World Football's Monday Morning Hangover: The Only Way Is Jose's
Welcome to world football's Monday Morning Hangover, an homage to the NFL section's own Monday Morning Hangover, where we round up the key stories and important points from the last weekend in world football.
With an inevitable focus on the Premier League, let's get started.
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It is never dull in Jose Mourinho's world. Seven days ago he was on the sofa of a television show, raging against everyone and everything that seemed to be conspiring against Chelsea. Wind on to the following Sunday and he was sliding on the Wembley turf celebrating another trophy—his sixth in English football—on a day when it felt like the Blues had effectively clinched the Premier League.
Chelsea were deserved 2-0 winners against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. The goals—one from John Terry, the other a Kyle Walker own goal resulting from a deflection on Diego Costa's left-footed effort—secured a clinical win that, not for the first time in his managerial career, had its roots in the tactical decisions Mourinho made pre-match (more on that here).
"We played to win," Mourinho said. "I think they were the team they are, and we were a strategic team. A team that came to win, that was comfortable, a team that found a solution to keep the stability after the criminal tackle that [Nemanja] Matic did that suspended him.
"We found that. I am very happy, because a team that is not very mature, we adapt very, very well. We change the shape of the triangle in midfield, we identify the angles to press them well, and the game we played was the performance of a very mature team—which we are not."
Mourinho's delight was evident in the way he celebrated with his players afterward, but his confidence was there throughout. When he chuckled to himself as he splashed water over a television camera shortly after half-time, the scoreline then still only 1-0, he had the aura of a man who knew the game had already been decided. So it proved.
Perhaps it was more than that, however. Even before the game kicked off on Sunday, it had been a great day for Chelsea, thanks to events elsewhere. In the Premier League, Manchester City were facing Liverpool at Anfield, with City's 2-1 defeat ensuring Chelsea remained five points clear with a game in hand against bottom-feeders Leicester City.
Just as he rarely loses a cup final, Mourinho has never thrown away such a title advantage in his career. Chelsea lifted one trophy on Sunday, but it felt like they put at least one hand on two.
At the start of the day Mourinho wanted his side to focus only on the game at hand, ignoring events on Merseyside. He banned his players and staff from putting on the televisions in their hotel or on the team bus and, while he did not ban their mobile phones, he cautioned everyone against checking them.
The intention was not necessarily to prevent them from learning the result of Manchester City's game, but to avoid them reacting one way or another—expending energy they might need later on reacting to a late Liverpool equaliser, for example, or a Liverpool winner.
The Portuguese's plan was working perfectly, according to him...until one of his coaches, Silvino Louro, jumped on the team bus screaming in delight. From that point the result of the game was obvious. "A member of my staff broke the rule!" Mourinho revealed, incredulously. "I wanted to kill the guy!"
The team, understandably, was buoyed by the news. We may not know if it affected their display in any way, but there was certainly an underlying conviction and composure that Tottenham struggled to match.
Come the final whistle, when one trophy had been secured, it seemed like the celebrations were a bit bigger than they might normally be. The Chelsea manager had done it again, with seemingly the rest of the footballing world dancing to his tune.
If observers think Mourinho leads a charmed managerial existence, then what must his players think? They will understandably follow him wherever he asks them to go—a destination that almost always seems to end up in trophies.
"I am like a kid winning the first one," the Portuguese said. "It's hard for me to live without titles. I need to feed myself with them."
Mourinho's Old Protege Shows Rare Ability of His Own
Another manager to enjoy a mighty weekend? Brendan Rodgers, who saw his Liverpool team—some of them still bleary-eyed after returning from their Europa League exit against Besiktas in the early hours of Friday morning—beat Manchester City 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday.
It is amazing to think that, before the turn of the year, Rodgers fended off questions about his job security, inquiries that he dealt with in a curt, belligerent fashion that only seemed to underline the precarious nature of his situation. Yet wind on a few months and Liverpool are arguably the form side in the division, playing the most attractive and expansive football and picking up the results to match.
Once Luis Suarez left, many thought Liverpool would never be the same again, yet here we are, barely eight months later, and the Reds are a vibrant unit once again.
Their early-season form—growing pains, as they now increasingly seem—took them out of the title race a while ago, but the Champions League spots remain a very realistic ambition.
Arsenal may be the favourites for third (it bears repeating that their run-in is kinder, by some margin, than anyone else's), but beyond that it is an open race. United currently hold the advantage, but Liverpool (who are still to invite Louis van Gaal's side to Anfield) are playing the more consistent football.
After putting Manchester City to the sword, Rodgers now has every right to enjoy a bit of personal vindication; the coaching job he has done to turn things around has been nothing short of exceptional. Plenty of managers find success with one system at one moment in time, but their own shortcomings are invariably exposed when they try to replicate that at different clubs, or with different personnel. Yet Rodgers has lost Suarez and rebuilt a new team, in a new system, which shares many of the same traits—very, very impressive work.
Of course, there are still 11 games to go in the season and anything can happen. Liverpool know better than most that form can come and go with a maddening lack of warning, but right now, they are the form side in the division and a pleasure to watch.
As Rodgers said, per Andy Kelly in the Liverpool Echo:
"It was a brilliant result and an equally brilliant performance I thought. We thoroughly deserved the victory.
The players today were relentless in their work and their intensity and we had some great quality in our football. It was very, very pleasing.
Anyone who came to Turkey with us feels what it was like first hand, not getting back til 4.30am, maybe not getting home til 6am.
To then prepare yourself for a game against the Champions is no mean feat but to play like we did today with that intensity, that work, that quality, you have to take your hat off to them.
How they performed was at a real, real top level and I’ve got nothing but admiration for them.
"
Goal of the Weekend
Goal of the Weekend: Runner-Up Edition
Random Asides
• Now we might see exactly what this Tottenham team is made of. Speaking to BBC Sport, Mauricio Pochettino saluted the side's effort—and its youth—after the defeat to Chelsea, but now they must show rare maturity to rebound from a disappointing defeat with no hangover effect. Still coming to terms with going out of the Europa League on Thursday, Spurs now have two games this week (against Swansea and QPR) that they really must win if they are to have any real hope of qualifying for the Champions League next season. Channeling their frustration and disappointment into two victorious performances might be the true mark of this young side's potential, and the ability of the man in charge of it all. “It is hard, but we need to look forward," Pochettino acknowledged. "This is the first step for this group. We are strong and showed plenty of character and personality.” We shall see.
• Could Roger East's horrible penalty mix-up work out for Sunderland in the end? The referee remains insistent that he meant to send off Wes Brown, rather than John O'Shea, on Sunday—but replays are pretty clear that Brown hardly touched Radamel Falcao as the Manchester United striker went down in the box. If East sticks to his guns, Brown could well have his red card rescinded—ensuring the Black Cats have both their centre-backs available for the next three games. The case of mistaken identity did not affect the match's outcome on Saturday, but it could impact the relegation run-in if Sunderland get a vital reprieve, one every bit as comical in its unfolding as the situation that created it.
• Critics of Aston Villa's decision to appoint Tim Sherwood as manager are already feeling a certain amount of vindication, with the new boss having lost his first two (eminently winnable) games of his tenure. The way things are going, perhaps the only thing that will keep Villa up is the even greater incompetence of three other teams in the division. Somehow, that might be an extremely fitting summary of Sherwood's managerial ability.
• Did Glenn Murray receive the yellow cards that Ashley Barnes should have picked up a week ago? The Crystal Palace forward undoubtedly put in a number of poor challenges—he could have been sent off long before he was—but the final challenge that did it for him was surely very harsh, with Winston Reid kicking the striker's outstretched leg rather than the other way round. Palace are unlikely to get the red card rescinded, but it was nevertheless hard on a goalscorer who will now miss a game just when he had made a real case to be Alan Pardew's first choice.
• Palace's other star on the day was Jason Puncheon, who has excelled in a more attacking role in recent weeks. The technically gifted winger looked composed in a holding role in the second half against Newcastle recently, and that display seems to have convinced Pardew that he can play more centrally—something tried to great effect on Saturday. “He has got quality and he has that experience now and quality to stay on the ball that second longer and manoeuvre it and create something else,” Pardew said, per Jacob Steinberg in The Guardian. “I have been very impressed with Punch. He has improved significantly." The pressure on "Punch" is to keep it up. Throughout his career he has had a tendency to regress after about 18 months at a club, something that was happening at Palace before Pardew came in. That speaks to a lack of ambition—perhaps the one thing that explains why he is playing for Palace and not a bigger club already.
• Are Manchester City now in more of a fight to finish in the top four than they are to defend their title? On Sunday, Jose Mourinho intimated that Man United are still in the title race, and they are only five points behind City (Arsenal, indeed, are just four). Assuming Chelsea will win their game in hand, City are now actually closer to Liverpool in fifth than they are the summit. It's hard to see City falling off enough to drop out of the top four entirely, but it is not implausible.
