Mourinho scathing of Cardiff

22 October 2013 10:16

Jose Mourinho is considering his response to the Football Association's charge of improper conduct following his dismissal during last Saturday's 4-1 win over Cardiff.

The Chelsea boss was charged on the eve of his side's potentially decisive Champions League Group E clash at Schalke and given until 6pm on Thursday to respond.

There were a number of controversial incidents in the game, none more so than Chelsea's disputed equaliser, and Mourinho was sent to the stands by referee Anthony Taylor midway through the second half.

Mourinho, who is most likely to face a fine rather than a ban, went to sit with the fans, making the day of those he sat next to, but his own frustration was clear.

Speaking prior to the FA's announcement, Mourinho kept his counsel on his sending-off, but was scathing of Cardiff, who he believed to be time-wasting.

Eden Hazard scored the controversial equaliser after Samuel Eto'o dispossessed Cardiff's David Marshall as the goalkeeper bounced the ball, contrary to FIFA rules.

That brought lengthy complaints from the Welsh club, but Mourinho had little sympathy.

Mourinho said: "If I was in that game and I was paying my ticket, I would be worried with the fact that every time the ball was out or stopped and our opponent had to put the ball back in the game, it took a median (average) of 21.5 seconds. That is a waste of money.

"When you multiply that by the number of times the game was stopped, you pay for 90 minutes but you see 55 or 60.

"For me, that's breaking the rules."

Mourinho insisted Eto'o's interception was an "intelligent action" and that Marshall's actions were a warning to aspiring goalkeepers, including his own son.

The Portuguese added: "When I arrived home the first thing I told my kids who like to play goalkeeper: 'See the goal and don't be silly'. And he's 12."

Mourinho disagreed with FIFA's law 12, governing the incident, which states "the goalkeeper is considered to be in possession of the ball while in the act of bouncing it on the ground or tossing it into the air".

He added: "If, in this moment, FIFA says that it's a foul, it's a foul.

"But I think Samuel did well. Maybe the referee did wrong.

"In my opinion, that should be allowed as it was for years. No contact with the goalkeeper.

"The goalkeeper has six seconds to have the ball. They had almost half a minute. That's breaking the rules."

Source: PA