Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho defended the negative game plan strategy by insisting it requires expertise.
Jose Mourinho first used to the term “parking the bus” to describe the defensive approach deployed by Tottenham boss Martin Jol as they held . Chelsea FC to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge in 2004 and since then, it has become a commonly used term.
Ironically, for tactics deployed by Mourinho more often than any other manager.
Chelsea FC were accused of deploying ultra defensive tactics as they edged towards their first Premier League title in five years. Arsenal FC fans famously chanted ‘boring, boring Chelsea’ in their game against the London rivals.
Now, Jose Mourinho offered his take on the critics of the tactic:
“First of all I have a lot of respect for the bus drivers,” he said with a smile to the assembled audience at the launch of BT Sports new European football channel in London.
“You have to be very, very good to be a good bus driver.”
“To park the bus, you need help to park the bus. Without that help, you will crash the bus. So a bit of credit go to the bus drivers, or the managers who know how to park the bus.”
“Football is about moments. It is very difficult to have one game from the first to the last minute to have only one game.”
“Sometimes you dominate, sometimes you are dominated. Sometimes the opponents are on top of the game and you have to play different games within a game. This is not easy to do it.”
“The same way, the bus driver needs a lot of experience and a lot of training to park the bus. In football, it takes times and work to understand this.”
“Sometimes I feel that my guys work really hard and while all footballers would like to go to the pitch and have fun, sometimes it is not always like that.”
“Chelsea FC this season was ready for everything. They were ready to park the bus and also to play great football. If you go to Chelsea 6, Everton 3 [last August], we parked the bus very, very badly that day as we conceded three ridiculous goals.”
Love him or hate him, you surely cannot ignore Jose Mourinho.