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Mourinho goes on the offensive after 'criminal tackle'

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After a mostly-controlled press conference in the wake of an utterly disgusting 1-1 home draw against Burnley, I don't think many were expecting Jose Mourinho to turn up on television to complain about Martin Atkinson's performance ... and pretty much everything else officiating-related this season:

When I finished the game against Liverpool, I went to the dressing room, first thing I saw because we have a big screen to analyse the match at half-time and at the end of the match, was reading non-stop about Diego Costa crimes. I would like to know how do you, Sky Sports, describe the actions of the Burnley player yesterday?

I don't like to act that, in my opinion, you start immediately in that moment the public judgement of the player. You gave no space to the people, the fans to decide. You gave no space. You don't do this with every club. You don't do this with every player.

...

When you say Diego crimes you cannot say a harsh tackle [for Barnes]. You have to say a criminal tackle. You say Diego crimes because of a situation he put his boot on a hand. When this is Diego crimes. the minimum you have to say is criminal tackle.

Source: Mail.

If this had come out of nowhere, maybe I wouldn't endorse the manager accusing pretty much everyone of DEFCON-level incompetence. But after watching Chelsea get thoroughly screwed out of an easy win -- a refereeing performance so bad that Graham Poll felt the need to defend Martin Atkinson over hypothetical allegations of corruption -- and after watching our most important player take a leg-breaker from a Championship-calibre thug, I'm feeling it. Go on, Jose. Into them.

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