Mourinho has another pop at Michael Oliver after Spurs' derby defeat
Jose Mourinho has another pop at Michael Oliver as he claims the referee is ‘unlucky in his decisions with me’ despite being ‘one of the best in the Premier League’ after Tottenham boss moaned ‘my record on him with penalties is astonishing’
- Jose Mourinho has claimed referee Michael Oliver is ‘unlucky’ with his decisions
- It comes after Oliver awarded a decisive penalty against Spurs at the Emirates
- Mourinho felt that the decision was harsh and took aim at Oliver after the defeat
- Spurs boss said he was ‘very unlucky’ to be on the end of an ‘astonishing’ record
- However, Mourinho insists Oliver is still ‘one of the best referees in the league’
Jose Mourinho has taken aim at Michael Oliver again after claiming the match official is ‘unlucky in his decisions’ with the Tottenham boss.
The Tottenham boss was furious with Oliver’s decision to award Arsenal a spot-kick in his side’s north London derby defeat on Sunday, describing his penalty record under the official as ‘astonishing’ after the game.
His complaint of having a poor penalty record with Oliver does hold some weight, with Sportsmail revealing the match official has given an average of one spot-kick every 3.5 games against Mourinho’s sides – far more than any other referee in England’s top-flight.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has claimed Michael Oliver is ‘unlucky’ with his decisions
It comes after Oliver (middle) awarded a decisive penalty against Spurs in the Arsenal defeat
When asked about the deflating 2-1 defeat at the Emirates, Mourinho once again conceded that his Spurs side was under-par but backed up his stance that Mikel Arteta’s men benefitted from a ‘poor refereeing decision’.
However, the Special One reiterated that Oliver is still ‘one of the best referees in the Premier League and in Europe’, despite him constantly being on the wrong end of a penalty decision.
Mourinho told reporters on Wednesday: ‘I’m not ready to discuss this with you because this is about analysing the game and the performance and the reasons and it’s something I’m not ready to discuss with you media two or three days after and 24 hours ahead of another important game.
‘Easy to say what I said after the game that we didn’t play very well and I think that’s fair to say.
Sanchez was penalised after jumping in on Alexandre Lacazette in the north London derby
Lacazette was caught by Sanchez after he had sliced at attempt at goal in the second half
‘The performance from minute one was poor and then what happened in the second half with a poor refereeing decision, but let me make it clear, Michael is a very good referee.
‘Despite me being normally very unlucky with him, I have no problem with him being my referee for the next game.
‘He’s a good referee and just unlucky in his decisions with me. Clearly one of the best referees in the league and Europe.’
After Sunday’s defeat, Mourinho accused some of his Spurs stars of ‘hiding’ during a poor first half – and also included himself in his scathing assessment – before criticising Oliver for awarding a second-half spot-kick that was ‘an offence to penalties.’
Oliver pointed to the spot after Lacazette went down following a challenge from Davinson Sanchez, who slid in attempting to block an anticipated effort from the Frenchman.
Lacazette then dusted himself off and slotted home coolly for what proved to be the winner
AVERAGE GAMES TO AWARD A PENALTY AGAINST MOURINHO
Michael Oliver – 3.5
Jon Moss – 6.6
Mike Dean – 7.25
Mark Clattenburg – 8.5
Anthony Taylor – 10
Craig Pawson – 15
Howard Webb – 15
Andre Marriner – 19
Martin Atkinson – 24
Lacazette swung for the ball but failed to properly connect and contact between the pair came as a result of his follow through.
Mourinho said: ‘I don’t want to call it a penalty, because is an offence to the penalty. That was a mistake by Oliver.
‘Players get tired, coaches get tired, maybe referees get tired too. My record with Michael Oliver on penalties with Chelsea, United and Tottenham is unlucky.’
Mourinho also aired his grievances about the lack of media accountability for referees, but admitted his side had been well off the pace in the first half and were lucky to reach half time all-square.
‘No post-match interviews for referee,’ he laughed.
‘Well, I think we played really bad in the first half. 1-1 was not a fair reflection of the first half. We were poor. Defending bad, no intensity or pressing.
‘Even in terms of creating attacking football, (we had) some important players hiding.
‘In the second half we only had space to improve, which we did, and then it’s a question, but an impossible question as they don’t speak, a question for Michael to answer. Probably Paul Tierney too as he was the VAR.
Referee Oliver speaks with Sanchez after awarding Arsenal a penalty in the second half
‘According to Kevin Friend, the referee told me he had a clear vision and the VAR didn’t want to go against it.
‘But second half was under control, we recovered what we lost in the first half. We made changes to try and win it and then it’s a penalty.
‘After the penalty a second yellow for Lamela, but even so the team in the last 20 minutes, we did what we could and tried to get a result.’
The defeat was Mourinho’s ninth league reverse this season, the joint-most in his career in a single campaign.
Spurs now need to pick themselves up for successive trips to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday and Aston Villa next Sunday in the Europa League and Premier League respectively before the international break.
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