Mourinho: If I talk about the referee FA will punish me again

Hehe, it seems the fear of FA is now the beginning of wisdom for Jose Mourinho, as Thegoalmac has learned that he has refused to criticise referee Michael Oliver after Chelsea’s League Cup semi-final victory over Liverpool because of a potential charge from the Football Association.

The Portuguese is already contesting a charge issued to him after his suggestion that there was a "campaign" against Chelsea when Cesc Fabregas was booked for diving against Southampton last month.

And despite being visibly incensed by Oliver's failure to award Diego Costa a penalty after the Spaniard went down under a challenge from Martin Skrtel in the first half on Tuesday, he insists he is wary of attracting further sanction.

"If I speak, people will say 'Mourinho again'. If I speak, the FA will punish me as they always do, or as they always try," Mourinho told Sky Sports.

"It's so clear that it's difficult to accept. I have to ask myself 'why'? The most important thing is that we won. The supporters were fantastic. This is what we need. A final at Wembley means a lot. Hopefully they can do this in the Premier League and Champions League."

Branislav Ivanovic’s header in extra-time secured Chelsea’s place at Wembley but Mourinho has praised Brendan Rodgers for leading Liverpool "in the right direction".

"In the second half, today we were better than them. And also in extra-time," said the Chelsea boss.

"I want to be honest and say that they were there. They're a very good team. Great work by Brendan changing the shape and the model of play. The way they started the season they were not going in the right direction. He was intelligent enough to change and create a new team.

"This is a new Liverpool team and a very difficult opponent. I'm even happier because we beat a very good team over two legs. The difference was a goal."