Mourinho victim blaming is ‘absolutely pathetic’ – even if Vinicius can be ‘a kn*b’ sometimes | OneFootball

Jose Mourinho and his sad yet predictable reaction to the alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Jr dominates, with thoughts on Bukayo Saka and Newcastle too.

Honestly, though. Mourinho is a massive bore.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

No way, Jose

I see Mr Mourinho has pulled out the ‘I have black friends’ defence when it comes to Vinicius Jr.

Now, I’m not a big fan of the Madrid player for a few reasons, but none of them concern the colour of his skin. If he celebrates in front of you, sure, call him a kn*b, as childish as it is, it’s part of football. There is however no excuse for racist abuse and blaming it on the victim simply isn’t on.

Furthermore, claiming it can’t have been racist because Eusebio was black is an absolutely pathetic response and Jose should know better. Andrew

Good business from Arsenal on signing the boy Saka up for five years. £300k a week is steep for the number of goals and assists he is currently managing, you’re right. But I can’t help you’ve spectacularly missed the point – think about all the corners he wins! Worth their weight in gold to North London Stoke surely?

Mind you, he’s only got 3 assists this season and taken 49 corners. For side that only scores from set pieces that’s a poor return.

Yours in jest Ashmundo

Quad philosophy

Arsenal ease past City to win the League Cup, wrap up the league with a few games to spare, and beat a depleted Port Vale on penalties to complete the domestic treble.

It’s then on to Budapest where they face Liverpool.

To the Manchester City and United fans, who are you cheering for? DF

Eddie and the Toon

I waited a bit to write after Saturday’s FA Cup victory over Aston Villa to let all the feels settle and separate.

Chris Kavanagh’s shocking performance was certainly the main point of discussion in the press and on the socials, and it was easy to see why. Four or five times, he had me shaking my head in horrified denial. Let’s hope his deselection for this weekend’s PL fixtures gives him a chance to collect himself.

I didn’t need Alan Shearer to tell me that the man was suffering from VAR withdrawal. I can’t imagine what Colin was thinking with his 15Feb letter. Newcastle have benefited from VAR by and large this season, despite a few inexplicable calls from the booth, and even Eddie Howe says he’s torn over it. For me, having a better chance of getting correct calls at the cost of the kind of joy you feel when a goal is given and can’t be taken away is a terrible bargain. And I’d say the same if we’d lost 1-0; I’d have bitterly nursed my hatred of the Villains and felt okay about it. Why do they always get red cards against us, anyway?

I quite enjoyed JB’s letter, though! The statistics he quoted were stunning. I would further suggest that the main reason for the collapse that he diagnoses amongst clubs near top of the table is the recent expansion of UEFA club competitions, which naturally affect the clubs at the top (and Spurs). Also, Alex was just plain right about Arteta and Arsenal. But for goodness’ sake, Chris Bridgeman’s entirely worthy epistle might better have been shared with its own link and byline.

Returning to Howe, I also thought he was entirely correct in his post-match praise for the squad’s concentration in the face of Kavanagh’s buffoonery. That match appeared to be at least 50% mental, with Newcastle applying enough pressure to in the first half to break the inadequately punished Digne and the panicked Bizot. In the second half, they tightened their grip relentlessly until resistance collapsed. If Wednesday’s match in Baku goes as I hope it will, a third consecutive away win would be a really big deal for this squad, this season.

The last time I wrote, I said that Eddie simply didn’t have a Plan B. Against Spurs, I saw Tonali playing behind both center backs at times, and I saw it again at Villa Park. And against Villa, Woltemade was mostly a deep-lying playmaker who occasionally arrived late to the box (i.e., the Tonali role), which is just how he scored his goal. Evidently, Eddie has come up with a Plan B now, and that’s all to the good.

But to be honest, I hope he doesn’t feel like he’s relieved too much pressure, even if we do win at Qarabag. I’m encouraged, but won’t be satisfied with merely making the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time. An FA Cup would do me nicely, but our road to the final looks like it will be as rough as last year’s Carabao Cup run. If we don’t qualify for Europe, I think we’ll see a resurgence of Eddie-out sentiment. Results this season have not matched either expectations or the quality of the squad, at least as I see it. It’s infuriating that Manchester United is so far ahead of us, even if it’s amusing that I can feel that way these days. Chris C, Toon Army DC (If He Who Must Not Be Named had stayed and trained with the squad last summer, would he be in injury purgatory now?)

Digne might have been sent off twice — a straight red for the tackle on Murphy then two yellows, including the handball and persistent fouling — while Pau Torres should collected two yellows in two minutes for his throat-clutch and dive at the feet of Dan Burn, then the NFL tackle that followed. So it might have been five, not three, red cards for Villa against Newcastle in two seasons. Even three is nuts.

Still: Villa Park’s applause for Jacob Ramsey as he exited was class. Villa’s supporters are all right. No doubt, had Villa been facing relegation at SJP in 2009, I’d have cheerfully sung “yippi aye eh, yippi aye oh, next year you can play Middlesbrough” and laughed my tits off. Chris C, Toon Army DC

A few thoughts on VAR, given that FA Cup weekend always seems to light a fire under that particular topic. For me, VAR has highlighted just how good the linesmen actually are. In most instances, if the linesman gets it wrong, then he is marginally wrong. I can’t remember any cases where the player was miles offside and the linesman missed it. And let’s not forget, it is only really the cases where the player is considerably offside, that the attacking player gains any real advantage.

VAR should be used for dangerous play, cheating and anything inside the penalty box that could be deemed a foul. We never needed it for offsides because no one ever cared about a player being slightly off. They only cared about the blatant ones and those incidents not being flagged were like hen’s teeth. VAR should never have been used for offside, just never.

If we take offsides off the VAR table, when the ball hits the back of the net and the goal is given by the on-field referee and assistants, then the fans can celebrate properly knowing it will only be ruled out if the scoring player handles it or fouls the defender or goalkeeper in the process. Even with VAR, goals being ruled out for non-offside reasons are rare. This would also mean no VAR checks for fouls committed in the build-up play, as nobody really cares about that either.

I know I am making a lot of presumptions in speaking to what people do and do not care about but I consider myself an average fan and it was only the really bad decisions that annoyed me. The joy that VAR has taken out of the game is far greater than any joy it gives. Everyone seems to have the same on-going gripes about VAR but still nothing changes. Are there no normal people in the PGMOL? Does common sense not exist among these people? They say that the people who want to be the U.S. President or Prime Minister are exactly the kind of people who shouldn’t be. Maybe the same is true for referees. Maybe they are all failed footballers with an axe to grind.