Soccer: Mourinho wants player cheats punished

Manchester City's Alvaro Negredo. Photo / AP

Jose Mourinho called on the Football Association to punish players who cheat to get opponents booked or sent off, accusing Alvaro Negredo of trying to do just that to Nemanja Matic during Chelsea's win over Manchester City this week.

The Chelsea manager has appointed himself the new crusader against simulation in recent months and says his admission that Chelsea's Oscar was rightly booked for diving by referee Martin Atkinson against Southampton last month proves he is the most open when it comes to criticising his own players.

Mourinho was scathing about the actions of Negredo, deciding to name him, having at first been reluctant to identify a player who he said had deliberately tried to earn Matic a second yellow card. Mourinho said that at the time he had protested to the fourth official about Negredo's simulation during the second half.

"I think that simulation has to be punished the same way the aggression is punished. I don't know if you noticed that but, in the game of Man City, I had an exchange of words with one of the City players. I was not happy because he was trying to get Matic sent off. He [Negredo] knew he [Matic] had a yellow card. Matic jumped just in front of me in a very clean way, and the other guy immediately [holds his face]. He knew Matic had a yellow card already. [Referee] Mike Dean, the fourth official and the linesman were all there. They decided between them no yellow card.

"But if it is no yellow card for Matic, then for me [it is a] yellow card for the other guy. He deserves the punishment if he's trying to get the guy sent off. You have to attack the guys who try to get people sent off."

Mourinho's new position can be difficult to reconcile at times, given the behaviour of Mourinho's teams in the past, not least the memories of his 2003 Uefa Cup-winning Porto side. But he is adamant his players will not try to get opponents unjustly punished.

As for the Ramires penalty against Derby County in the FA Cup, Mourinho is still clear in his own mind that was the correct decision.

"I'm the one that said lots of penalty deserved a laugh [to be laughed at]," Mourinho said, "but no other managers said that. Maybe I'm the naive one. No mind games."

With City and Chelsea due to meet again next weekend in the FA Cup fifth round at the Etihad Stadium, the psychological warfare (Mourinho and City manager Manuel Pellegrini are old, bickering adversaries from the Spanish league) appears to have begun early, with Pellegrini claiming Chelsea go into the game with an advantage due to City being forced to play the tie just 74 hours before they play Barcelona in a Champions League last-16 encounter.

Chelsea's Fernando Torres is training again after his knee ligament injury, though he was not ready for the visit of Newcastle to Stamford Bridge last night.

- Independent