José Mourinho has said he regrets his use of the word “campaign” when complaining about decisions made against his Chelsea side over the turn of the year, though the champions’ manager stands by his assertion his team had been victims of oversights by match officials.
He had been incensed when Cesc Fabregas was denied a penalty in the draw at Southampton in December after a foul by Matt Targett. Fabregas was booked for diving by Anthony Taylor, with several other perceived incidents of simulation having been previously highlighted involving Diego Costa, Willian, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic. Mourinho suggested a "clear campaign" had been instigated against his team, with the English Football Association subsequently fining him £25,000 (€35,000).
“I’m not the kind of person to regret,” said Mourinho, who had pointed to pundits, rival coaches and commentators reacting to Chelsea in a different way to other teams. “What you did you did. What happened happened. You cannot change things. Time does not go back. We had lots of mistakes against us. That’s the reality but that’s football.
‘Bad decisions’
“Maybe ‘campaign’ is not a nice word. Maybe I would take that word out from my explanation and my comments, but that’s the reality. We had very bad decisions over a big period of time. But I also made bad decisions, so no problem.
“The word ‘campaign’ was even the subject of punishment because the word was strong. My feeling was that we had lots of mistakes against us, that punished us in crucial matches in a crucial period – November, December, January. I would take the word ‘campaign’ [out] if the same happened next season. It would be out of my vocabulary. But that feeling is clear. We had lots of decisions against us.”
Chelsea will hoist their first Premier League trophy in five years at Stamford Bridge after Sunday’s finale against Sunderland, with the manager targeting further progress next term.
“They have to win more to be considered great,” he said. “One title is not enough. Next season it will be a new type of Champions League, with different combinations in the last 16. It will be a Champions League where Real Madrid are among the second pot of seeds. A lot of big clubs – Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal – will not be in the first pot, so who are they going to cross with in the group stage? Lots of big teams will finish second, meaning they will be up against big teams who finish first. Those seedings are completely fair.
“ The first pot are for champions, whether they have won in England, Holland or Portugal.” Guardian Service
