Jose Mourinho is 'the best manager in the league by a mile... it offends me that other teams are so defensively naive' says Gary Neville

Other managers have "no right" to criticise Chelsea as being boring

Tom Sheen
Tuesday 05 May 2015 11:50 BST
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Jose Mourinho said recently that he needs to feed himself with titles
Jose Mourinho said recently that he needs to feed himself with titles (PA)

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Gary Neville has hailed Jose Mourinho as the best manager in the Premier League - and said that managers of other clubs have "no right" to comment on Chelsea's style of play.

The Blues secured the fourth title of the Roman Abramovich era with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend, but Chelsea have been accused of playing 'boring' football in recent weeks after a string of tense, low-scoring victories.

But Neville, speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, was angry at the "snobbery" around football that demands teams have to play exciting football.

"Mourinho is the best manager in the league, by a mile," said Neville. "There seems to be this snobbery around football that everyone has to play the most entertaining football.

"I can understand some fans saying 'boring, boring Chelsea', but when managers of other clubs comment on the style of Chelsea I find that ridiculous. I can't understand it. They've got no right to.

"We watched all our teams get smashed in Europe this season, Chelsea to be fair got knocked out this season and that was their one blip, but they didn't lose, they actually drew in those two games against PSG.

"They are actually one of the best teams at killing games. Atletico Madrid won La Liga last year, but they didn't win it playing Barcelona football. They won it playing a different style."

The former Manchester United and England right-back added that it "offends me" that other teams are so defensively naive - Chelsea have lost only two matches so far this season and have conceded the fewest amount of goals in the division.

"When I watch the other teams play it offends me that they are so defensively naive. It really does," he added.

"I have to say that Chelsea are the best team by a mile. The rest of them need to adopt the traits of this Chelsea team."

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