Mourinho’s mind games
It always used to be Sir Alex Ferguson who was the Premier League’s mind-games master.
Now Jose Mourinho seems to win the same battles even before he has picked them.
For years, the Chelsea manager has been a one-trick pony when it comes to the very biggest games. Park the bus, then try to nick a goal on the counter.
Everyone knows it is going to happen, so why kick up a fuss when it does?
Brendan Rodgers sounded off when Chelsea ended his Liverpool side’s Premier League title hopes last season. “Not difficult to coach,” he moaned of Mourinho’s modus operandi.
And Manuel Pellegrini, the Manchester City manager, did the same on Sunday, saying Chelsea played like a "small team" and compared their playing style to Stoke City.
So what if they did? Find a way to combat it and stop complaining.
Direct not to the points
Talking of old play books, Tottenham Hotspur seemed to borrow one from the 1980s in their listless defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
Hoof it in the mixer, was about as scientific as their game plan got.
It was totally unbecoming of a side who are managed by someone who has often been eulogised for his progressive approach to the game.
Yet it was clear late on that Mauricio Pochettino was pointing his defenders towards the other end of the field and shouting “Ade” (as in, Emmanuel Adebayor, the furthest point of the attack.) Launch it long, hope for the best.
How very ’80s. Maybe Wham! were playing on the home team mega-blaster before the game, too.
Europa excuses
Maybe there is something in this theory about Europa League participation being a hindrance.
Both Spurs and Everton played in Europe’s ugly sibling competition on Thursday night. Each performed miserably on the ensuing weekend, losing out to sides in the relegation zone.
They did go about it in different ways, though. Where Spurs were content to boot the ball away most of the time they had it against West Brom, Everton had 76 per cent of possession in the first half of their game against Crystal Palace.
Not that it counted for much. Their 3-2 loss means they have still yet to win at home in the Premier League this season.
Great expectations
You cash in on your best player and use the injection of finances to subsidise a trolly dash on several new players. So you have to be challenging for the title, right?
That was the theory Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, proposed last season after Spurs flattered to deceive in the Premier League, having splurged all their Gareth Bale funds.
Liverpool recouped less than Spurs did for selling Bale when they moved Luis Suarez on to Barcelona this summer, yet were hardly shy in recruitment thereafter.
So they are title challengers? “We are nowhere near the standard,” Rodgers said after the 3-1 loss at West Ham United, suggesting they “cannot even entertain talk” of a title challenge at present.
pradley@thenational.ae
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