Sometimes I feel that Jose Mourinho is in the wrong trade. His theatrics defy human comprehension. He remains an unresolved puzzle, which confound many. The industry love to hate him. He is the man for all seasons, especially during matches which involve big clubs. Why people find pleasure in taunting Mourinho in high profile games remains a mystery. But one must congratulate Chelsea FC’s manager Maurizio Sarri for not aggravating the situation on Saturday, by getting his second assistant , Marco Ianni, to apologise to the Special One.
Mourinho raises the stakes with witty mind games, which he uses to distract gullible managers and players. In fact, he is reported to have alleged that his team list against Chelsea on Saturday was leaked by a suspected mole in his team. Mourinho, was searching for a mole after being stripped naked by the disclosure of the list even before the previous game against Newcastle. Pray, who doesn’t know how Mourinho sets up his team in big games? I digress!
English FA chieftains gave the insolent backroom staff till Thursday to respond to his inappropriate conduct. Ianni chose the wrong moment to step on the tail of the python. Mourinho told the world that he wasn’t going to celebrate if Manchester United beat Chelsea at home. That was a pointer to the fact that he had dug deep into his bag of tricks to outwit Sarri on the pitch.
Most followers of the game could bet their last dime on Mourinho not creating a scene at the stadium. Doubters must be shocked that the assault didn’t come from the Special One, which shows that he can be trusted to keep his word. What the backroom staff did by celebrating in front of the manager after Chelsea equalised in the 96th minute would have annoyed anyone. In fact, Mourinho was slow to act because the technical staff was doing it for the second time. This incident turned out to be the highpoint of the game instead of the six extra minutes awarded by the centre referee.
Ianni had watched the match from the upper tier of the East Stand. He came down to the team’s bench about 15 minutes before full time – something he is entitled to do in his role as the team’s analyst. Why he chose to taunt Mourinho is one issue the English FA chiefs should investigate, knowing that there are marked zones on the sidelines, which the opposition’s technical staff shouldn’t step over. One hopes that the referee captured this aspect for punishment. Making Mourinho the fall guy of this ugly incident will be a travesty of justice.
Indeed, England women manager Garry Neville said on NBC Sports: ‘’Whoever that staff member is of Chelsea has just been an absolute disgrace. No class, no humility. He’s gone straight into the face of Jose Mourinho, Michael Carrick and the Manchester United bench and just celebrated in their face. Absolutely disgraceful. He’s [Mourinho] the innocent one in all this. The guy on the Chelsea bench has run straight past him, celebrated in his face.
‘’Sarri celebrates. Then it’s this guy here who goes in front of Jose Mourinho. The first one he clenches his fist, and then as he goes back he celebrates again right in front of him. Disgraceful. If I was Maurizio Sarri I’d send that guy in and sack him from the club.’’
Do you agree with Neville’s recommendation, especially as Chelsea’s management condemned the second assistant’s misdemeanour?
‘’I want to thank Sarri for his honesty,’’ Mourinho said. ‘’I want to thank Chelsea for its honesty too. But I’m not happy that it’s going too far with the young boy. I don’t think he deserves more than what he got.
‘’He apologised to me, I accept his apologies. I think he deserves a second chance. I don’t think he deserves to be sacked. I don’t think he deserves anything more than the fact that his club was strong with him and he went through a situation that in the end he recognises that he was wrong.
‘’So, I hope everybody does the same as I did, which is not to disturb the career of a young guy, which is probably a great guy, probably is a coach with great potential. And I’m not happy at all with more than that. End of story. With me, it’s the end of the story in the minute he apologised to me.’’
Happily, the governing body said in a statement: ‘’Chelsea coach Marco Ianni has been charged following the game against Manchester United on Saturday. It is alleged that his behaviour in the 96th minute constituted improper conduct. He has until 6pm on Thursday 25 October 2018 to respond to the charge.
‘’In relation to this incident, Jose Mourinho has been formally reminded of his responsibilities whilst both clubs have received similar official reminders in terms of the behaviour expected of their staff and players at all times whilst in the technical area.’’
