Jose Mourinho Allegedly Cited Arsene Wenger in Jon Moss Rant, Refused to Leave

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho reportedly made reference to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger in an expletive-laden jibe at referee Jon Moss, before refusing to leave the match official’s room at half-time during the Blues’ loss to West Ham United.

The Portuguese was banished to the directors’ box for the second period, as a late Andy Carroll goal condemned his side to a 2-1 loss. According to Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail, that was after Mourinho laid into Moss at half-time, making reference to the Gunners boss in the process,:

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Among a stream of insults aimed at Moss as the teams and coaching staff made their way down the tunnel at half-time, Mourinho told him: ‘Wenger was right—you are f-----g soft.’

That could relate to Moss failing to adequately censure Arsene Wenger when the Arsenal manager shoved him during an altercation at Stamford Bridge in October 2014. Moss was the fourth official when the incident took place and Chelsea’s manager has always believed that he would have been severely punished by the FA had he been the offender.

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According to Neil McLeman of the Daily Mirror, Mourinho is in big trouble after he would not be budged from Moss’ room despite being asked to leave. In the piece, it’s suggested the Portuguese could well be looking at a five-game stadium ban after he was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association on Monday.

The severity of the punishment would be due to previous offences; recently Mourinho picked up a £50,000 fine and a suspended one-game stadium ban after claiming referees were “afraid” to award penalties to the Blues.

Mourinho was frustrated with the order of media commitments earlier in the season, and Everton boss Roberto Martinez bore the brunt of his anger following on from a 3-1 loss.

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There have been reports surfacing which suggest Mourinho is concerned he could be dismissed by Chelsea after such a poor start to the season, per Miguel Delaney of the Independent. Bleacher Report’s Garry Hayes thinks the Blues must stay the course with one of the club’s greatest ever managers, though:

While the focus remains very much on Mourinho, Chelsea’s league position represents a sorry state of affairs. The Blues are down in 15th position at the moment, 11 points back from leaders Manchester City and nine points behind Manchester United, who occupy the final Champions League spot 10 games into the Premier League season.

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At the moment, Mourinho’s Chelsea players seem to be lacking in discipline and direction. Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph thinks the recent conduct of the manager has a big part to play in that:

Turning this around is going to be an almighty task for Mourinho. Previously he has walked into jobs with teams primed for great things, then left before things turned quite as toxic as they are at Chelsea at this juncture. It’s a new challenge for Jose to deal with and as is evident by his recent conduct, not a scenario he is coping with well.

There’s a chance to prove there’s another string to his managerial bow in the weeks to come, as salvaging something from this season now would represent a remarkable achievement. However, should he continue to act up and get himself removed from the sidelines, then it’s going to be hugely difficult for the Portuguese to expedite this process.