WHY SAY ANYTHING?

This year’s FA Cup final, as well as being the traditional curtain-downer on the domestic season, was also an example of two managers under pressure for completely different reasons.

Antonio Conte, who is widely expected to resign/be fired within days of the game, is under pressure because he has proven to be a one-season-wonder in the Premier League and that only because he had no European involvement to hinder his side’s progress to winning the title.

José Mourinho is widely expected to take some time off and go visiting Portugal, a grand prix or two and then pitch up for RT, a Russian TV station, as a double agent World Cup pundit. He is under pressure because some Manchester United fans find it difficult to accept that THREE trophies and a second place finish in the Premier League in two years should be considered successful.

They feel he should only have been praised if his team had achieved those giddy heights by playing nonstop attacking football and winning every game 5-0!

So the final was a way for Conte to say goodbye with a trophy and Mourinho to say “here’s another one” to the undeserving United supporters who, sometimes, really haven’t a clue what they actually want.

The game itself was, as promised by Mourinho himself, entertaining providing we accept his interpretation of the meaning of the word.

The first half saw the Manchester United which gives the anti-Mourinho brigade all their ammunition. They were hopeless. Sideways, backwards their passing was everywhere except forwards.

They didn’t create one chance in the whole of the half and it was no surprise when Phil Jones firstly misread his position on the pitch and allowed Hazard to race past him and then fouled him in the area to concede a penalty.

Hazard scored and Chelsea led 1-0 at half-time. The only saving grace for United was that they couldn’t play any worse in the second half. Or could they?

They didn’t, they played better but not well enough to score and the impression was that, had the game gone on for another two hours, they still wouldn’t have scored.

Over all Chelsea just about deserved to win although they did very little in attack and relied, in the main, on the counter-attack from which they produced nothing.

One enigma with Mourinho is why, when millions have been spent on Bailly and Lindelof, Jones and Smalling are the two selected centre backs? One or the other of them nearly always makes a mistake which costs a goal or a red card.

Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia proved that, not only can‘t they defend but they also now cannot play as wingers. They were both hopeless in both roles today.

Fortunately for Mourinho he is likely to be given plenty to spend in the current transfer window. He needs full backs, at least one centre back, a midfielder and somebody else who can score goals. After the amount already spent on this team it is, quite frankly, amazing how bad they can be at times and the big question now is; where did all that money go?

And finally…..

So Jack and Joe have been left out of England’s World Cup squad have they? Apparently they both think they should have been selected but only one of them is right.

“Union Jack” Wilshere has impressed for Arsenal in the last few games and looked to be getting somewehere near to his best. His experience would have been worth the gamble on his fitness, particularly as Danny Welbeck who, if anything, is the most injury-prone player in the squad, will be sitting on the plane trying to avoid mishaps with drinks trolleys and the like.

Joe’s tale is different. His recent history inludes a year on loan at Torino where he was very unremarkable, followed by a further loan spell at West Ham United whereby. for long periods, he couldn’t even get in the team. So he can have no complaints about being left at home.

He must also remember that he won’t be home alone for very long as his erstwhile team mates will be back to join him before he can say Nizhny Novgorod.