Jose Mourinho’s Mind Games Backfire As Chelsea’s 8-Point Lead Is Erased
Imparting a culture of victimization in his players is an old Jose Mourinho trick. An equally old trick of The Special One is to use the media to his advantage planting statements that give his side in an edge in … Continue reading →

Imparting a culture of victimization in his players is an old Jose Mourinho trick. An equally old trick of The Special One is to use the media to his advantage planting statements that give his side in an edge in upcoming matches. The Chelsea manager has historically said lots of provocative things in post-match that are simply mind games or emotional overreactions. But Mourinho’s mind games and psychological tricks seems to be running its course during this festive period.

Hoping to provoke a reaction in both his players and match officials following a lackluster effort at St Mary’s on Sunday, Mourinho spoke of a “clear campaign” against Chelsea among match officials and others around the game. These comments were eerily reminiscent of the manager’s ridiculous comments following Real Madrid’s defeat against Barcelona in the 2011 UEFA Champions League.

What resulted was a shocking defensive performance, worse statistically than any other match Mourinho has taken charge of at Chelsea. What’s worse is that this performance came against a local rival, a club in Tottenham Hotspur who has lost more Premier League matches to Chelsea than any other side. Following this stunning defensive capitulation, Mourinho doubled down in his public comments again implying referees had hard done his side, and that his players performed adequately.

The gamesmanship of Mourinho has arguably led Chelsea to seek advantages in unsporting ways, including more diving and constant whining to the officials. What has transpired in recent weeks makes it possible to surmise that Mourinho’s mind games have stopped his own side from playing football in the winning fashion they were earlier in the season. In relatively short order, the Blues have tossed away an eight point lead on their most likely challengers for the title, Manchester City. When you consider that the Citizens have played very few matches in the Premier League this season with both Sergio Aguero and David Silva fit, while Chelsea has yet to face a major injury crisis, alarm bells must be ringing in Mourinho’s head.

These alarm bells have seemingly created an atmosphere where Mourinho, whose long-standing ability to use the media in an attempt to manipulate officials, feels he must constantly hit out publicly. The problem for the Chelsea manager is that the media in England have for about ten months now checked out on his drivel and officials are no longer showing fear of what Mourinho might say post-match and what may appear on the back pages the next morning.

Sadly for Mourinho, he is becoming more a figure of comedy and derision than someone of his stature and managerial pedigree should be. While he has not lost his team yet, he’s lost his legendary ability to impact matches and the opposition through public statements.

Maybe “The Special One” ought to refocus simply on game management and training rather than how next to manipulate events publicly.