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Dear Jose,

I just want to say thanks for the laughs.

At the end of yesterday’s game I was as disappointed as any Liverpool fan at the defeat and disappointed that some decisions didn’t go our way.

Football being what it is these things happen – referees miss good penalty shouts, their assistants see offsides that were a good yard on, goal-line technology might not have been invented yet (sorry to bring that one up again).

You just have to get on with it and make those decisions irrelevant. Score goals, stop them going in, that kind of thing.

After the game nothing can be said that will change the result but the managers must face the press and questions will always be asked about those controversial decisions.

There were quite a few incidents for the winning manager in this game – you – to claim not to have seen: Eto’o lunging at Henderson’s knee before raking his studs down his shin in the first couple of minutes, John Terry’s attempt to use Luis Suarez as some kind of makeshift stepladder in the Chelsea box in the second half or Eto’o again, this time fouling Suarez in your box near to the end of the match.

As it was I didn’t see your post-match comments until I saw the back of the Mirror this morning.

I can’t remember you ever being gracious in defeat but I don’t remember you ever being this ungracious in victory. Rattled?

It was a close game and it could have gone either way, there was plenty to praise your own players for and so there was an easy way to sidestep those questions about those fouls by your men.

Not for Jose Mourinho.

Instead the back page was filled with your quotes essentially labelling Suarez a cheat.

It was a great effort by you to be fair, classic misdirection and it worked well. Instead of talking about the poor decisions by the officials or the horror challenge by Eto’o, or maybe how well some of your players played, the back pages are filled with your quotes about Suarez.

In fact, instead of talking about your players the back pages are talking about you.

Just how you like it?

The misdirection worked well enough that nobody seemed to ask you any follow-up questions.

For example, if you “hate players who try to [provoke] situations” what did you think of Arjen Robben that time when he threw himself to the floor as if Tazered by the touch of Pepe Reina’s gloves? Reina was sent off, but I don’t remember you condemning Robben for his play-acting then.

When you were Chelsea manager you never publicly rebuked Didier Drogba for diving – but after you’d gone, perhaps still feeling a little bitter about the manner of your departure, you had no qualms.

(Image: Getty)

Back then you said: “I am no longer Chelsea manager and I don't have to defend them so I think it's correct if I say Drogba is a diver. Ronaldo, Fernando Torres, Robin van Persie are the divers who won more penalties during the last four or five years.”

Of course you are Chelsea manager again now so perhaps you’ve ditched those principles and gone back to defending your own.

Like in November, when your former assistant Steve Clarke, who has since lost his job, was disgusted at a tumble from Ramires that led to a point-rescuing Chelsea penalty in stoppage time. Clarke said, avoiding use of the “diver” label: “I am flabbergasted at the decision, I cannot believe the referee gave it. He started going down early before the contact, so you guys can put a label on it if you want.”

You responded, also avoiding use of the “diver” label: “This one was a penalty. From the bench, I did not know, I was too far away, but from looking at the screen, there are no doubts.”

There were no doubts about what really happened for anyone else who looked at the screen, but a lot of head shaking from anyone who saw your comments.

You even, perhaps inadvertently, admitted that Suarez had been fouled in the box by Eto’o yesterday.

“He lost his duel with Azpilicueta,” you said, “and then Eto'o comes and puts his body in front. Suarez looks like somebody shot him in the back.”

You were up against another former colleague of yours in Brendan Rodgers and perhaps, with far fewer resources, he’s got you a little bit rattled. Liverpool dropped out of the top four on the back of that result but are you worried that maybe they pose a real threat to your own hopes of top four, or your outside hopes of the title?

The biggest threat Liverpool pose comes undoubtedly through Luis Suarez. He’s smashing them in for fun, with both feet, his head, in open play, from the edge of the box, from free-kicks – he’s as complete a striker as any top-flight manager could hope for.

In the game you can stop him by means fair or foul (using him as stepladder being the latter).

(Image: Andrew Powell)

After the game you have to try other methods. Maybe that’s why you tried to turn the focus away from his goal scoring form to whether or not he’s a diver.

You said: “I hate players who try to [provoke] situations. Luis is an amazing player and I have lots of respect for his quality and his attitude and his ambition to try and win every game, but he tries too much to try and provoke these situations.”

Is calling a player out for diving, in an incident you admit was a foul, not “provoking” the situation?

Suarez has been labelled a diver in the past, despite him more often than not fighting to stay on his feet if there’s a remote chance he can get the ball and do something with it. And as we know, when he gets the ball he can usually do something with it.

Referees rarely if ever come out and explain the decisions they’ve made so we’re all left wondering why exactly they made whatever choice they made. But there must be times when they’ve been swayed by a noisy home crowd, a posse of angry players or an opinion they’ve already formed of a player before the match has even kicked off.

Your comments reinforce that perception of Suarez being a diver – unless they’re seen by someone who saw the replays, saw what Eto’o got away with in the first half, or saw your comments about the tumble from Ramires last month.

Players might try to trick referees by making the most of some contact from an opponent. Managers can trick referees by coming out with comments like yours. Which is worse?

Keep the laughs coming, your mind games aren’t what they were but they’re still entertaining.

We’ll see you at Anfield in April, don’t forget your coat and let’s hope it’s an important game for both clubs.

Yours sincerely,

Jim Boardman