Jose Mourinho has given a fascinating interview to Gary Neville which will appear in the Telegraph tomorrow.
Discussing Chelsea's 2-0 win at Anfield which effectively robbed Liverpool of their title hopes last season, Mourinho had a brilliant description of how he felt each side was being portrayed in the media at the time. He said:
I felt during part of last season that the country wanted Liverpool to be champion,
The media, the press: a lot was to put Liverpool there. Nobody was saying they were in a privileged situation because they didn’t play Champions League. Nobody was speaking about a lot, a lot of decisions that helped them win important and crucial points. And I felt that day was a day that was ready for their celebration.
I used the word with my players. I said – we are going to be the clowns, they want us to be the clowns in the circus. The circus is here. Liverpool are to be champions.
He went on to say that Liverpool's refusal to move the game forward by a day to allow Chelsea more time to prepare for their Champions League semi final galvanised the Blues' will to win on the day and made them a more dangerous proposition than they would have been on the Saturday.
Neville suspects that his dishevelled, tracksuited appearance on the day was all part of his plan to lull Liverpool and shut them down, as he puts it. It's an absorbing encounter between the two men and can be read in full here.
