Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hits out at 'boring' criticism as he claims 11-year title wait for Arsenal is the real tragedy
- Chelsea edged closer to the Premier League title after a 0-0 draw with Arsenal on Sunday
- The Blues were criticised in some quarters for an over-defensive display
- Jose Mourinho has shrugged off those claims and said that the real boredom was in Arsenal's 11-year-wait to win a league title of their own
- He hailed the individual performance of his captain John Terry as the defender's 'best ever' in his career
Jose
Mourinho has launched a fresh verbal attack on Arsenal, branding their
11 year wait for the Premier League title as 'boring'.
Led
by skipper John Terry - whose performance was described as his best
ever by Mourinho - the Blues produced a defensive master class in a
goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium to take a step closer to the
championship.
Frustrated
at what they perceived as the visitors' lack of attacking intent, home
supporters chanted: 'Boring, boring Chelsea' throughout Sunday's clash.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hit out at Arsenal and branded their 11-year wait for the title 'boring'
Didier Drogba posted this picture on
Instagram of Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Eden
Hazard, John Terry and Cesc Fabregas after the PFA awards
Chelsea players prepare to attend the PFA awards ceremony after their goalless draw with Arsenal
Mourinho heaped special praise on to his captain John Terry (left) for his 'fantastic' performance on Sunday
Chelsea forward Eden Hazard (right) prepares to take on Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey (left) on Sunday
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger accused Chelsea of being purposefully defensive during the goalless draw
Their views were shared by Arsene Wenger, who said Chelsea 'came to defend' after the final whistle.
But
Mourinho, who started the game without a recognised centre-forward, hit
back, insisting Arsenal's 11 years without winning the league is truly
mundane.
'Boring, I think, is 10 years without a title. That's very boring,' said the Portuguese.
'You
support the club and you're waiting, waiting, waiting for so many years
without a Premier League title, so that's very boring.
'But
maybe they weren't singing to us. Maybe, when you want to win a game
and you're at home and you take your No 9 [Olivier Giroud] off, maybe
the home fans want to see Danny Welbeck and Giroud up front.
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Chelsea are 10 points clear of second placed Manchester City at the top of the table with five games to play
'The
boring team is the second team with most goals in the Premier League,
the best goal difference. Only Manchester City have scored more goals
than us.
'If
you tell the truth, people will fall in love with it. But you have to
tell the truth. If you say the truth, you will walk in the truth and
people will blow kisses at you.'
'So
I think we scored a lot of goals and, in a period where we don't have
Diego Costa or Loic Remy and have only one striker, we need to work in a
way where he can help ourselves with all the matches we are having.
'We changed a bit our dynamic and we are not scoring so many goals as before.
Mourinho,
whose side need five points to secure the title, hasn't needed much
encouragement in criticising the Gunners since arriving in England in
2004.
He labelled Arsene Wenger a 'voyeur' in 2005, before branding the Frenchman a 'specialist in failure' last season.
The Special One was much more positive on the performance of his captain at the Emirates Stadium.
'I told John Terry in the dressing room that he made some fantastic performances with me but this was his best,' said Mourinho.
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez (right) shields the ball from Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas (left)
Fabregas (centre) appeals to the referee Michael Oliver (right) after being shown a yellow card on Sunday
Hazard (left) tussles for possession with Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin (right) at the Emirates Stadium
Mourinho believes that Terry's performance against Arsenal was the best of the defender's career
'It
was the best JT has ever played. It was absolutely amazing. One
performance at Highbury, I think in my first season, that was a
fantastic performance, too.
'But
I think today everything was clean: reading the game, giving cover, the
defensive line, interceptions, reading the game so well, interceptions
with a pass.
'The team was phenomenal, but John was one step ahead of every other player.'
Midfielder
Oscar, who was taken to hospital with suspected concussion after a
heavy collision with David Ospina, started the game at centre-forward.
In
explaining his decision not to start with a recognised striker,
Mourinho, who confirmed Costa and Remy are likely to miss the clash at
Leicester, added: 'First of all, Drogba didn't work with us until
Saturday so we'd developed the game-plan tactically, on the pitch, for
the whole week without [Didier] Drogba.
'We knew that with Oscar we would get behind them like we did so many times in the first half.
'In
the second half we played with a target man [Drogba], more on the
counter-attack, but every time we recovered the ball on the counter,
they made a tactical foul.'
Arsenal defender Per Mertersacker (left) challenges Chelsea striker Didier Drogba (right)
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