I get the gripe with Chelsea, which comes from their knuckleheaded fans who are still going through puberty. But the vitriol and disdain pointed toward my guy Mourinho is unfortunate, and YES, this is my case in defence of his defence.
In an ideal world, if you could win and play amazing attacking football, that would be superb. But we don't live in an ideal world, we don't always get what we want and rarely does one plus one equate to two. There is more than one way to consume a big nice piece of pie. And Mourinho has elected to take a defensive approach. That is just his decision in the way he wants his teams to play. But let's ask ourselves this question my good friends-
Would it be better Mourinho played attacking attractive football and lost more games?
If the answer is yes, then you should maybe stick to Champ Manager, and not be allowed to take charge of an actual team. Because this is the results business, and there's no time for having fun or being mickey mouse about things. Now, on the other hand, if Mourinho played the defensive system and lost games, we would have a very strong case of him having to change his style.
Against United, playing at home, yes it looked ridiculous. I cannot remember the last time a home team who were top of the table, had so many men back defending. It really seemed like Chelsea had travelled to Manchester looking to just snatch a point. But at the end of the day, Mourinho got what he wanted. It wasn't pleasant and it won't win him ANY fans outside of Chelsea, but they did what they set out to do.
Perhaps another question that needs to ask is; is it about HOW you win or WHETHER you win?
I am torn between where I lie in that debate. Because I do love my samba football and attacking creativity with players making imaginative runs. But if that World Cup trophy is staring at me and all that stands in my way is ninety minutes of football, then by damn I will do whatever it takes to win. Lie, cheat, crawl, snatch....anything it takes to win that trophy.
Mourinho is a winner. All he cares about is trophies. That is why you don't see him trying to build an empire that can win tomorrow, he wants one that can win today, and he'll worry about tomorrow another day. And when all is said and done, when Chelsea are officially proclaimed as Premier League champions.....how many legitimate insults would you be able to throw at the guy who has a medal while you don't have one?
HH
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
