José Mourinho has called for a strong performance from the referee Neil Swarbrick as he takes his Chelsea team to Stoke on Monday but is confident his team will give as good as they receive in what could prove to be a bruising encounter at the Britannia stadium.
Chelsea were beaten 3-2 in the Potteries last season, with Mourinho bemoaning their generosity with errors committed in the build-up to Stoke’s first and third goals.
While the home side’s style has morphed slightly in recent times under the management of Mark Hughes, this fixture remains a tricky occasion – as Arsenal discovered earlier this month – with the Portuguese having already lectured Thibaut Courtois, who is expected to start, on the particular threat posed by Stoke at set-pieces.
“With a good referee that can understand what is aggressivity, or when the aggression finishes and the rules of the game start, this will be no problem at all,” said Mourinho. “We need a good referee, yes. A good, experienced referee who can understand exactly that. What happens in both boxes in this kind of match needs important decisions: what is aggressivity, and what goes beyond the rules of the game. That is important.
“I speak with Courtois and we prepare him, but the referee is there, and the referee has to know what is allowed and what is not allowed, according to the rules of the game. And the rules of the game are the same everywhere. So it should be no problem. I know it’s difficult for every team to play this kind of match [at Stoke], and we are no exception. But, again, I’m not worried. The referee is there exactly to judge what is aggression, and welcome aggression – the pure one – makes the game much more beautiful. He’s there to referee, not me.”
Swarbrick has taken charge of eight Premier League games this season and has shown 58 yellow cards and two reds in the 13 matches he officiated at. The prospect of Ryan Shawcross confronting Diego Costa would appear a potential flashpoint on Monday. “Are you expecting a battle?” asked Mourinho. “With one player trying to score goals, the other trying to stop him? It depends the way he tries to stop him. If he tries to do it in a good way and is successful maybe I will be waiting for him in the tunnel to congratulate him. If not, I hope the referee does his job.
“Remember we are a physical side, too. So it should be no problem for us. We are physical too. Nemanja Matic is a football player. You can be a big guy and be a fantastic player. You can be a big and not be physical or overly aggressive. Matic plays. Look what he does on the pitch. A beautiful left foot. At this moment, the way Chelsea play we have no space for physical players without technical quality. We are a technical side who want to play football. We have our own identity. But we can compete with physicality. That’s no problem for us. The referee is there, and I’m not worried because the referee is there.”
