So it won’t be an invincible season for Chelsea this time around after all. The slump to Newcastle United showed others in the Premier League that they can be beaten after all.

But for me, Jose Mourinho has helped bring on the defeat with a few mistakes. Instead of keeping spirits high at Stamford Bridge after their sensational start to the campaign the Portuguese coach went out looking for issues that just weren’t there.

It’s not an unusual trick to see Jose spoil for a fight to try and keep momentum going within his squad. But this time you feel that Mourinho got it wrong.

Firstly the ‘Special One’ decided to have a pop at his own fans after a win over QPR at Stamford Bridge. The criticism of the support didn’t go down well with the Chelsea faithful. The fans were quick to point out all their own misgivings with the club including the price of tickets that has been pushing normal fans out of football. Jose’s comments were designed to get a reaction from the support and he got one, just not the one he was expecting. The whole episode soured the high morale that was surrounding his fans and the squad. I’m sure the saga will have given Rafa Benitez a wry smile on his face.

Jose would then try and become frosty with the English press. A trick that he has favoured many times in the past, and is quite frankly boring now. He is simply trying to deflect the attention away from his faux pas with his own fan-base. Its all designed to create an us versus them attitude with his players but the media just gave the affair a lukewarm sarcastic reaction.

Mourinho then set his sights own his opponents. Again a trusted weapon in his arsenal of mind games. Of Newcastle, Jose said the Magpies raised their game against Chelsea, ‘When seeing Chelsea shirts, they play the game of their lives’ whilst against the rest its “like they’re playing friendlies”.

Now that may be true to a certain extent, though I doubt a team could get into the Premier League’s top seven positions if they played most of their games like friendlies. It’s also footballing habit that teams try that little bit harder against the bigger teams. All Jose did with these comments was to refocus the Toon Army , they used his words as motivation and they had extra fire in their bellies that helped defeat his team.

Maybe Jose will see this result as a blessing in disguise. It may actually free his players from the pressures of trying to go through a full season without a loss. Too many draws could have brought those around them closer to Chelsea in the long run had the pressure got too much or perhaps a defeat later in the campaign against a title rival would have possibly seen a collapse in morale.

So maybe just maybe this was one of Mourinho’s greatest magic tricks that will inspire his team to the title.

But for me, Jose just couldn’t resist mixing things up a bit, even if it created unwarranted distractions to his own team. Maybe Mourinho needs to learn to leave things alone

Posted on December 7th, 2014 by scott
Filed under: Article