The tactics of winning; Jose Mourinho style

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

There is a lesson to be learned from yesterday’s result at Anfield where Chelsea committed a classic stage-coach robbery if there ever was one.  On a day where Liverpool looked so certain to win purely based off their performance on the pitch, a classic Jose Mourinho deployment denied the home support their post-match celebration.  Yes, Mourinho parked that famous Chelsea bus in another effective display and he has come under criticism from all angles, even Brendan Rodgers himself, who was on Mourinho’s staff at Chelsea during his first stint with the Blues.  Is the flak Mourinho is receiving warranted? No, not at all.

So many supporters and pundits always seem to forget that football managers are in the business of winning matches and winning trophies.  Naturally some are far better at it than their counterparts, but at the end of the day, you come into the match looking to gain the full three points, so should it matter if you do it with football that is pleasing on the eye?

There are few better than deploying defensive tactics to great effect than Mourinho and he has done it time and time again.  Though ironic that he chooses to do it with a side that has a wealth of attacking options and talent, but few understand better than him that how you go about getting a result should not matter.  The Premier League prides itself on being an exciting league, chalk full of clubs that love to go out and attack you and we have seen that from Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Southampton, Tottenham and Swansea much to our delight.  But if you were to ask an Arsenal supporter if they’d rather win the match ugly than lose it with style, what would their answer be?

How Mourinho can be blamed for how his troops were deployed at Anfield yesterday certainly must be understood – Liverpool are rampant this season, ruthless at home and have the top strike force in the country and arguably the world currently.  If Chelsea were to go out and try to play expressive and attacking football, surely they would have lost as Pool were in the mood all afternoon and nearly garnered a result despite the Blues moat and stockade.  But the Portuguese manager has the pulse of his side down to a science and for me, he made the right decision on the day.

Many will often cite that football should not just be about winning, but it should also be about pleasing the fans with what they are watching and it should be about expression on the pitch.  While I do disagree with those sentiments, I say to you again that football managers are paid to win for the club and if they happen to do so in a style that James Brown would stand up and say it loud for, that must be considered a bonus.

In his post-match conference, Rodgers made it obvious with his displeasure in the manner of which Chelsea approached the match, citing that that was not how his team chooses to win.  The hard truth of it, is that Liverpool did not win on the day and those negative tactics so despised by many had triumphed once more.  When so many Azzurri sides would defend to the last and still manage to win, it was considered admirable.  When lesser sides of the Premier League park the bus, so many consider it 19th century football.  Which one is the right mentality to take in the debate?

Whether you think bunkering in on your eighteen is noteworthy or a drain on the game, just remember that football (and all professional sports) is about winning.  And if your footballing morals dictate that you should go out and win with style and grace, just ask the next Gooner you come across what playing with style has done for them lately.  In the matter of Mourinho, he is not a genius for the result yesterday.  Simply, he knew what had to be done when it had to be done and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.