Monday Comment - Are Mourinho's Media Tactics Wearing Thin?

Mourinho's post-match interview guarantees headlines.

It's not unusual to see teams completely out of place in the league standings after just five games, but that fails to soften the shocking start that Chelsea have had, leaving them teetering on the dotted line of relegation. Three defeats out of five games,  star players turning completely anonymous, and antics from Mourinho that are increasingly becoming a pure circus-act, have brought the pre-season favourites to their knees.

One wonders just how much of an impact the Eva Carneiro fiasco had on the Chelsea players and staff. While Mourinho refuses to back down on his comments following the 2-2 draw with Swansea, it has inarguably caused more of a distraction than a deflection. This sort of attempt to detract attention from the poor performances of players is nothing new, but the cruel impact it has had on someone's professional life may have turned figures within the club against Mourinho's brash media tactics, as whispers are suggesting.

Mourinho's treatment of the club doctor was a step too far for many.

Besides, Mourinho's famed wheel of excuses is now falling extremely short of blocking the attention of the punditry from his slack squad. Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic have all come in for their rightful share of heavy criticism after littering Chelsea's opening games with poor performances. It's almost as if the usual method of trying to deflect media scrutiny from his team is making analysts more determined to pick out the growing problems with Chelsea's football, ignoring the redundant excuses that inevitably tumble down the pipeline after the final whistle (very little has been made of Mourinho's ludicrous claim that part of the team's defeat to Everton was down to the computers breaking the day before).

We're left with an interesting situation at Chelsea now. Mourinho must band together a team short on form and morale, a task that has seldom cropped up for 'The Special One' in his years of relentless success. Despite the problems, it seems unlikely that he will face pressure against his job unless this patch of form continues into the winter, but Mourinho is driven towards league titles and will be desperate to get the club's title campaign back on track.

Martial's lore

Martial's goal was very Thierry Henry, but he won't want to end up going all Bebe.

Another great Old Trafford tale may have begun on Saturday, when Anthony Martial shifted the ball past a trio of dumbstruck Liverpool defenders before slotting home in front of an ecstatic Stretford End. Martial's move to Manchester United comes with an enormous amount of pressure - arguably more than any teenager footballer has had to deal with before. However, if his goal against United's fiercest rivals is anything to go by, the rising French star will hardly break a sweat.

United haven't always had much luck bringing in young strikers. Names such as Federico Macheda, Bebe and David Bellion represent unmet promises in the team's past. Anthony Martial still has a long way to go before he can permanently escape that list, but time is on the 19 year-old's side. Martial will continue to develop over the next few years, and such a high transfer price means that he should find himself given plenty of opportunities, lest the board are made to look like money-tossing fools.

The battle for fifth - Leicester versus Palace?

Riyad Mahrez has been one of the early stars of the season.

Two teams that have truly been impressive in the first five fixtures are Leicester City and Crystal Palace. Leicester finished last season on a high, yet remarkably Claudio Ranieri has worked out how to shift the team into an even higher gear. Fast attacking play has made the Foxes the joint-highest scorers in the league alongside Manchester City with 11 goals, and with a seemingly insatiable strikeforce, it seems that Leicester will continue to thrill and entertain throughout the season.

Where Leicester have arguably benefitted from a winnable run of fixtures, Palace have endured the opposite, taking on Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City in the first five games. Despite this, Alan Pardew's side have looked impressive in every match they have played, and sit in fifth with 9 points. Even in their defeats to Arsenal and Man City, they have performed extremely well and were unlucky not to snatch a result. Palace were touted as potential dark horses pre-season, but it seems more as if they are a legitimately excellent side that ought to expect a top-half finish at the very least.

Yohan Cabaye may be the buy of the summer.

Can either of these teams push for Europe? It feels as if there could be a surprise this season, and currently these two sides look the most likely to pull it off (Swansea would also be a contender here, despite their defeat to Watford). Considering the run of fixtures both sides have had, I would argue that Palace are more likely to finish in the top 6 than Leicester. It certainly wouldn't be beyond Alan Pardew - let's not forget how close he came to driving Newcastle into a Champions League spot in 2012.

Ighalo goal gets Golden Boys going

Ighalo's second goal of the season sealed Watford's first win.

You may or may not remember how I argued for Watford's survival a few weeks back. I'm not saying I was definitely right all along, but I feel that Watford's victory is a good reminder of their ability to succeed for those who had mentally put the nails in the coffin.

Admittedly, the stats didn't look good - no goals in 3 games, no wins, etc. But Watford have played well in all of their fixtures, and have scored points against strong teams. It did seem as if people had already written off the promotion side who hadn't yet thrilled, but I think there's more to come from Watford, and the Vicarage Road fire is only really simmering.

Nevertheless, it was crucial they scored a confidence-boosting victory against Swansea, as a winless start can have a damaging, numbing effect on a season.

