Jose Mourinho has declared that Brendan Rodgers has retracted his criticism of Chelsea’s tactics during the Blue’s 2-0 win on Sunday.
Brendan Rodgers, a former youth-team coach at Chelsea, originally seemed frustrated at Chelsea’s defensive approach, accusing Chelsea of “parking two buses” at Anfield.
An apparent exchange of text messages between Mourinho and Rodgers killed off any ill feeling between the two.
Mourinho said, “Brendan is somebody I consider my friend…today he told me congratulations for a great victory and a great performance.”
He went on to say, “He’s an intelligent guy. He watched the match for sure on video and, now, I think he understood what happened.”
Mourinho also reacted to the criticism his tactics have been getting throughout punditry and football. He sarcastically remarked, “Football is full of philosophers. It’s full of people who understand much more than me. It’s amazing. But the reality is always the reality”.
Furthermore, speaking after Real Madrid’s thumping of Bayern Munich’s yesterday, Arjen Robben said that he will not be watching Chelsea’s second leg with Atletico Madrid tonight. He stated, “I watched the first game, it was 90 minutes. I couldn’t watch it because I don’t think it had anything to do with football.”
These comments are not going to really upset anybody at Chelsea. Nonetheless, it was at Chelsea where Arjen Robben matured and developed his talent. This is a rather disrespectful comment to say the least.
Pundits, coaches and players alike can be critical, but Mourinho and Chelsea will not be concerned. The reality is that Mourinho’s success is unarguable, despite the tactics he may use. In the last five Champions League seasons, Jose’s sides have been to at least the semi- finals. Jose will have reached three Champions League finals with three different clubs should Chelsea win tonight. Now, those are stats nobody can argue with.
Well, it is clear that some fans want winning more then being entertained! Mourhino has no class but does win…