Good Week, Bad Week
Good Week
Brendan Rodgers: This season for Liverpool is slowly becoming even more impressive than last year.
Glenn Murray: Amid many injuries at Palace, Murray stepped up and delivered for his side.
Saido Berahino: West Brom quickly skating away from danger thanks to him and Tony Pulis.
Chelsea: Were the big winners on Sunday even before the cup final kicked off.
Papiss Cisse: Run of poacher's goals only driving up his value in the summer market.
Bad Week
West Ham: With just one win in their last 10 Premier League contests, is their season over?
Tim Sherwood: That win ratio suddenly doesn't look much to boast about: zero percent for another week.
Roger East: The mistaken-identity red card is every referee's nightmare. Whatever he says, it was a horrible error.
Louis van Gaal: Evidence building that the fans blame him, not players, for persistent performance issues.
Vincent Kompany: Reputation being harmed with each new error in a high-profile game.
Other Points of Note
New Kid on the Block Works out for Arsenal
As bad as they were in midweek, Arsenal's players surely deserve a certain amount of credit for bouncing back on Sunday and picking up another important three points against Everton.
The Toffees may have been maddeningly inconsistent in the Premier League all season, but they remain a very threatening team on their day, and Arsenal could have easily stumbled further after a disappointing Monaco game.
Instead, they got back on the horse and back to something approaching their usual standard, with Olivier Giroud getting among the goals (vital, considering his horror show on Wednesday) and Mesut Ozil providing the assist for Tomas Rosicky's winner.
But it was defender Gabriel Paulista who perhaps drew the most attention, the Brazilian hesitating at times but also producing one thumping tackle on Romelu Lukaku that seemed to lift his whole team.
"He had an encouraging performance overall," Wenger said to the club website (via the Daily Star). "He was surprised by the intensity of the challenges once or twice but he made a great tackle against Romelu Lukaku in the first half.
"He’s highly focused, has a good concentration level and is quick."
Signed for £11 million in January and capable of playing at centre-back or in either full-back spot, it seemed very much as if the ex-Villarreal man was brought in to provide cover across the back line for the Gunners, rather than to take a starting spot from of the existing defenders. But that does not make him any less valuable to the squad; on Sunday Per Mertesacker got some much-needed rest, and others may benefit similarly in the weeks ahead.
Manchester Managers in Different Predicament
As Mourinho celebrates and Rodgers enjoys a certain amount of vindication, the mood among the managers of Manchester is altogether different. It is not too much of a leap to suggest that Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City tenure is over in everything but name, as he's almost certain not to win a trophy this season. Previous City bosses have been sacked for exactly such a failure.
It remains to be seen whether the Chilean has a better personal relationship with the club's owners than Roberto Mancini had, but barring a Champions League revival for the ages, it's highly probable that Pellegrini will be shown the door come the summer. Such are the breaks for managers at the very highest level.
"They scored two beautiful goals," Pellegrini, sounding hollow, told Sky Sports after the loss at Anfield. "It was impossible for Joe Hart to save one of them.
"The rest of the match was even. We also have many chances. It was a close game, but they won because they scored two beautiful goals."
It may say most about the players that they couldn't match their opponents' intensity, but it is always the manager who ends up carrying the can—and for Pellegrini, a long walk off a short plank almost certainly awaits at the end of the season.
Across Manchester, United boss Louis van Gaal at least got to enjoy a victory this weekend—although, that too was fraught with problems.
His decision to substitute Radamel Falcao, moments after the Colombian had broken the game against Sunderland open with a fine piece of skill, was booed by the Old Trafford faithful, while in the first half his team's tactics were questioned frequently and vocally by those in the terraces. As Angel Di Maria, Falcao (until his moment of brilliance) and others struggled, the implication was clear: The fans blame Van Gaal for United's problems more than the players.
"We started the match poorly," Van Gaal admitted in an MUTV interview (h/t ESPN FC). "I think we were nervous, which is understandable after the defeat to Swansea. After the first quarter of the match, we started to create more chances and we played much better in the second half.
"We had much more composure on the ball, the tempo was better and we stretched the play from one wing to another. I was pleased with the performance, especially in the second half, we scored twice but could have got more.
"We played with control; it's a step in the process to finish a game off when you are winning."
While United continue to win and hold on to a top-four spot, such criticism is nothing more than a mild nuisance to Van Gaal—performances can be addressed once United are back in Europe's top competition. But the Dutchman is walking on a tightrope, and he might be surprised how little wiggle room he has with the fans if results start trending downward.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.