Bonnie Marko

Portsmouth 2-0 Watford


This fixture has always been a strange one for me. As much as I am devoted to Portsmouth, I do have a second allegiance in today's opposition. My Dad, a lifelong Watford fan, did just enough to brainwash me into being a laid-back Hornet, but not enough to ever convince me that my loyalties lie North of London. Mutually, we both decide that our ties are too strong in this game, and it's the only occasions on which we will sit in opposite ends of the ground. I was travelling with an enemy, and I did not want to be made humble.

The game itself was inconsistent, but enjoyable. It was rather like a log flume; you had some slow, trundling bits followed by some exciting bumps and splashes of drama. Despite the referee's best attempts to break up the flow of the match, I felt that Portsmouth, at times, played football with both effectiveness and aesthetics in mind, and passed the ball with a lot of promise.

Despite a couple of suspensions and injuries the team-sheet looked bravely attack-minded. Varney and Rocha were both out and Ward and Halford were serving a suspension, but that didn't stop us from having a watertight defence and a big diverse attacking line. With Futacs, Huseklepp, Lawrence and Kitson on the pitch, goals seemed likely.

The first half started off brightly for Pompey. They were confident playing the ball in and around the box, and had a few decent attempts from distance. It showed potential, but was one peg shy of being a goal-threat. Watford seemed to be devoid of response as our defence looked like it was coping nicely. Mokoena and Pearce were clearing away danger comfortably, and simply would not be beaten in the air. Meanwhile Ben Haim and Mattock were dealing with no real threat down the wings whatsoever.

Then the game suddenly began to drag as Portsmouth started to lose their ambition. About seven or eight times the ball found its way back to Stephen Henderson, who lumped the ball upfield every time which resulted in us relinquishing possession. It seemed as though our defence were unable to pass the ball forward, and kept playing it sideways or back to the goalkeeper. It wasn't so much a bit scrappy all of a sudden as just an ineffectual repetitive motion.

Things gradually picked up until the half-time whistle, with Kitson having a couple of shots on goal to keep Scott Loach firmly on, and off, his toes. Portsmouth's resurgence continued after the break with another few chances before Marko Futacs got a deserved goal. Lawrence's corners had been dangerous all game, and at last he managed to find the 6-foot-5 Hungarian, who poked a header past Loach to make it 1-0. It was the least Portsmouth deserved.

Watford showed little signs of response. For a side that had gone eight matches unbeaten, they seemed totally switched off and lacked the effort to justify the trip down the A3 an admittedly impressive number of Watford fans had made. They knocked the ball across the face of goal a couple of times, but in truth I can't remember Henderson having to make a proper save all match, and I think that would've continued if the game had been four days long. Instead, Watford seemed to be getting more and more frustrated, picking up a few bookings through some rash tackles.

Pretty soon Lawrence nodded home a second goal after Loach had his fingers stung by an almighty strike, but the Irish midfielder was ruled offside. Nonetheless, Pompey battled on hard, and the game was practically won when goalkeeper Scott Loach was sent-off for a confusing clash just outside the area involving him, Futacs and Mariappa. As far as I could tell, it looked like the three players just collided, so the sending off seemed rather harsh. However, various news outlets have made it unclear as to whether it was a foul or handball that was given, so it's really difficult to say whether or not the decision was fair until the replay is shown on television tonight.

I don't think it would've ultimately mattered though. Watford were poor, and within minutes Hayden Mullins stroked home the second with an excellent finish. His last goal was the winner in a fortuitous 3-2 win over Watford last season, and today he capped off a much more merited victory over the same side. Late on, Futacs had an effort from distance which was both sublime and powerful, but it crashed off the crossbar.

There were good performances all over the pitch for Portsmouth. Both Jason Pearce and Aaron Mokoena were as solid as diamond at the back. Liam Lawrence is a havoc machine, but my favourite today was Marko Futacs. The big man is a powerhouse in every sense of the word (minus the 'house' bit). He blasted his way past players and did everything to thunder his way to the ball before anyone else. He knows exactly how to use his size and strength to his advantage, and I'm pretty excited to see how he'll do over the coming weeks.

I think there's many things we can take from today's game as positives. For one, our squad appears to have the depth to cope with a few injuries, which hasn't been the case for a long time. Furthermore, our resilience at home is continuing with results against the form teams, showing no match is holding points out of our reach. Appleton has continued the trend set by Whittingham and Gray, and has arguably advanced on it, with the team striding confidently and relegation fading ever further into the distance.

It was a lovely win and a game to savour. My only annoyance today was with the club. Somehow I had tickets for seats that were already taken by two young lads who had half-season tickets for the same spot. Consequently I had to sit somewhere else in the stand, which is not a disaster but it is a bit annoying when you've booked somewhere specific.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Marko Futacs
VILLAIN OF THE MATCH: Carl Dickinson