Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho claims that Arsenal players “like to cry” after the 0-0 draw between the teams at the Emirates Stadium on Monday. The host team reactedfuriously to referee Mike Dean’s failure to dismiss Blues midfielder John Obi Mikel for a foul on Mikel Arteta late in the first half, as theNigerian flew into the Spaniard’s right calf with a studs-up challenge, breaking his shin guard in the process. Seconds later, Gunners winger Theo Walcott tumbled over in thepenalty box after a late challenge from Willian, and no penalty was given.
“You know, they like to cry,” Mourinho said of Arsene Wenger’s men. “That’stradition. But I prefer to say, and I was telling it to the fourth official, that English people – Frank Lampard, for example – would never provoke a situation like that. Players fromother countries, especially some countries, have that in their blood. So, if there is contact or an opponent is aggressive, they don’t keep going. But this is English football. Foreign players arebringing lots of good things. They come here because they are talented. But I prefer English blood in football. English blood in this situation is: ‘Come on, let’s go.’ Mikel’s tackle is hard andaggressive but football is for men or for women with fantastic attitude. It’s true.”
Gunners coach Wenger, who has now failed to defeat Mourinho in 10 matches in all competitions, said he washappy enough to be joint-top of the Premier League heading into the second half of the season. “If I’d told you that we’d be [joint] top of the league at Christmas when we lost to Aston Villa[on opening day], you’d have told me I was absolutely mad. We are where we are. The last few games have been difficult but we have played Everton, City and Chelsea.”