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It was fascinating to sit in Jose Mourinho's press conference at Anfield, to hear the Specious One justify the tactics which offered him another victory through native cunning.

He poured scorn on the journalists present in a variety of ways as he applauded Chelsea's defensive masterclass, and even bizarrely brought laughter as he wished ill health on all present, when there seemed little humour intended.

His face narrowed though, when I asked him had he any regrets about his side's need to keep the ball out of play for such long periods of the game. There was no answer, merely a dip of the head and a muttered suggestion I was "sad".

He's right too. I am sad. Or rather, saddened (though clearly a case can be made for the former). Saddened by the fact a club with Chelsea's resources felt the only way they could win such a high profile contest that showcased the English game throughout the world was by cheating.

And it was cheating, because the time-wasting antics they produced from the very first minute were against both the rules and the spirit of the game.

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Under law 12.28.4 the offence is deemed misconduct and punishable with a booking following a warning. Referee Martin Atkinson used this law to book Ashley Cole in the 92nd minute. Law 16 also covers the misconduct, and gives the referee the option to punish the offence at any time in the match.

In the first minute of the game, Mark Schwarzer kept the ball from the field of play for 35 seconds. He should have been warned for such misconduct - also known as breaking the laws of the game, or cheating.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Blues kept the ball off the pitch for more than four minutes. The referee didn't warn a single player over the misconduct, and added only three minutes at the end of the first half.

So he allowed Chelsea to cheat, and they did so magnificently. Their game plan was obvious too - the stats show Liverpool score early, and Mourinho clearly felt the best way to stop them from doing that was to keep the ball from being in play. You can't score when the ball isn't on the pitch.

It is terribly sad isn't it? Chelsea spent £35million alone in January on two players, and another near 80m last summer. That`s more than £100million since Mourinho returned, and his tactic to win football matches is to keep the ball from being in play.

It is not only sad, but depressing. The moment when he grabbed the ball and refused to give it to Steven Gerrard, leaving the pair to launch into an unseemly tussle on the touchline, summed so painfully all that is wrong with football. To see a manager of such standing fighting to stop the ball being in play is not farce, but tragedy.

There have been times when I have watched Spanish football on Sky and been forced to turn over, because the cheating has got so extreme, it renders the game unwatchable. The comfort has always lied in the thought that the Premier League, with its emphasis on pace and power, would never turn viewers away.

How many were bored senseless though, by Chelsea's cheating on Sunday, or against Atletico in midweek for that matter? I turned over on Wednesday, I have to admit, because it was horrible.

At Anfield, it wasn't even anti-football, it wasn't football at all, because the ball was kept deliberately out of play for such long periods. By a team that cost hundreds of millions of pounds, and can boast some of the most exciting, talented footballers in the world.

Not that Mourinho is solely to blame. Referee Atkinson must shoulder the responsibility too, for reducing a spectacle to a painful experience. As he proved in the 93rd minute, he was within his rights to book players, and had he interpreted the laws of the game correctly, we would have had a very different contest.

(Image: Getty Images)

What he seemed incapable of realising, was that Chelsea weren't wasting time, as such, they were trying to break up the rhythm of the contest, and upset Liverpool's momentum. By cheating. By simply looking at his watch and adding token minutes at the end of the half, he didn't punish the cheating or deter Mourinho from his gameplan. In fact, he helped it, because Chelsea scored their all important goal in that paltry stoppage time.

Liverpool must also take some serious criticism too, because they were guilty of letting Mourinho's cynical tactic triumph. They lost their heads. They were frustrated by the cheating, and reacted with an increasing lack of control.

As the fans got angrier and angrier, the players followed suit, and charged into an increasing frenzy. Yet here`s the thing. Liverpool only needed a draw. Every minute Chelsea wasted, every single time the ball was kept off the pitch in the first half, actually helped Liverpool get closer to their objective.

They could have let Chelsea waste all 90 minutes, said thank you very much and taken the 0-0... and still have the title destiny in their own hands. Instead, they completely lost sight of their objectives, got emotional over the opposition cynicism, and fell into Mourinho's trap. Naively. Some would say lamentably.

Yes, they were the only team trying to play football, but they could now lose the title because they lost sight of their simple objective. If Chelsea wanted a 0-0, give it to them. Don`t criminally lose you head and blow your title chances.

(Image: Action Images)

Let's get this straight too. Chelsea also defended magnificently, and deserve immense credit for that. They have some fine defensive players, Ivanovic was incredible, and young Kalas was superb under such pressure.

But by cheating from the first minute, and denying the paying spectators and watching TV millions the simple right of seeing the ball in play, they killed football.

And that`s the worrying thing. You can admire defensive football for its physical and mental qualities, but we should never admire gamesmanship and cheating - especially when it destroys the art and spectacle of the game. Because then we don`t have a game. Fifa take note.

One final, sobering thought for those Mourinho acolytes who defend him and his excruciating tactics. Hasn't Roman Abramovich sacked a succession of managers because he has given them hundreds of millions to spend on buying fantasy football players, only for them to produce the mundane?

If I were Mourinho, I would be slightly concerned that I have spent more than 100 million on a team in six months, and the best I could come up with against a side that plays with imagination and fantasy, is to stop them scoring by keeping the ball from being in play. if Abramovich was watching, I suspect he would share that concern.