Jose Mourinho goes full Jurgen Klopp but wears wire for own ‘protection’ against ‘worst referee’
Jose Mourinho went full Jurgen Klopp after Roma’s 1-1 draw with Monza on Wednesday, slamming the ‘horrible’ referee as the Roma boss wore a wire for his own ‘protection’.
Roma remain out of the European qualification places with five Serie A games to play after Stephan El Shaarawy’s early opener was cancelled out by a stunning volley from Monza star Luca Caldirola.
Mehmet Zeki Celik was sent off for Roma with seconds left to play, leaving Mourinho furious after the final whistle.
According to Gabriele Marcotti, Mourinho donned a wire for his own ‘protection’ in the event of a confrontation with referee Daniele Chiffi, whom he scathingly reviewed in his post-match press conference.
“This was the worst referee I have encountered in my entire career,” Mourinho said. “Believe me, I have dealt with many bad referees. Usually, when I talk about referees, it is because they have a direct influence on the game.
“In this case, I don’t think that is true. But he is horrible, he makes no human connection with anyone, he has no empathy, he gives a red card to a player who slips because he is exhausted at the 96th minute. Unfortunately, this too is a sign of Roma’s weakness as a club, because we do not have the strength of other clubs who can say we don’t want this referee.
“I stopped working 20-30 minutes from the end, because I knew he would give me a red card for anything. There are clubs that say I don’t want this referee and Roma either don’t have this capability or the DNA or anything else. It’s horrible. With the few players I have in my squad, I could not get a red card.”
Mourinho’s comments come days after Klopp was similarly critical of Paul Tierney’s performance in Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Tottenham.
The Football Association has charged the Reds boss after he appeared to call into question the integrity of the official, claiming he did not know what Tierney “has against us” and that what the referee said to him on the touchline “was not OK”.
As Klopp later revealed, before the ‘smoking gun’ was released, all Tierney said was that he believed Liverpool boss deserved a red card as he showed him a yellow.
The Liverpool boss absolutely “didn’t lie” though. Definitely not.
Mourinho was also at the centre of a spat with a fourth official during February’s defeat to Cremonese, and was sent to the stands for the third time as a result, before arguing with the official in the dressing room after the game, landing him a two-match ban.
Asked to explain what happened to the Court of Appeals, Mourinho said: “Without even turning around, provocatively giving me his back and with obvious superiority, Serra [the fourth official] told me: ‘Go home, go home’. I said ‘what?’ and he said ‘everyone is taking the p***’. Then he added: ‘Always the same show, go home’.
“I knocked, I was allowed in, the door was left open. I come here because I want you (Serra) to apologise to me. I then told him he was a liar and at the end I added an ironic joke: ‘You are from Turin’. At that moment Serra came back aggressively: ‘I knew you were coming for that reason’. There then I ended the conversation by saying: ‘You are a liar’.”
