London: Jose Mourinho is furious with the Spanish Football Federation after star striker Diego Costa was ruled out of Saturday’s clash at Crystal Palace through injury.
Costa, the leading scorer in the English Premier League with nine goals, returned to Chelsea last Monday after playing for Spain in two Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Mourinho had publicly asked Spain coach Vicente del Bosque to use the international break to rest the forward, but he ignored the Chelsea boss and on Friday it was unclear for how long the striker would be sidelined. Costa scored his first international goal in the 4-0 victory over Luxembourg.
The Chelsea manager said: “Diego was here Monday at 9am. So you can imagine how strong he was to be here at 9am on Monday.
“The Spanish team played in Luxembourg on Sunday. I gave them Diego, Cesc Fabregas and Cesar Azpilicueta.
“I gave them two days off — Monday and Tuesday, so they had to report to train on Wednesday at 3pm. I don’t speak with national team managers unless they want to speak with me. But me? I’m powerless. I don’t waste my time contacting national teams. When they decide to contact me, I’m open to speak with them. But it’s never my initiative to speak with them.”
Although Mourinho is frustrated with Spain’s handling of the forward, the Chelsea manager claims there should be a moral commitment between clubs and the English FA as part of a wider strategy to help the England team.
Mourinho added in an interview with The Daily Telegraph: “I feel committed. Nobody is telling me we have a rule where we have to play five English players.”
Chelsea have Lewis Baker, Dominic Solanke and Isaiah Brown, among others, in their development squads and Mourinho insists they would not be a risk playing first-team football.
He added: “Me, their entourage, players, their agents, people around them [must help], but from my point of view as a manager and a coach I think they must be Chelsea players.”
Mourinho was in a fighting mood on Friday and also launched an attack on Arsene Wenger by claiming he would have been given a stadium ban if he had shoved the Arsenal manager.
Despite Wenger’s apology for his actions during Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea on October 5, Mourinho insists the FA give the Frenchman special treatment.
Wenger avoided disciplinary action after the high-profile incident at Stamford Bridge because it was dealt with at the time by referee Martin Atkinson.
Mourinho said: “I’m not surprised, I’m not surprised. [Me] charged? Charged? If it was me it would have been a stadium ban.”
Mourinho then revealed that he follows his own protocol before matches by shaking hands with opposition managers and insists it is not necessary at the final whistle. He said: “The moment I consider fundamental is to shake hands before the match, and before the match in my house, it’s my responsibility ...
“So I always go to the opponents’ dugout, or in the tunnel before the game. After the game, it depends on you, on the others.”
Mourinho also responded to Aston Villa assistant Roy Keane, who claimed a Sunday League boss would have knocked him out if he had attempted to shake hands with the opposition before the end of the game.
Mourinho said: “I don’t know if he really feels it, or if he wants to sell books and needs my help for that. But, to be fair, I know my nature, I know my intentions.”
