Team spirit key to José Mourinho’s mind games

The self-styled ‘Special One’ has been able to manipulate some of the biggest egos in football in large part by having the most well-developed ego of them all, says Liam Mackey.

If there’s an upside for Jose Mourinho in the official confirmation of the loss of Diego Costa for today’s juggernaut collision with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, it’s that, in reinforcing his conviction that everyone is out to get Chelsea, the striker’s three-match ban is just one more provocation with which the world’s most put upon gaffer can rally the troops before they go into battle against their main title rivals.

In fact, the wise men of the FA doing no more than Mourinho would probably expect of them must almost have come as a relief after the shock to his system of hearing that Gary Neville had taken to the tweet machine to say that he didn’t think the charge of violent conduct could stand against Costa.