Brendan Rodgers’ Chelsea criticism a case of sour grapes

To criticise Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s negative tactics following the Blues’ 2-0 win away to Liverpool on Sunday smacks of sour grapes.

Chelsea went to Anfield in need of a result to stay in the English Premier League (EPL) title race and delivered, the manner in which they did that is irrelevant.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers accused Mourinho of “parking two buses” in his post-match interview.

“Just putting 10 men right on your 18-yard box is not difficult to coach,” he said. “We were the team trying to win but we just couldn’t make the breakthrough.”

Although Rodgers protests, a real EPL championship-winning side would still have found a breakthrough. And that Chelsea studied Liverpool’s tactics and applied their own to get the win is surely what football is all about.

With his complaints, Rodgers overlooks the fact that his team simply weren’t good enough and were left bottled up when it counted most. While the Reds looked out of options and failed to connect a pass, Chelsea defended admirably and keeper Mark Schwarzer put in an inspired performance.

Chelsea should also have a bit more credit for their ability to cope with these high-pressure situations. While they have been inconsistent against lower-ranked teams, if you were to look at a league table of head-to-heads between the EPL’s top four this season, Chelsea would top it with 16 points, nine points clear of Manchester City. Liverpool would be third on six points.

With this win, Chelsea have blown the title race wide open. Liverpool play Crystal Palace away and Newcastle United at home in their remaining two games and could finish on a maximum 86 points.

Chelsea play Norwich City at home and Cardiff City away and would finish on 84 points with two wins.

And Manchester City, who have a game in hand, play Everton away and Aston Villa and West Ham United at home and could equal Liverpool on a maximum 86 points, taking the title to goal difference. At present, Man City are eight goals better off than Liverpool.

After Liverpool beat City 3-2 mid-month, we were all looking at the Reds’ last four games and saying it’s theirs to throw away, and they have. So, any presumption now that City’s new-found advantage somehow guarantees them the league must be tempered.

If this season has taught us anything, it’s that we should expect the unexpected.

City still have to travel to Everton and, while Toffees fans might happily see their side roll over to deny their Merseyside rivals Liverpool the title, they are still in the race for a Uefa Champions League spot and may be forced to do their old foes a favour.