Ex Chelsea FC boss Ruud Gullit has launched a scathing attack on current manager Jose Mourinho. The Dutchman, who led the Blues to 1997 FA Cup triumph as player-manager, believes that Mourinho’s tactics really are boring.
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The Blues are on the verge of winning their fourth Premier League title, but Gullit thinks that Mourinho’s team could have been way more impressive given the players he has at his disposal.
The Blues started the campaign playing the best football in the country, running through teams with ease. Newly recruited Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas set the league alight with their superb telepathy, while Eden Hazard was his usual dazzling self.
Now at the business end of the season, Mourinho has tightened up, especially since losing both Costa and Loic Remy to injury, and being forced to play a 37-year-old Didier Drogba up front.
#CFC's Premier League title would be special, says Mourinho http://t.co/39FjvuD52y (Pic: Action) pic.twitter.com/RW1lmpMHZB
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) May 2, 2015
His methodical approach has yielded positive results, keeping the Blues way ahead of the pack. Manchester City and Arsenal now trail by 13 points, with Chelsea needing just one more win to secure the crown.
Winning, apparently, is not enough for the former boss. He claims that Chelsea’s current system is nothing like the attractive brand of football he brought with him from Holland.
“His team IS boring when, in my opinion, the players he has deserve much better. Mourinho deserves his negative label because of the calculated way he makes Chelsea play.”
“I find it astonishing, because his players are capable of brilliant football, as we saw on Wednesday for a brief moment when they were losing 1-0 at Leicester and were suddenly forced to put their foot on the accelerator.”
"-Ruud GullitSource: Mirror"
Gullit is of the opinion that the players actually want to play a more attractive game, but are shackled by the over-cautious tactics employed by the Portuguese manager.
“You could see their hunger to attack and the joy that playing like that brought to the players. They loved it. They were sparkling. Then, as soon as Chelsea were winning 2-1, Mourinho wanted to bring on Kurt Zouma, the defensive midfielder, to keep everything close up.”
“When Zouma was waiting to come on, Chelsea scored a third goal, yet still the change was made to seal the victory. Why on earth did Mourinho do that when it was clear that his players wanted to keep attacking and demolish Leicester?”
“It is because Mourinho hasn’t changed. He has forever got his hand on the handbrake.”
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Gullit is one of the many critics who fail to see the bigger picture. The clubs playing the most ‘attractive’ or ‘beautiful’ football in the league are now 13 points behind ‘boring’ Chelsea.
Sure they aren’t playing the way they started the season, but at this stage results matter way more than style. Mourinho is doing what he must to bring in trophies and he is good at what he does.
Was Gullit as good? Not even close. His FA Cup won with Chelsea remains the solitary honor as a club manager. After such a rant, I don’t even think he is good at what he does right now.