'If the FA wants to punish me, then punish me!' - Mourinho's sensational post-match rant in full
Mourinho's rant in full:
" But when you are so down, I think it's time to be a little bit honest and to say clearly, the referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea.
"The result at 1-1, there's a huge penalty [claim] and once more, we don't get it. And a penalty's a crucial moment in the game, with the result at 1-1. I repeat, if the FA wants to punish me they can punish me, they don't punish other managers, it's not a problem for me. I want to repeat, my players deserve it. Chelsea fans deserve it. I am a Chelsea fan too. The referees are afraid to give decisions to Chelsea.
"Why? Because when they give
there is always a question mark from you. There is always a question, always a critic. We are always punished. We are punished because Diego Costa is suspended. In other matches we see the same thing and it doesn't happen. Clear penalties are not given. And with us, it's one and one and one and one. Even in the Champions League, which is a game with not three officials but with five. We are not given a penalty in the last minute.
I want to make it clear… 1) I don't run away; 2) If the club wants to sack me, they have to sack me because I am not running away from my responsibility, my team. To be champion is obviously very, very difficult because the distance is considerable. I am more than convinced that we will finish top four. If the season is so bad that you finish top four, it's okay; 3) Even more important than the second, I think this is a crucial moment in the history of this club.
"You know why? If the club sacks me, they sack the best manager this club had. And secondly, the message is again the message of bad results. The manager is guilty. This is the message, not just these players, the other ones before, they got [the message] during a decade. This is a moment for everybody to assume their responsibilities. To stick together. This is what I want.
" Doing that as a professional hurts me a lot. Doing that at Chelsea hurts me twice. So I want to carry on, no doubt.
"I assume my responsibilities, it's time for everyone to assume their responsibilities. When you go down, to so many individual mistakes and fear to play, they have their responsibilities. Players that are performing really, really bad individually. I cannot come here and say 'you and you and you', is not my job, but I think it's clear that we are being punished by too many individual mistakes.
"Sadness brings sadness. Bad results they attract bad results. The first mistake is just the first because after comes another one. They still need to finish the first half winning two-three nil, the fear disappears, we come into the second half and play with a free brain, a free spirit. This is what this team needs. Unfortunately for them this is not happening.
"And again I repeat, I want to make it clear again, I don't want to be offensive. I don't want to be non-polite. The referees are afraid to give decisions. When you are top, you want to see people come down. When you people is down, give us a break. Be honest and be loyal with us. The team deserves that. The penalty is clear. 2-1 is a complete different story. Okay? Thank you."