10 contradictory statements and moments from Jose Mourinho

#10 Football is for men....when Mourinho feels like it

Mourinho called Ashley Barnes' tackle on Nemanja Matic "criminal"

Over the years, Mourinho has become famed for backing his players to the hilt, regardless of their perceived misdemeanors. Sure, he’ll freeze the odd player out but for the most part, anyone in a Mourinho squad knows their boss has their back. Which could be the reason for his hypocrisy regarding harder tackles. We go back to 2013/14 for a great Mourinho quote, following a game between Chelsea and Arsenal that saw Jon Obi Mikel commit a dangerously late tackle on Mikel Arteta.

Mourinho’s take? “The tackle is a hard one, an aggressive one – but football is for men”. That’d be all well and good if Mourinho were a staunch supporter of the old-school, harder-tackling type of football. But of course, he only adopts that stance when it’s one of his players dishing out the hard tackle. If this man is on the receiving end, well, things seem a hell of a lot different. Like they did in 2015 during a game between Mourinho’s Chelsea and Burnley.

In this instance, Burnley’s Ashley Barnes hit Nemanja Matic with an admittedly dangerous challenge that went unpunished. Jose’s reaction? It was a “criminal tackle” that could’ve ended Matic’s career, and Barnes should’ve seen a straight red card for it. What happened to football being a “man’s game” in this instance, then? For Mourinho, that clearly only counts when it’s his player committing the foul.