Jose Mourinho is known for his mind games and it came as no surprise when the former Real Madrid manager criticised the way in which the two Manchester clubs won the Premier League title in the last couple of seasons.
Mourinho, who is in his second stint as Chelsea boss, stoked the fire before the first round of Premier League matches by claiming that the Manchester duo were not worthy title-winners. United won the title in comfortable fashion last season, whereas City won it in the dying minutes in the season before last.
He said, “You think Manchester United won the Premier League because they were an unbelievable team? I don’t think so. I think the other contenders didn’t have a very good season and the same the season before.”
“City won the title in the last second of the competition, were they an extraordinary team? I don’t think they were. The others teams make so many mistakes and they won the competition.”
The same can, obviously, not be said about Jose Mourinho’s title-winning Chelsea when he won the league with a record tally of 95 points in his debut season in the Premier League. He went on to secure back-to-back league triumphs before departing Stamford Bridge in September 2007.
And after nearly six seasons away from his ‘home’, Mourinho is back in England and is aiming to usurp the Manchester sides for his third Premier League title with Chelsea.
His criticism of United has not been taken too kindly by United centre-back Ferdinand, who feels his side are not being given enough credit after finishing 11 points ahead of their challengers to record their 20th league triumph last season.
According to ESPN, Ferdinand has brushed off the Chelsea manager’s mind games and has instead stated that it will only motivate them to silence their critics. They have already proved their doubter’s wrong by thumping Swansea 4-1 at the Liberty Stadium, with many suggesting that United would falter against the Swans in David Moyes’ first match in-charge of the Red Devils.
He said, “That’s his [Mourinho’s] first soundbite of the season. So we expect it. It seems every next person is tipping someone else to win the league and putting us in third or fourth place. It happens every year. We aren’t favourites for the league most years.”
He added, “Is it a siege mentality here? Yes, because you are professional people and you want to win. If you believe what people have been saying, we would have come away with zero points at Swansea. I think a lot of people expected it [United to lose] — and even wanted it. We’ve seen that from the vibe all week.”