English League Cup Final: Richard Williams was at yesterday's press conference to get Jose Mourinho's thoughts on a difficult week.

"With three matches in a week there is no time to work," Jose Mourinho said yesterday. "There is only time to play matches and to recover." But time had to be made for dealing with the fallout from the most turbulent few days of Mourinho's short career as a football manager, culminating yesterday morning in headlines describing him as a "bad loser" and a "pathetic liar".

The accusations came from the direction of the Nou Camp, where Barcelona beat Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday night in a Champions League match that went into extra-time off the pitch. Stories of punch-ups in the tunnel were followed by accusations that Frank Rijkaard, the home team's manager, had been seen leaving the referee's room during the interval, when Mourinho's team were holding a 1-0 lead.

The following day Chelsea retracted a claim that one of Rijkaard's assistants had kicked Mourinho in the backside during the fracas. And yesterday, at a press conference called ahead of tomorrow's League Cup final against Liverpool, the manager briefly broke his silence to say that he had not witnessed the events that will form the substance of a report - "not a complaint," it was stressed yesterday - which the club are compiling for submission to Uefa.

"I was the first to leave the pitch at half-time, as always," Mourinho said, "because I want to run to the dressing room to prepare myself. When I leave at half-time, no one goes in front of me. So when I go, everything is clear in the tunnel. I see nothing."

Pressed on the etiquette of approaching the referee during half-time, something of which he also accused Alex Ferguson after the first leg of the League Cup semi-final last month, he explained his own view. "Talking is one thing. Normally I don't do it. But you can talk in a common space - in the tunnel, for example. The referee is a man, the manager is also a man and you communicate. You are not happy with this or that. 'Why did you do this?' 'Why did you do that?' I think you cannot say you cannot communicate, or that you have to build a wall. But another thing is to speak with a referee in a private place."

After Chelsea's astonishing start to Mourinho's first season in charge, the untidy events in Barcelona appeared to fit into a new and worrying pattern. It began with the claim that Ferguson had exerted influence on Neale Barry, continued with the allegation that Chelsea had made an illegal approach to Ashley Cole at a meeting between the club's top men and the Arsenal full-back, and intensified last Sunday when Mourinho's team were knocked out of the FA Cup by Newcastle United after Mourinho had used all his three substitutes at half-time, only to suffer a rash of second-half injuries, thus ending his hopes of landing four trophies in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

Suddenly the steely intellect that had captivated the Premiership on his arrival last summer appeared to be showing traces of metal fatigue, and the Barcelona expedition seemed to expose deeper flaws. Coupled with the red card for Carlo Cudicini at St James' Park, the expulsion of Didier Drogba hinted at a lack of discipline beneath Mourinho's much-vaunted methodology.

A fine line divides engaging mischievousness from downright arrogance, and last week, as he returned to confront his old employers, Mourinho was tiptoeing along it. His conduct in the build-up to Wednesday's match was hardly likely to rekindle friendships in the Catalan capital. When he compared his own non-existent playing record with Frank Rijkaard's many honours, it was only in order to give himself the opportunity to draw the world's attention to the contrast between Rijkaard's lack of silverware as a coach and his own impressive collection of trophies.

If that verged on a gratuitous insult to a man whose skills and intelligence have adorned European football for the best part of 20 years, what happened next took the breath away. However much a roomful of journalists were delighted by Mourinho's cheek in naming not only his own team but also Rijkaard's selection for the match, the fact remains that he had no business doing it - or at least not in such a clever-dickish way. By all means engage in an intelligent discussion of your opponent's players and his likely strategy. But do not make a show of arrogating to yourself a privilege that is his by right and then expect him to share the joke.

