EPL Monday: Jose Mourinho Plays Conspiracy Card; Manchester United "Struggles For Life"; Alan Pardew to Crystal Palace?

(Television) cash rules everything around the EPL, hence the powers that be running the league deemed in their infinite wisdom it was smart to play games on Friday and Sunday. Friday was Dec. 26, Boxing Day, a traditional day on the calendar for teams in England to play. Granted, the EPL cannot tinker with the calendar itself (yet), so if the date happens to fall on a Friday, so be it. Perhaps, though, some common sense to play games on Monday or Tuesday rather than Sunday makes some sense, even if the revenue at the ticket window takes a little hit.

Oh right, the league plays again on Thursday because it’s New Year’s Day meaning people don’t have to work and they need some sort of entertainment option available to them on television. (Apparently the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl doesn’t tick off the required global appeal checkmarks.) England is set in its ways toward the holiday fixture list, so grumbling from afar isn’t going to achieve much — nor is the league managers moaning about it, either.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal said his team “struggled for life” in the second half of a scoreless draw at Tottenham, noting two games in 48 hours is nearly impossible. It does bear mentioning that van Gaal named an unchanged starting lineup — the first in 85 games for United — and then decided to complain afterward about fatigue. Hugo Lloris also made a couple of ridiculous saves, such as this one which kept it 0-0:

If the Frenchman doesn’t sprawl out to deny Ashley Young’s upper-90 attempt, odds are the Dutch manager isn’t complaining about two games in 48 hours. Funny how results influence opinions, right?

Anyways, we’ve finished the first 19 matches of the season which puts us at the halfway mark as soon as Liverpool and Swansea City complete their Monday afternoon match. At the top of the table, only Arsenal took advantage of the two-game window, vaulting past West Ham United to pull level with Southampton on 33 points for fourth place. Normally you’d think teams would sleepwalk through a game on tired legs, but instead it was the opposite at Upton Park as the Gunners and Irons played out to a wide-open, back-and-forth game — which is another result of fatigue, since teams lose their mental focus and discipline, saying nothing of the offside call on Alex Song that disallowed a West Ham goal.

Meanwhile Chelsea could only draw Southampton 1-1 on the road, dropping two points. Manchester City couldn’t take advantage, coughing up a 2-0 lead at the half to draw with Burnley to remain three points off first place. In a 38-game season it’s a little foolish to isolate individual results but if City end up a distant second to Chelsea, the club will rue this result. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, blowing a 2-0 lead at home to a relegation candidate is the reason teams don’t win titles — fatigue, injuries or whatever.

On the horizon, Chelsea host Manchester City on Jan. 31 at Stamford Bridge.

Conspiracy!

During Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Southampton, Cesc Fabregas and Matt Target, an 18-year-old making his debut for the Saints, collided in the box. Both players went down. The Spanish midfielder appealed for a penalty, but was given a card for diving for his troubles by referee Anthony Taylor.

Afterward Jose Mourinho calmly talked about a “conspiracy” in the league driven by other managers that Chelsea players flop to simulate contact. The Chelsea manager said, “There is a campaign against Chelsea. I don’t know why there is this campaign and I do not care.”

Watch the entire sequence below. Mourinho is remarkably matter-of-fact about his perceived conspiracy.

One thought to get out of the way: Chelsea are in first place at the end of 2014 for reasons far beyond perceived diving. The Blues are the most-complete, cohesive team in the Prem and boast its best week-in, week-out player in Eden Hazard. By the same token, just because Chelsea are a very good team doesn’t mean it should have the refs biased against it.

Opposing managers — Mourinho called out Sam Allardyce — are going to look for any flaw they can in Chelsea. In the heated environment of a post-game press conference, it’s easy for a human being to grouse about calls that didn’t go your team’s way and muse about potential flops by the Blues. As it is, it feels like half the talking points in a given EPL match are based on the referee’s in-game decisions.

Mourinho is no fool and this is hardly his first rodeo in England, so getting on top of this “conspiracy” against his team is the smart play. Now the talk about Chelsea diving (or not diving) is out there for anyone who follows the league to consume and debate. The officials working the next Chelsea game will be aware of it and it will be in the back of their minds.

If most simulation cases are a 50/50 judgement call in real-time, perhaps Mourinho’s talk on Sunday might help his team come out on the beneficial end a couple of times over the final 19 games of the season. As a result a, stacked team in first place that most people figured would win the title in August finds a way to also use the “us against the world” tactic. Again, not like Chelsea needs it, but every little bit helps.

Pardew Out:

Multiple outlets in England are reporting Monday afternoon that Alan Pardew will leave Newcastle United to take the vacant Crystal Palace job. Palace will pay around $3 million to buy him out of his contract. At best, it’s a lateral move, but more likely a step down since Palace is in the relegation zone. It’s nice to be wanted, I guess.

Pardew’s status at Newcastle changed with every single win or loss due to the passionate fanbase starved for a trophy. At Palace, Pardew will be well-received, since his playing career included four seasons at Selhurst Park. (NBCSN’s Rebecca Lowe referred to him as a “legend” due to an FA Cup semifinal goal back in 1990.) Pardew’s record vs. Sunderland was awful, so it’s doubtful too many Magpies supporters will be sad to see him go. In his two full seasons in charge Pardew led Newcastle to fifth and 16th place finishes. He leaves with them in 10th — which is about where Newcastle realistically sits in today’s Premier League.

Where Mike Ashley turns to for manager at Newcastle will be fascinating. The team does have some talent and if a manager ever did anything there — even winning the League Cup — they’d likely build a statue to him. Of course the downside if if you lose two or three games in a row fans will start staging protests. You’d also have to work with Mike Ashley, too, who seems to operate his club on his own personal whims be it failing to buy any players to build on the club’s fifth-place finish in 2011-12 or, well, the way he fired Chris Hughton to hire Pardew back in 2010.

Expect the same names and retreads like Steve Bruce and Tim Sherwood to be linked to Newcastle right away.

Goal of the Week:

Where did this come from, Fernandinho?

Stat of the Week:

Non-call of the week:

Papiss Cisse elbowed Seamus Coleman in the head not once, not twice but thrice and remained in the game, later scoring in the Magpies 3-2 win over slumping Everton.

Odds and Ends:

Tottenham are now up to 31 points — two behind Southampton and Arsenal for fourth place. Not all that terrible given Spurs inconsistencies all season. … Tim Howard injured his calf during Everton’s loss to Stoke City on Dec. 26. The Toffees then slipped three goals to Newcastle on Sunday. To say Roberto Martinez’s team has issues at the moment is an understatement. … Neil Warnock’s unique touchline fashion choices — tight polos tucked into track pants — will be missed after his dismissal by Crystal Palace. … The relegation candidate field looks fairly deep this season, depending on if Everton gets its act together or not. Leicester City is rooted at the bottom, with Palace and Burnley just above. QPR, West Brom, Hull City and likely Sunderland and Aston Villa will all be scrapping the rest of the way to stay up. As of late the only team in that group trending upward is Sunderland.

Looking ahead:

EPL play resumes Thursday (New Year’s Day). Southampton-Arsenal is the best early kickoff before the college bowl games. Chelsea-Tottenham at 12:30 p.m. (East Coast) might make you reconsider the Outback Bowl or whatever else is on if you enjoy both college football and English soccer. Should you be among the 4-5 people (being generous) who care, I’ll post my first-half best XI tomorrow.

[Photos via Getty]