Southampton FC manager Ronald Koeman has criticized Jose Mourinho for being too defensive-minded in his tactics and believes the Chelsea boss should take pointers from Arsene Wenger and start playing attacking football. .
Ronald Koeman urged Mourinho to learn attacking football from his old foe Arsene Wenger, and said the 52-year old must go for the jugular after Chelsea take the lead rather than sitting deep in their own half.
“Chelsea prefer to defend when attacking is also an option”, Koeman was quoted as saying by Goal UK.
“Mourinho always chooses to defend. Even if his team goes 1-0 up, they would rather defend their lead than try to score more goals.
“Yet Arsenal can kill an opponent. That is why their victory against Manchester United was so impressive.
“Attacking-wise, they completely destroyed United. For 20 minutes, they played the most fantastic football, while Chelsea do the opposite thing.”
The Saints inflicted further damage on Chelsea as they became only the second team to win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League during Mourinho’s time at the helm of the club.
He added, “By defending, Chelsea give their opponent a chance to come back in the game. It was a shame that Mourinho was putting attention on the referee after we beat them.
“He wanted to have a penalty in the first half. But, in the first half at Stamford Bridge, Southampton should have had two penalties.”
Southampton are rooted 9th in the table, with 12 points in 8 games. Their football has been wonderful and pleasing to the eye, and they’re expected to grab a Europa League spot yet again this season.
As for Chelsea, Jose Mourinho is in quite a predicament with just 8 points in 8 outings, making this their worst ever start in the Premier League era. They host Aston Villa next at Stamford Bridge, and anything but three points will be catastrophic for the Blues.