Jose Mourinho refused to be drawn into a debate about the selection of a Manchester-born referee for his side’s clash with Liverpool on Monday night.
The Manchester United manager has often been punished for speaking his mind too freely when it comes to the powers that be in the Premier League, but he did admit Anthony Taylor’s appointment is problematic.
Taylor’s selection baffled Liverpool fans and Mourinho has admitted the man with the whistle will struggle to put on a good performance at Anfield.
‘I have my view, but I learned a lesson by being so many times punished by some words, so I don’t want to say anything about it,’ said Mourinho.
‘I think Mr Taylor is a very good referee, but I think somebody with intention is putting such a pressure on him that I feel it will be difficult for him to have a very good performance.’
Mourinho served a touchline ban for criticising the manner in which referees officiated Chelsea games last season, but assured the Premier League neither he or his players would look to use Taylor’s suggested bias.
‘Our disciplinary record is really, really good. We don’t have problems at all at this level,’ he said.
‘We are a team that plays with discipline, that is following everything that was told to us in the meetings that we had with the representatives of the Premier League and the referees.
‘We don’t press referees, we behave on the touchline so that’s a point that we are very comfortable with.’
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