Why Mourinho missed the Point With His Anti-Allardyce Jibe

Jose Mourinho is the footballing equivalent of Little Britain; entertaining to begin with but growing more repetitive and irritating with each passing year. On Wednesday night, the architect of perhaps the most notorious bus-parking smash and grab in football history (for Inter Milan against Barcelona in 2010) had the temerity to criticise West Ham’s negative tactics against Chelsea.

Sam Allardyce, the Hammers manager, chose his words carefully. His response to his adversary’s comments? “I couldn’t give a s****.”

There are those, predictably, who saw Mourinho’s attack as little more than another example of his genius, a mind game designed to deflect attention away from his team’s own failings and give the press something else to write about. This is surely a simple case of a man’s reputation preceding him, just as Tommy Cooper complained of an inability to ask a stranger for the time without them falling about laughing.

Indeed, why would Mourinho need to take the focus away from his players? The newspapers were hardly likely to be scathing about a game in which his side managed 39 attempts on goal. While there was an element of profligacy in front of goal, the majority of the coverage would likely have focused on West Ham’s impressive rearguard action. Instead, once again, it is all about Mourinho.

There is more than one way to skin a cat and Allardyce should not be blamed for adopting a defensive approach at Stamford Bridge. Even Sir Alex Ferguson, undoubtedly hypocritical and prone to blaming others after poor results, rarely if ever complained that the opposition’s tactics were overly negative. It is the manager’s job to work out a way of breaking down the opposition. If West Ham had been gung ho, they’d have been beaten comfortably.

Mourinho claimed: “This is not the best league in the world, this is football from the 19th century” but to say this is to miss the point entirely.

Allardyce’s only concern is keeping his team in the Premier League and a point against one of the best sides in the country is an admirable result, irrespective of the nature of the performance. There will not be a single West Ham supporter disappointed with the events at Chelsea on Wednesday evening and Allardyce’s duty lies solely with his own fans.

As Alan Durban, another veteran British manager, once felt compelled to comment, “If you want entertainment, go and watch a bunch of clowns.” On this occasion, the post match press conferences weren’t far off warranting that description.