Back Pages: Mourinho to PSG, Chelsea cheat and prosper, Arsenal cry foul
Can it be that Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho is leaving the club? The Express leads with news that PSG want Mourinho at Paris. There is no sign that he will go but the paper says interest from the French champions offers the aggravating Portuguese an “escape“.
The Telegraph leads with Mourinho “goading” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger following yesterday’s match, which ended 2-0 in Chelsea’s favour, thanks in no small part to the “disgusting” antics of Blues striker Diego Costa, of whom the Sun asks, “Is Costa dirtiest player in the Prem“.
The Express also zooms in on Costa, showing the player apparently dragging his nails and fist over the face of Laurent Koscielny. The news is that Wenger has called for Costa to be “banned“, which he hasn’t done.
What he said was:
“I wouldn’t like to be [referee] Mike Dean tonight because I cannot understand the situations. Twice he [Costa] should have been sent off.
“Look at the situation well before the cross comes in, he hits him [Laurent Koscielny] in the face on purpose. He makes a fuss of it. In every game there is aggravation but he gets away with it because of the weakness of the referee.
“We are guilty because we gave in on that and responded to it. We knew before the game that he was only looking for that and when he touches him he goes down like he has been killed.”
As for Mourinho goading Wenger, well not really. Sure the Chelsea manager issues his usual sleights and bitchy remarks but anyone still wound up by him needs to get over it and just wonder at how a 52-year-old can be petulant:
“I played my first derby as manager in September 2000 and I remember my words to my players. To win the derby – emotional control. I always repeat the same words before derbies. For me it was a fantastic performance [from Costa]. He played the game like the game has to be played. He’s fast, he’s aggressive and he’s good to recover the ball and offers us different qualities.”
The Guardian sums up:
… there is not a great deal to admire about Costa’s behaviour when he resorts to these levels of snideness and, unless Mourinho can tell us otherwise, there seems to be absolutely no desire within the club for him to change.
Blame Mourinho for Costa’s gamesmanship? Or just blame the referee for allowing it to go on?
Posted: 20th, September 2015 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
