Brendan Rodgers bounded towards him, a huge grin smeared over the bottom half of his face. Jose looked quickly for an exit, but too late: Rodgers was on him, shaking his hand, squeezing his elbow. "Hard luck, Jose. Hard luck. Thought your boys were outstanding today. Outstanding. But we've put together something special here …"
Jose smiled weakly and managed to pull his hand away. He felt the bile rise in his throat. His phone buzzed; he didn't need to check, he knew it would be Rafa.
He glanced back out to the pitch. Steven Gerrard was standing in the centre circle, basking in the adulation of his giddy fans. "We go to Crystal Palace!" As Jose looked, Liverpool's captain began to grow. Seven feet, eight feet, ten, twelve - soon Gerrard stood fifty feet tall in the middle of the Anfield pitch. His head blocked out the sun.
Action Images
…and Jose Mourinho woke up.
It was Sunday morning. It was just a dream; it had been just a dream every night for the last two years. He wasn't in Liverpool; he was in Chelsea. He hadn't lost; he'd won. This year, he'd won. He was a champion. Chelsea were the finest team in the land, and Liverpool were irrelevant again.
So why couldn't he sleep?
Action Images
Why couldn't he sleep?
All through the game, it bugged him, even as he went through the motions on the touchline. A munificent smile at the guard of honour; a dismissive wave of the arms when Cesc Fabregas flew through Raheem Sterling; a smile and a fist-pump when John Terry nutted Chelsea into the lead past a slipping Gerrard; a scowl and a tut when Liverpool's captain nicked the equaliser. Always his mind elsewhere: back in bed, back at Anfield.
In pictures - Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool:
No comments:
Post a Comment