Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune pointedly says what many in the press have been thinking but few have been saying: Jose Mourinho is either insane or he's just a jerk. Where many coaches might have been satisfied with a thoroughly professional 1-0 Champions League semifinal victory against Liverpool, Mourinho could only whine about the performance of Marcus Merk, the match official considered by many to be the best in the world.
American fans might take issue with that statement (Merk awarded that infamous penalty against Ghana that gave the Black Stars a 2-1 win over the USA at the 2006 World Cup), but Hughes points out there was nothing wrong with Merk's performance on Wednesday night. Said Mourinho: "I'm pleased with my players, but I don't understand how we don't have penalties," he told Sky News. "When penalties are so clear, I don't understand. I go for the facts and it's a fact."
Hughes says Mourinho was referring to an incident where Alvaro Arbeola swung at the ball and missed, causing it to hit his right arm. Aside from it being a scenario where the ball played the hand and not the other way around, the incident happened some two yards outside of the box. As Hughes says, "His sense of injustice borders on paranoia," and at this stage of the season, with each match incrementally more pressure-filled, you can expect that to worsen.
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