Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea critic Graeme Souness is “clearly a frustrated man”. The Blues boss took the opportunity yesterday to respond to those who lambasted Chelsea in the aftermath of their Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Souness was among the fiercest critics in his role as a Sky Sports pundit.
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Using his hands to gesture, Mourinho raised his left hand above his head to illustrate Souness’ high level as a player and whacked his left on a low desk to signify his own career.
When it came to management, the Portuguese’s right hand was raised high and his left, for Souness’ management career, wavered just above the desk.
Mourinho said: “The difference between me and Souness is this – Souness as a player, up there. Jose Mourinho as a player, down here. Jose Mourinho as a manager, up here. Souness as a manager, down there.
“With another difference: I was not a frustrated man because I was not a top player. He is clearly a frustrated man.”
In a clearly rehearsed line, Mourinho also added: “Envy is the biggest tribute that the shadows do to the man. Our situation is good. It’s better than anybody else’s. Everyone would love to be in our position.”
Much of the criticism of Chelsea, whose 2-2 draw, saw them exit on the away goals, centred on response to the tackle which saw PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off.
Nine Blues players surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers, with Souness branding the incident “pathetic” and his fellow pundit Jamie Carragher saying it was “disgraceful”.
“Memories are getting shorter,” said Mourinho. “Jamie stopped playing a couple of years ago and in two years he forgot everything on the pitch.”
On Souness, who was boss at Benfica prior to Mourinho, the Blues boss said: “I know a lot about him.”
Having won the League Cup for a third time earlier this month, Mourinho is bidding for a third Premier League crown with Chelsea, who play Southampton tomorrow.
Without the distractions of the FA Cup and Europe, it was put to Mourinho that Chelsea have no excuses if they blow their five-point advantage over Manchester City.
“There are always excuses,” added Mourinho. “I have excuses to be only five points ahead, because we should be eight, nine, 10, 11, 12.
“We have 11 matches to play. Lots of difficult matches against teams who desperately need points to play in the Champions League or to stay in the Premier League. The two extremes. But we are also in one extreme: as a team who wants to win the Premier League.”