Mourinho has gone too far with his medical staff treatment

Jose Mourinho has always used his media interactions as a distraction technique, insulating his players from criticism by centring the story on himself or others.

But his alarming dressing-down of team doctor Eva Carneiro after the Blues were nearly embarrassed by Swansea City on Saturday is arguably the first time that he has turned his guns on one of his own so viciously at Stamford Bridge.


With Chelsea down to 10 men after Thibaut Courtois’s red card and the scoreline at 2-2 late in the second half of their Premier League opener, Mourinho was incensed when, after Eden Hazard appeared to take a knock, Carneiro and her team were summoned onto the pitch by the referee to treat the Belgian. As a result, Hazard was required to briefly leave the field, leaving the hosts with just nine men.
Carneiro has had her duties severely reduced, including her removal from the dugout on matchdays, with Chelsea refusing to comment. It leaves an extremely poor taste in the mouth if Mourinho has indeed come down with such fury on someone who – not alone, it must be noted, despite the seeming specificity of the punishment – was merely following the instructions of the referee.

The only person who could possibly be blamed for Hazard’s removal from the pitch is Hazard himself. If your players are going to feign injury to waste time and slow down play then this is inevitably going to be an issue for them. Usually, this tactic pays off for Mourinho’s teams, but there is no excuse when it doesn’t, being, as it is, technically outside of the rules of the game to pretend to be injured.

Carneiro is one of the highest-profile women working in the men’s game and already has had to put up with unequal and often degrading treatment from the stands, over social media, and almost undoubtedly from within the game as well,a very unpleasant message to other women with similar ambitions.

Mourinho recently signed a new contract with Chelsea that, if fulfilled to its entirety, would see his second spell with the Blues become his longest stay at any one club but one cannot help but be reminded of Real Madrid. There, the ‘Special One’ slowly, steadily, then spectacularly fell out with colleagues left and right until his position was no longer tenable, publicly criticising the likes of Pepe, Sergio Ramos and even Cristiano Ronaldo.

If he continues down this road at Chelsea, it would be a surprise if he saw out that new deal, especially as Mourinho had his fair share of previous disagreements with owner Roman Abramovich, to whom he can still play the underdog fighting bravely for his team and his honour. But while his capacity for longevity remains an open question, there is no doubt here that Mourinho has gone too far.