe, when you want to win a game and you’re at home and you take off your main striker, maybe the home fans want to see Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud up front together. ‘The boring team is the team with second-most
goals in the Premier League, the best goal difference. Only Manchester City have scored more goals than us. ‘So we’ve scored a lot of goals and, in a period where we don’t have Diego Costa or Loic Remy and have only one striker, we need to work in a way where we can help ourselves. ‘We’ve changed our dynamic and we are not scoring quite as many goals as we were before.’ Mourinho, whose side need five points to secure the title, has never needed any encouragement to criticise the Gunners. He labelled Arsene Wenger a ‘voyeur’ in 2005 and also called the Frenchman a ‘specialist in failure’ just last season. Mourinho was much more positive about his captain at the Emirates. ‘I told John Terry in the dressing room that he has produced some fantastic performances with me but this was his best,’ said Mourinho. ‘It was the best JT has ever played. Everything was so clean: the cover, defensive line, interceptions and his anticipation. The team was phenomenal, but John was one step ahead of every other player.’ In explaining his decision not to select a recognised striker, Mourinho, who confirmed Costa and Remy are likely to miss Wednesday’s clash at Leicester, added: ‘Didier Drogba didn’t train with us until Saturday, so we had developed the game-plan tactically without him. ‘We knew that with Oscar we would get behind them. ‘In the second half, we played more on the counter-attack, but every time we recovered the ball on the counter, they made a tactical foul.’ Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard landed the PFA Player of the Year award at a star-studded ceremony in London last night. The Belgian has been a pivotal figure in his club’s march to the Premier League title. Tottenham’s Harry Kane scooped the Young Player of the Year award.