José Mourinho Compliments Chelsea For Playing Like A José Mourinho Team

As José Mourinho has made abundantly clear recently, the Special One is a little peeved by the double standard to which he’s subjected by the media and public. When his teams play defensively-sound soccer it’s criticized, called pragmatic and ugly; when other teams do so, it’s lauded as being smart and sophisticated. With this underlying framework in mind, the not-so-subliminal message hidden beneath his praise earlier today for league-leading Chelsea becomes clear:

When asked if sixth-placed United can still push for the title, Mourinho said: “You have to be honest and say that is very difficult. It’s not just the difference in points, it’s also the Chelsea philosophy of playing.

“They score one goal and they win. They defend a lot. They defend well. They are winning and, in the last 20 minutes, they bring defenders in.

“They don’t care what people say, what people think. They just want to win. And, because of that, I don’t see them losing many points.”

Hopefully we’re not too far away from Mourinho directly claiming credit for Chelsea’s eventual title win, seeing as how the pillars he laid during his time in charge there established the foundation for the very “Chelsea philosophy” that is being rewarded today. Never forget that with Mourinho, everything’s always about him.

[ ESPN FC]