Dacha claims Mourinho had no reaction the tackle at the time it happened.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche has sprung to the defence of Ashley Barnes following sustained criticism from Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho after the two sides 1-1 draw at the weekend according to the Daily Mail.
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Mourinho claimed that Barnes’ tackle on Blues midfielder Nemanja Matic was “criminal” and could have been potentially career ending for the Serbian and even went so far to describe the Clarets man as having a “grey past”.
However, Sean Dyche has taken the unprecedented step of responding to each one of Mourinho’s qualms about the match saying he wanted to redress the balance following a sustained attack in the media from both Chelsea and Mourinho.
“On slow mo(tion) of course it looks ugly but there was contact with the ball (from Barnes),” said Dyche on the Matic tackle.
“I would suggest once you are in that pendulum motion to play a pass it is very difficult to then retract your leg immediately and stop your leg from going through that ball and rising.”
Dyche also says neither Mourinho, Chelsea’s staff or players responded to the incident at the time despite the uproar they have proclaimed since the match and that the only person who was incensed by Barnes’ challenge was Matic himself.
“‘I find it hard to believe, however, that all these people – especially the manager – using very strong phrases didn’t have any reaction at all at that live moment. I find that a hard one to accept. We can all use slow mo, things often look different.”
“The likes of John Terry, a real warrior and a top class professional in my opinion, Zouma, big strong boys, Ivanovic, right on top of this moment.
“Jose Mourinho, similar view to me, the crowd behind me, circa 15,000 fans. No one reacts. Apart from Matic.”
It has since been announced that Barnes will not be under review from the FA or receive any retrospective action as referee Martin Atkinson is believed to have seen his clash with Matic.