The Portuguese manager hates diving and will not tolerate it.
The ongoing debate of diving in football reared its ugly head again this week, with AC Milan’s Mario Balotelli and Neymar of Barcelona both accused of it during the Champions League.
In the London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea last weekend, Jose Mourinho was angry with Jan Vertonghen’s apparently over-dramatic reaction to a Fernando Torres challenge – which saw the striker sent off.
Mourinho has revealed that 50-year-old hates diving and that any Blues players caught doing it will be punished.
“I have told the players many times, I hate it. It is very bad,” the Portuguese coach was quoted in the Telegraph.
“And the search of a red card for another player is a disgrace.
“I haven’t dropped a player because of it, but being strong and critical, I did it, yes. I spoke about it with Drogba and Robben.
“If one day I win the game where I feel one of my players didn’t behave correctly, I will say it.
“You could see for example in the Champions League this week, what happened in Glasgow and Amsterdam. And for me that is fairly sad.”
During Mourinho’s first stint in charge at Stamford Bridge – between 2004 and 2007 – club legend Didier Drogba was infamous for apparent diving.
The Ivorian did stamp some of it out of the forward’s game during eight years in west London, but it is still seen on a fairly regular basis in the Premier League.
After the match at White Hart Lane last Sunday, Spurs winger Andros Townsend publicly apologised after the Englishman was booked for diving.
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