Although the verbal bickering that had existed between the duo had subsided in recent weeks with an element of mutual respect now existing between Mourinho and Conte, you get the feeling they’ll never be the best of friends.
At Wembley, yesterday, both managers were desperate to get their hands on the FA Cup, Conte because he wanted to savour what it was like to win the greatest domestic cup competition in the world, even more so after the defeat, last year, to Arsenal, whilst Mourinho wanted to keep up his remarkable run of victories in domestic cups since coming to these shores.
Therefore, it was, perhaps, somewhat inevitable that the loser wouldn’t exactly be full of the joys of spring when interviewed post-match.
Jose looked like a man who’d been found guilty of a crime but was desperately trying to put together a credible defence,
“I think our team did a fantastic defensive job without defending. We controlled positions, transitions really well.
“They only played long balls to Giroud to flick. When you play against a team so predictable it’s quite easy to adapt to it. I thought we wouldn’t concede any goal in this match. But of course Hazard is a very good player and he created a penalty.”
Further details of what was an epic case of sour grapes can be found in the link below:
Jose Mourinho says he doesn’t think Chelsea deserved to win the #FACup.#CHEMUN #bbcfacup https://t.co/8GaDrszOAo pic.twitter.com/MUPb4FUsVr
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) May 19, 2018
For Manchester United, the season ended without a piece of silverware,
https://twitter.com/TheSporTalk/status/997902333508976646
and we imagine the whining went on long into the night as the Manchester United side made their way back up to the north-west.
But as a final point, I’d like to ask the following question, why, despite Jose Mourinho being the most successful manager in the history of our club does a victory against a side managed by him seem so much sweeter?