On Saturday, Jose Mourinho, the man who has won three premier league titles at Chelsea returned to his once home Stamford Bridge. Now manager at rivals Manchester United, the match was frequently talked of in the media in the weeks running up to the game. Almost purely due to the return of now arch-villain Jose to Chelsea. This made me an extraordinarily relieved Chelsea fan when I managed to find tickets to the game on the day before.

     Inside the last 5 minutes of the game, the score was 1-2 to United, with several Chelsea fans around me leaving in disappointment, believing the game to be over. But, seemingly alongside the majority of Chelsea fans, I sat glued to my seat with the eternal belief in football’s ability to stun an audience. Our faith proved true. With what was effectively the last kick of the game Ross Barkley slotted home Chelsea’s 96thminute equaliser. The entire stadium soared to their feet, fixated on the one ball before going absolutely ballistic, screaming their hearts out as the nerves exploded out of their bodies. This pure passion is why I personally adore football, and why every single one of that 40,721 strong crowd was there. 

    However, as this jubilant chaos occurred in the crowds, a more aggressive chaos ensued on the touchline, as returning hero Jose Mourinho turned on Chelsea coach, Marco Ianni. Ianni had celebrated like every other Chelsea fan inside the stadium, except he had done it facing Mourinho. At the time, Jose had seemed infuriated, having to be held by security as he chased down Ianni’s retreat back to the Chelsea bench. Speaking after the match, Mourinho stated that “everybody makes mistakes” and that both had apologised to each other. For some Man Utd fans, however, this was not enough, most notably life-long United fan Phil Neville who described Ianni’s behaviour as “absolutely disgraceful”. Neville, the England Women’s coach also called for Ianni to be removed from his post at Chelsea immediately. 

     I personally see this as a step too far, and for the FA to now only charge Ianni and not Mourinho was a mistake. Ianni showed a natural passion for the game displayed by every football fan who has ever been to a match, and by punishing this passion, the FA sets a dangerous precedent on the road to an emotionless crew of managers in football. Without the dramatics of managers (as described earlier in this piece), the audience both on TV and in person will decrease as media narratives of returning villains and historic rivalries fade away from the press and the beautiful game as a whole.