Jose Mourinho accuses West Ham of playing football from the '19th century' - but Sam Allardyce doesn't 'give a s****'
Blues' manager was left furious with West Ham's tactics after draw
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jose Mourinho branded West Ham United's football as “19th century” after his side's 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, prompting Sam Allardyce to boast that he had “out-tacticed” the Chelsea manager.
In two candid press conferences after the game, Mourinho said that West Ham had come to Chelsea with no intention of playing football.
“It's very difficult to play a football match where only one team wants to play, very difficult,” Mourinho said. “A match is about two teams playing. This match was only one team playing, and another team not.”
Mourinho teams have been accused of anti-football in the past, not least his treble-winning Internazionale team of 2010, and he stopped short of moral judgement. “I cannot be too critical because if I was in this position, I don't know if I would do the same, maybe I would. So I don't want to criticise that.”
“But at the same time, this is not Premier League. This is not the best league in the world. This is football from the nineteenth century. They were pretending injuries, were they 'cheating', I don't know if that is the right word? The goalkeeper taking time not after minute 70, but in the first minute. 10 defenders in the box, defenders not putting a foot outside the box. But I am nobody to criticise.”
Allardyce, unsurprisingly, took great pleasure in Mourinho's frustrations, insisting they proved the success of his plan. “He can't take it can he,” Allardyce laughed when told of Mourinho's complaints. “He can't take him because we've out-tacticed him, out-witted him. He just can't cope. He can tell me all he wants.”
Did Allardyce mind about upsetting Mourinho? “I don't give a shite, to be honest. I love to see Chelsea players moaning at the referee, trying to intimidate him, Jose jumping up and down in his technical area. It's great to see.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments