LONDON -- Jose Mourinho has again raised questions over the consistency of decisions in the Premier League, suggesting Robin van Persie would have faced a suspension if he were a Chelsea player.
Chelsea saw key striker Diego Costa handed a three-match ban for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can in last month's Capital One Cup semifinal win after being punished on the basis of video evidence.
Manchester United's Van Persie, though, appears to have escaped punishment despite being accused of elbowing West Ham defender James Tomkins during Sunday's 1-1 draw.
Mourinho said his side coped without Costa in the past two games as they drew 1-1 with Manchester City and then beat Aston Villa 2-1 but, indicating his ongoing anger with the punishment, the Portuguese refused to call Costa by name, only referring to him as "the player you suspended."
Referring to how Chelsea have performed since the suspension, he said on Tuesday: "I think with him it could have been even better. But I trust my people. We decide, always, not to be speaking about players who are injured or who can't play. We try to give confidence to the other people.
"We had two very difficult matches, City and Villa, and now another against Everton. We try to do our best and get the maximum points possible."
Mourinho, who spoke to media about that for the first time on Friday, was in a conspicuously disgruntled mood. When asked why, he mentioned the Van Persie incident, although he did not identify the United player by name.
"I'm OK, I'm fine," he said. "I was in a good mood the other day. I was in a good mood. I need a little bit more time to forget why my player was suspended, to understand why some people are punished and others aren't. I need a little bit more time to process that. I was with lots of attention this weekend.
"The same people who suspended my player didn't want to suspend a player this weekend, and a player could have been suspended this weekend and he wasn't. I'm still processing that information.
"Somebody who did this in the face of somebody [makes elbow gesture] and nothing happened. I know that if it was one of mine... Last season, the same thing happened when Ramires was suspended and, one week later, a Man City player [Yaya Toure] kicked a player at Norwich who was on the floor and nothing happened. I'm used to it."
Mourinho was fined 25,000 pounds by the Football Association last month after suggesting Chelsea were the victims of a "campaign."