Tomorrow’s clash between Chelsea and West Brom sets the stage for Jose Mourinho to go head to head against his former assistant Steve Clark. The former Stamford Bridge favorite as a player and an influential member of Jose’s backroom staff has made a name for himself at West Brom. During the previous season, they beat top teams such as Chelsea and Arsenal before going on to earn an incredible draw against Man Utd in Sir Alex’s last game in charge.
So, many questions came in Jose’s way about his opinion on his opposite dug out and how he will approach tomorrow’s game. The manager says it is no surprise how well Clarke, who played 421 times for the Blues, has done since going into management, and as such tomorrow’s encounter with his West Brom side will be a difficult one.
‘Of course I’m very happy to meet him before and after the match,’ Mourinho said. ‘It will not be the same thing to play against Steve than to play against any other manager because he is a special guy in my career. We have stayed in touch but didn’t speak about our jobs directly.
‘He had a very good experience as a player and an assistant manager. He was always very focused and very organised. When he became manager for the first time he was very well prepared and I knew that he would do very well. I am so happy for Steve. He knows that every match he plays I am wishing he will win, but not tomorrow, which is strange.
‘During the match it will be hard for us because he is very good and he organises his team very well, defensively and in counter-attacks. They are always a difficult team – this season we have a simple example of that: they stopped Arsenal winning and they won at Old Trafford.’
Another point discussed from the Press conference was the exclusion of Eden Hazard against Schalke in the midweek Champions league game. The reason for that was Eden went to France to visit his old team mates at Lille and forgot his passport while returning and didn’t get back in time for the training session on Monday morning. As Jose said, he apologized for the mistake but, said ‘fathers have to be clever in the way they educate their children’. But, the question was what is the state of the Belgian and the chances of him starting tomorrow at Stamford Bridge…
‘He reacted well, he apologized to me and to the club. It’s over now. He has the appetite to play because he loves to play football and I didn’t allow him to play the last game. I am happy he is back.
‘Every player knows me, and they know that for me the group is more important than the player, and the group principles are more important than even a football result. He is a good kid, he knows he made a mistake and now the case is over.’
Take away from the press-conference:
Jose Mourinho as always delivered classy answers in a way of the journalists especially in the case of Eden Hazard where it’s no drama the player has made a mistake and the issue is over with. Also, the special one confirmed Fernando Torres is unfit for the game and has not recovered from the injury suffered in training ahead of the midweek clash in the UCL. And it would be interesting to see the clash between old favorite of the Blues as a player Steve Clark in addition to relationship he has with Jose Mourinho.
Let’s wish a well played 3 points tomorrow at Stamford Bridge as there is an opportunity to close the gap to the top as Arsenal visit Old Trafford following an incredible first 11 games in the EPL. A loss to Arsenal as Jose said would still not put United out of the title race since ‘united is united and can come back from it’. Thanks for reading and good luck to the Blues in tomorrow’s game. twitter (@FahmiCFC)
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