Premier League in Perspectives ; Van Gaal Need More Time To Adjust // Premier League En Perspectives ; Van Gaal Ont Besoin De Davantage De Temps Pour Ajuste

REACTION Chelsea 1 Burnley 1: Chelsea manager risks more disciplinary trouble with surprise appearance to criticise Burnley player Ashley Barnes and referee Martin Atkinson, call for wider use of video technology and question Sky’s integrity

The Chelsea manager was speaking to Sky Sports during an eventful appearance on Goals on Sunday. The Portuguese accused Sky of impartiality and labelled Ashley Barnes’ challenge on Nemanja Matic during yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley as “criminal”.

Mourinho also managed to questioned why Arsenal are not challenging for the title this season, but when it came to Manchester United he had more sympathy. The Special One says Louis van Gaal, with whom he worked with at Barcelona, needs time to adapt to the Premier League.

“He is a fantastic coach and it’s easy for me to say as I know him so well and he is a fantastic person. But he has been in so many years of his career before he came to England. In the same way a player needs time to adapt to understand things to perform at the highest level it is the same for Louis.”

Jose Mourinho (left) and Louis van Gaal go back a long way, having worked together at Barcelona

Mourinho continued: “He will have time to make Manchester United win titles again. This season they still have a chance to do that with the FA Cup and they also have the opportunity to finish in the top four and go back to the Champions League, which is the minimum for a team like them.”

Manchester United lost ground in the battle for the top four yesterday when they were beaten 2-1 by Swansea. Arsenal moved above them into third and with just 12 games of the campaign remaining there are no guarantees of a return to the Champions League for the Red Devils. But going forward, Mourinho expects to see the good times return to Old Trafford.

“When you see the titles he has won and his experience, I don’t see any reason why they can’t be pushing for titles.”

Saints dominated both possession and chances, but Liverpool scored from their first two shots on target to win 2-0 and climb to sixth in the Barclays Premier League.

Stand-in captain Henderson said on Sky Sports: “It’s a big win. We knew coming here it would be difficult, they’re a good side and we knew we’d have to be at our best.

“With the quality we have we know we can hurt teams going forward. From defence right through the team I thought we were outstanding today. It was the perfect away performance.”

Liverpool made the ideal start thanks to Philippe Coutinho’s wonder goal in the third minute, and Raheem Sterling took advantage of some poor defending to add a second 17 minutes from time.

Henderson said of Coutinho’s strike: “The goal’s outstanding. He does that quite a lot in training. You can see the quality he’s got. It gave us a big lift from the start.”

Liverpool have turned their form around after a poor start to the season and it proved to be a very profitable weekend with only two other teams in the top seven winning.

“It is a good weekend for us but the most important thing is we win and keep winning,” said Henderson. “The rest will take care of itself.”

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman felt his team deserved a lot more and was unhappy referee Kevin Friend did not give at least one penalty after two challenges on Filip Djuricic.

The Dutchman told Sky Sports: “We know in football it’s all about scoring goals. I think we played much better than Liverpool. We had more ball possession, more chances.

“I call it unlucky. And with some decisions of the referee. The second situation is a clear penalty. I’m very disappointed about the result but not about our performance. We deserved much more than we got.

“Maybe the experience of them and the real quality at the front we’re a little bit struggling because we scored one goal in the last four games. It makes it a little bit more difficult.”

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers disagreed with Koeman about the possible penalty and hailed his side’s defending after a fifth successive clean sheet away from home in the Premier League.

He said: “The first one, the player’s gone over far too easy. With the crowd up, of course that puts the referee under pressure but I thought Kevin was excellent. All his decisions were correct.

“We defended magnificently. We knew we needed to improve. At the beginning of the season we couldn’t get the right balance.

“Now there is and there’s great confidence in the team. Our game still could be better but the result was important and everyone’s contributed.”

Rodgers was particularly impressed with the resilience his side showed only three days after their Europa League win over Besiktas.

He said: “We knew it would be a huge win if we could do it and it was. I thought we were really well organised and we controlled the game as it went on.

“Our passing could have been better but they were difficult conditions and it’s an outstanding win. It’s difficult to come here at any time and get a result but to do it on the back of a European result is brilliant for the players.”