Jose Mourinho was visibly furious with Chelsea first-team doctor Eva Carneiro in the final minutes of their 2-2 draw against Swansea City, as she ran onto the pitch to see to Eden Hazard following a foul in injury time.
The Portuguese manager said after the game that Hazard should not have been cared to; insisting that no injury needed tending to, as the Belgium international was simply tired.
The decision forced the Blues to play with nine men, and left Mourinho seething as they fought for three points.
“If you go to the pitch to assist a player, then you must be sure that a player has a serious problem. I was sure that Eden didn’t have a serious problem. He had a knock and was very tired,” Mourinho said, as quoted by the Telegraph.
“My medical department left me with eight fit outfield players in a counter attack after a set piece and we were worried we didn’t have enough players left.”
Now, the Telegraph have reported that Carneiro has had her role with the reigning Premier League champions significantly altered.
According to the British newspaper, she will no longer attend training sessions, games or enter the hotel – and she is not expected to be on the bench for Sunday’s match against Manchester City.
She will still work at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground with the first-team players, but will not be part of the travelling Blues team.
The report claims that the fact the decision comes in the aftermath of her bust-up with Mourinho is purely coincidental.
Rather, the Telegraph state, Mourinho had always planned re-tasking of duties to his back-room staff, and Carneiro is not the only member of staff at Stamford Bridge to have had her role changed.
However, if this is correct, surely such a plan would have been put into place before the start of the new season, and questions will justly be asked of this decision by Mourinho, which comes just days after his public criticism.
What’s more, with a team doctor pivotal on match-day, all eyes will be fixed on who replaces Carneiro for their clash with Manchester City.
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Chelsea struggled against Swansea, and Mourinho will naturally be disappointed at having dropped two points. The Pensioners took the lead through Oscar, although Swansea restored parity through Andre Ayew. The home side took the lead again after Willian’s cross was deflected past Lukasz Fabianski, before Bafetimbi Gomis fired home from the spot after being brought down by Thibaut Courtois, who was subsequently dismissed.