The Evil, Paranoid Genius of Jose Mourinho

Yesterday, early in the second half of Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Southampton, when Southampton leftback Matt Targett tripped Cesc Fabregas in the box, Jose Mourinho was no doubt pissed. There wasn't a lot of contact, Fabregas went down as if blown over by an Arctic wind, and it seemed like an accident on Targett's part, but rules are rules. Penalty. But not only did referee Anthony Taylor not award Chelsea a penalty, he booked Fabregas for diving.

The incident happened in the fifty-fifth minute, which meant Mourinho had 35 minutes (plus stoppage time) to stew—plenty of time for Mourinho, a masterful coach but an even better media manipulator, to choose his words. The more efficient reporters out there probably had their tired takes on diving written up before the final whistle: was it really a penalty? Gosh, being a ref is hard! Should there be replays for penalty decisions? All they had to do was plug in the post-match quotes and file their copy.

Mourinho did not disappoint: "In other countries where I worked, tomorrow in the sports papers it would be front-page scandal because it is a scandal. I think it is a scandal because it is not a small penalty: it is a penalty, like Big Ben. In this country—and I am happy with that, more than happy with that—we will just say that it was a big mistake with a big influence in the result. I will go to the referee and wish him a good year and tell him he will be ashamed."

This is classic Mourinho, disguising criticism with praise. He went on to suggest the incident was evidence of some kind of "campaign" or conspiracy. "It's not against me, because I'm not on the pitch. Against Chelsea, yes," he said.

Now, there's obviously no conspiracy against Chelsea. The FA is not out to get Mourinho or his players. But guess what the Monday morning columns are about? Here's a hint: not Chelsea failing to break down Southampton. Not professional soccer player Filipe Luis's embarrassing inability to cross the ball into the box late in the game under no pressure from Southampton. And not the excellent play of Southampton's goalscorer Sadio Mane.

The Guardian's Jacob Steinberg, when discussing Mourinho's comments, speculated that Mourinho could face disciplinary action for criticizing Taylor before getting at the point of Mourinho's post-match tirade: "Mourinho believes that his players are suffering the consequences of criticism from outside the club…"

Mourinho is famous for his ability to change a game with substitutions and for creating teams with near-unbreachable defenses. But his most important trait, the thing that separates him from all the other good coaches out there, is his ability to ease the pressure on his team by acting as a lightning rod and creating us-against-them situations—often out of thin air—that unite the locker room.

In his post-match press conference, he made some interesting points about the game, suggesting the FA should review incidents like this and rescind yellow cards to avoid the double punishment of not having a penalty and being carded. But that's all secondary to his real purpose: to shape the discussion. Often he does this by saying something outrageous. But he almost always succeeds in making the conversation about him—or the ref or Wenger—not his players.

So is there a campaign against Chelsea? No. But is Jose Mourinho campaigning? Definitely. Referees will remember his comments the next time one of his players goes down in the box, contact or no. In his campaign to shape the conversation and use the media to apply pressure, the dude never stops.