Mourinho isn’t one to leave any venue without throwing darts. Saturday’s game wasn’t going to be an exception, with the Special One writing after the game that; ‘’ Naturally it was disappointing and frustrating not to take three points from Saturday’s visit to Stamford Bridge.
‘’We played so, so well that it was hard to take that we only got a draw. The boys were brilliant, we had control of the game. I am pleased that it was a good team performance and I am also pleased with the spirit of the team after going behind. We were very unlucky not to win but that’s football and we have to accept that.’’
Mourinho will continue to be the centre of controversies since it appears that such acts propel him to give his best. He did his best during the Saturday game until that melee. It gives pundits so much hope that Mourinho could change on the pitch. How about his conduct with the media or with match officials (post-match comments)? Mourinho’s foul-mouthed jibes haunt him like his pedigree in the game.
The Chelsea manager’s maturity is commendable. Sarri urged his assistant to prove his maturity, adding that: ‘’Everybody has to learn from mistakes. Now as a man, I am better than when I was 35. Otherwise, I would be a stupid man if I cannot learn from mistakes. I made one hundred mistakes (when I was younger).’’
‘’I want to give him another opportunity. I know the man and I know very well that he was really sorry. He realised the mistake. Everyone can make a mistake but you need to learn from the mistake. He will be able to do it. As for the FA, We were wrong so we have to accept the consequences,’’ Sarri said.
Was it out of place for Mourinho to ignore Ianni’s taunts even if he did for 100 times? Given the way in which Sarri has handled this matter, he certainly would have ignored Ianni, if he did what he did to the Chelsea manager. Mourinho should control his temper. He is the leader of the Manchester United side and much is expected of him in terms of discipline and his conduct on and off the pitch influences the players’ demeanour.
Ianni will be punished because Chelsea’s management won’t appeal the query, knowing the assistant coach misbehaved. But it would have been applause for Mourinho if he had pretended not to have seen Ianni.
Between Alex Iwobi and Mikel Obi
I’m excited that we won’t wait forever to replace John Mikel Obi in the Super Eagles’ holding midfield position as it appears Alex Iwobi fits the bill perfectly. Iwobi has been awesome for Nigeria and Arsenal. The good thing is that Gernot Rohr is thinking in this direction by stating that Iwobi is faster than Mikel and equally talented. Surprised? Don’t be. Iwobi is Okocha’s nephew, so it runs in the family.
Replacing star performers in the Eagles has been a nightmare, so much so that we still talk about the exploits of the late Rashidi Yekini anytime our national team’s strikers fritter away goal scoring chances. Football teams had special plans to stop Rashidi but he surmounted the oppositions’ traps and banged goals with aplomb. Fans stood up, hands raised to salute Yekini’s goals.
So many players have been tried in the creative midfield position to see if they could replicate some of Austin Okocha’s enchanting dribbling skills, but they have failed. We have been through three World Cup competitions since Okocha stopped playing and we still miss him so much so that when he plays in novelty games, the talk everywhere is for him to return to the Eagles, even if it means playing as a substitute.
Let me not waste space talking about how much we missed Nwankwo Kanu, aka Papilo. We have thrown up our hands in the search for Kanu’s replacement because Papilo’s sublime skills were out of this world. He looked frail but did incredible things with the ball.
Our search for good replacements for our stars rests not in the outfield position. There is still the debate over who will replace Peter Dodo Mayana Rufai in the goalpost. Vincent Enyeama distinguished himself, but he has retired. Carl Ikeme did well. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed of cancer of the blood before the Russia 2018 World Cup. Uzoho did well in Russia, amid talks of having Ikechukwu Ezenwa.
The interesting development is that Ikeme has been tasked with discovering good goalkeepers. Uzoho has done well so far, but was average against Libya in Sfax, even as his defenders were not enterprising enough to ward off the Libyans’ onslaught after leading by two goals. Nigeria eventually beat Libya 3-2.
We hope that Iwobi’s emergence will not make Mikel feel bad, if he eventually sits on the bench. This is the NFF’s best chance to make Mikel a player cum coach. It also will excite followers of the game, if Mikel is encouraged to become a coach, with the Nigeria soccer body footing all his bills. Mikel as the Super Eagles’ chief coach will be a welcome development because he has seen it all in the game.
