Jose was preparing himself for the festivities it seems as the Chelsea manager took off his training top, signed it and handed it over to the Romanian translator who was present at the Pre-match press conference today. Chelsea are hosting Steaua in a bid to seal the top spot in the group having already qualified. Chelsea will be looking to set things right after Mourinho’s men suffered a shock defeat to Stoke on the weekend.
Jose believes that his side needs to do better in front of goal as well as defensively. Jose said:
“We have to kill opponents. We have to score goals. We are also conceding goals defensively. In this moment if you train defensive corners against the dummies, I think one dummy will score, because all the rebounds go to the opponents.”
Chances of winning this year?
“Our chances this season, which is my first season, are not comparable with the chances other clubs have”
“We’ve reached the last 16. If we reach the quarter-finals, which is the next step, I used to say that every team in the quarter-final has a chance to win it, but in my analysis I think we are not considered to be one of the favourites.”
Any change in style of play?
“Am I going to change the style and play more defensive players? No. Am I going to play David Luiz in front of the central defenders? No.”
“Am I going to play with four plus two and the wingers closing behind and leaving Fernando in attack waiting for a counter attack, waiting for a long ball to try to win 1-0? No.”
“We go in the same direction.”
Ashley Cole starts a game for Chelsea
“I’m not going to play with the same team as the last match, we have a lot of games and some players need a rest. Ashley Cole will start. I know him well, the way he trains and behaves is as a super professional. He’s a fantastic guy.”