Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro has thanked the public for their support in backing her after manager Jose Mourinho slammed his medical staff on Saturday.

Mourinho hinted that Carneiro did not ‘understand the game’ in an outburst against the Chelsea doctor after she entered the pitch to attend to Eden Hazard late on in the 2-2 draw with Swansea. The doctors intrusion of the field meant that the Blues were temporarily reduced to nine men, something that enraged the Chelsea boss.

“I wasn’t happy with my medical staff because even if you are a medical doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game.” said Mourinho.

“You have to know that you have one player less and if you go to the pitch to assist a player then you must be sure that a player has a serious problem. I was sure that Eden didn’t have a serious problem. He had a knock and was very tired.”

“My medical department left me with eight fit (outfield) players in a counter-attack after a set-piece and we were worried we didn’t have enough players left.”

The rules state that once a member of the medical team comes on, the injured player must be taken off for a short period, even if their problem is not serious. The ruling was introduced to minimise time-wasting associated with injuries.

[Quotes and fact via the Daily Mail]

However, the Chelsea doctor thanked the public on Facebook for their backing over Mourinho’s comments, saying that is is ‘really very much appreciated.’

Carneiro wrote on her Facebook page:

“I would like to thank the general public for their overwhelming support.”

Did Mourinho take this one too far?