Chelsea give José Mourinho permission to rest key names at Liverpool

[Ron Obvious]

Jose is throwing his toys out of the pram again because he's doing this, at least in part, because the FA wouldn't move the Sunday fixture against Liverpool in light of the upcoming semifinal second leg against Atletico Madrid. And why should they? It's on Wednesday, not Tuesday.

It's a shame, especially with the title race more interesting than it's been in a years, but what can the FA do about it? A club is supposed to always field their strongest side, but who can objectively determine what that lineup is except the manager?

So, is Mourinho handing Liverpool the title?

The Chelsea hierarchy have given José Mourinho the green light to field a team at Liverpool on Sunday that reflects the club's priority as being the Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid three days later. Yet the go-ahead may have only briefly brightened the manager's mood after he was one of three members of staff charged by the Football Association over events during the damaging home defeat to Sunderland.

(snip)

Mourinho, who is still in the process of appealing against an £8,000 fine after being sent to the stands for the second time this season for re-entering the playing surface at Aston Villa last month, had offered a sarcastic appraisal of the performances of the referee, Mike Dean, and the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, Mike Riley, after the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland that has left his team outsiders in the title race. His claim that the former had put in an "unbelievable" performance has prompted a charge of improper conduct, with the FA arguing he had questioned the integrity of both figures.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/23/chelsea-jose-mourinho-liverpool-atletico-madrid