Paul Scholes has written in The Independent that referees appeared eager to please Sir Alex Ferguson but said Jose Mourinho's recent media comments on officials are backfiring.
Mourinho has been fined by the Football Association this season for suggesting there was a "campaign" against his Chelsea side and, after the controversial 1-1 draw at home to Burnley on Saturday, the Portuguese made an unexpected appearance on Sky Sports in which he expanded on his criticism of the decision-making and attacked media coverage of his side.
Former Manchester United manager Ferguson was renowned for his efforts to influence referees' decisions -- and he admitted before his retirement that he would deliberately put "pressure" on officials -- but Scholes said Mourinho has not been able to replicate the Scot's success in that area.
"As the most successful manager in the Premier League and its biggest name now that Sir Alex Ferguson has gone, it should be no great surprise to see Jose Mourinho doing his very best to influence the decision-makers in the game, from referees to the Football Association," Scholes said in his column for the newspaper. "The problem for the Chelsea manager is that I just don't think it is working for him.
"It just seems to me there is an unwillingness among referees to be influenced by him. I am not saying they are making the wrong decisions on purpose, just that there is a resistance to being told what to do."
He added: "There is no doubt that my former manager Sir Alex exerted an influence over some referees. He was the master of dropping a comment into his Friday press conference -- for instance, how long it had been since we had been given a penalty, or the treatment meted out to a player like Cristiano Ronaldo. It was always calculated and delivered calmly.
"How would I describe the impression I got from some referees when it came to Sir Alex? I think some of them wanted to please him. I don't mean that they did us favours. It was more that they were very keen not to make mistakes in our games. That when they came to Old Trafford they wanted to be on top of their game and get everything right.
"It goes without saying that no one at United ever expected any help. We understood that decisions can go against you. We believed we were the better team and, therefore, if the referee got his decisions right then we would win the vast majority of our games."
During his appearance on Sky Sports, Mourinho was critical of the channel's pundits for their analysis of Diego Costa's apparent stamps on Martin Skrtel and Emre Can during Chelsea's Capital One Cup semifinal victory over Liverpool, with the striker eventually receiving a three-match suspension.
Chelsea also released a statement expressing their anger after Nemanja Matic, sent off against Burnley for his reaction to an Ashley Barnes challenge that Mourinho called "criminal," saw his three-match suspension reduced by just one game.
Mourinho has also said on Sky Sports that he could "only remember one decision all season which went in our favour" -- referring to the officials' failure to spot a Gary Cahill handball during Chelsea's 2-1 win over Liverpool in November -- but Scholes disputes that.
He said: "To be clear, I don't think Nemanja Matic should have been sent off against Burnley. I believe that Cesc Fabregas should have been given a penalty against Southampton. I don't think that Diego Costa should have been banned retrospectively for stepping on the ankle of Emre Can. But I also think Mourinho should remember that he has had some close calls in other games that have gone his way.
"The footage of Branislav Ivanovic locking an arm around James McCarthy's throat in the Everton game did not look good. Equally, Gary Cahill, when he kicked Harry Kane in the New Year's Day game at White Hart Lane when the striker was on the ground. Cahill's challenge on Alexis Sanchez in October that angered Arsene Wenger was not too clever either."
He added: "There is no campaign against Mourinho but there is clearly an unwillingness by referees, and the FA, to be pushed around.
"I don't know what reaction Mourinho expects from referees in saying what he has about them. If he had hoped that they would be more likely to give his team the split decisions then it has not worked. They seem to be determined not to be seen to be influenced by him."
No comments:
Post a Comment