When Mourinho gives yet another demonstration of his gift for carefully finessed effrontery, the temptation is to track back and wonder whether Brian Clough would have done something similar. Mourinho is a great deal like Clough in his Derby days, forever with a pin in his hand, ready to puncture pomposity and complacency. And the alleged tapping-up of Cole has its parallel in the afternoon Clough announced the signing of Ian Storey-Moore, the star of Derby's bitterest rivals, Nottingham Forest, by parading his capture around the Baseball Ground at half-time. But the release had not been signed by Forest and Clough's premature display ensured that it never would be. Yet it is hard to imagine Clough treating a fellow manager as Mourinho treated Rijkaard. Less than a year since his Porto dismissed Manchester United from the Champions' League with a flourish, we have become so used to seeing the 42-year-old Portuguese as the upstart aggressor, using his agility and wit to get inside the guard of ageing heavyweights, that it comes as a bit of a shock to see him at bay and under pressure. "I never feel pressure," he insisted yesterday. "Never, never." And he was at pains to deny that the first-leg defeat in Barcelona had affected the atmosphere at his club.

"Maybe the mood has changed, but not the confidence," he said. "Nobody likes to lose, especially people who are not used to it. But it was not a real defeat, the kind that brings you down. There is still another game to play."

Chelsea are being judged by the wrong criteria, he continued. He has a four-year contract with Roman Abramovich, and his concern is for a construction process that goes beyond whatever may or may not be won in this first season of the partnership.

"A club develops in many, many areas. I am speaking about clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid, a lot of clubs with years of construction to them," he said. "So if you want to put pressure on Chelsea, you just look at the last two years and say, 'Chelsea spent this, the others spent that, so you have to get more victories and beat everybody.' If you understand what it is to build a team and a club, you know that football is not like that.

"At the end of the year you can evaluate Chelsea's work and you can say what you want. But in my opinion if Chelsea win the Premiership the season will be historical, fantastic, and a wonderful step for the future of the club. If you come back with something extra, like the Carling Cup, that would be magnificent. But for me the season is still focused on the Premiership. Very difficult to win because other teams are there and they still can do it. But we have a big chance."

Mourinho Moans: Chelsea manager's previous final spats

UEFA Cup final
May 21st, 2003
Celtic 2 FC Porto 3

There were scuffles between players and coaching staff at half-time after Derlei had given Porto a 45th-minute lead. Derlei also scored the extra-time winner. Porto's gamesmanship riled Celtic. "I don't understand why Martin O'Neill was complaining," said Mourinho, who claimed Celtic played "very aggressively", Bobo Balde's red card was "justice" and Alan Thompson should also have been sent off. Mourinho added that Costinha received a "terrible kick" when he was injured, although there appeared to be no contact.

Portuguese Cup final
June 15th, 2003
FC Porto 1 Uniao Leiria 0

Mourinho found time to argue with a reporter after the final, even though Porto had just completed the treble. Derlei's 63rd-minute tap-in from Deco's cross sealed victory for Mourinho's side. The reporter had pointed to Uniao Leiria's five or six missed chances, and Mourinho reacted angrily. "There are no words to describe what we have done," he added. "We are in Portuguese and European football history."

European Super Cup
August 29th, 2003
Milan 1 FC Porto 0

Andriy Shevchenko's 10th-minute header won the game in Monaco, but Mourinho felt that another man was more responsible: Graham Barber.

The English referee was accused of bias after booking rather than sending off Clarence Seedorf. "Maybe Milan is more important in soccer's hierarchy," said Mourinho. "If this was a Portuguese player, would he have made the same decision?" He also called the pitch "unacceptable" after Maniche stumbled and his shot hit a post.

Portuguese Cup final
May 16th, 2004
FC Porto 1 Benfica 2

"I told the referee he was a liar and I say it again," Mourinho said after Simao Sabrosa's extra-time strike sank 10-man Porto. Derlei had earlier put Porto in front before Taki Fyssas equalised. Jorge Costa's rash tackle on Nuno Gomes earned a second yellow card. "I asked him if he had something against me or Porto," said Mourinho of Lucilio Baptista, Portugal's top official, who said: "We'll speak later." Mourinho said the conversation would show if Baptista had something against them, or was "just a lousy referee".

Champions League final
May 26th, 2004
FC Porto 3 Monaco 0

"There is nothing more for me to win in Portugal," said Mourinho after tearing off his winners' medal within seconds of collecting the trophy and not celebrating with his players. "There is not a challenge that is big enough. It is time for me to move on." He caused a stir before kick-off by leaving top scorer Benni McCarthy out of the starting line-up, but replacement Carlos Alberto opened the scoring before Deco and Dmitri Alenichev sealed the win.

Guardian Service