Mourinho Press Conference: Evolution through Big games

Jose Mourinho made his press conference ahead of today’s game against West ham at Stamford Bridge and as promised, the Special one brought champagne for every journalist in the press room since it his birthday the last time Chelsea beat Stoke in the FA Cup on Sunday. Looking into the mid-week premier league fixture, Jose answered some key questions out of the many that were asked. Generally speaking about our opposition in West Ham, Jose Mourinho said, 

‘West Ham are in trouble in the table but I look at them and I feel a difficult match,’ he said. ‘They have new players, and they have had time to work and rest from the difficult Christmas period they had, especially because they had so many injured players.’ One of the main point was the evolution of this young team as the special one is trying to build a winning team with a certain attacking philosophy for the next decade to come.’

‘We have to try to keep the good form we have and let things happen naturally. I’ve always said since the beginning of the season that the main objective this season is to build a team, and the best way to build a team is to compete for things.’ ‘When you play Europa League there is no evolution. When you play in the Premier League 20 points behind the leader, no evolution. Evolution comes at the same time you build a team and you have serious competition.’

And it was a good point made by Mourinho as the squad in general is better off this season than last season. Another point was the experience of this young players that Mourinho is trying to make a star out of in the coming years. Players like Hazard, Oscar, Azpilicueta, Willian and Matic. This players have barely played a knockout round in the champions league other than the group stage outing we achieved last season.

 Jose continued….’We need this. We need to be top three or four and we need to play against Manchester City only one, two or three points behind. We need to feel what the Champions League knockout is like because some of the players have only played the group stage. These things are coming to us so I can believe next season we are going to be a really strong team from day one.’

Speaking about his Chelsea squad who are in a seven consecutive games winning streak, Mourinho said that the title favorites are still Manchester City who are enjoying a 7 game winning streak in EPL compared to Chelsea’s 5 consecutive victories. Arsenal’s winning run has been halted at Southampton a day before the other two contenders play on Wednesday to close the gap.

Mourinho said, ‘We are playing well,’ he added. ‘The last game against Stoke was a 1-0 but a good 1-0. There was quality individually and collectively, and we defended and pressed well also. You never know what is going to happen in the next match but the results are arriving as a consequence of the team playing very good football.’

Another final and important part of the press conference was the questions regarding the transfer activity of the club which included a tribute to Michael Essien, one of Mourinho’s favorite players every where he has worked in.

‘He’s a player everyone loves in this club but it is a fantastic situation for him and we didn’t want to stop him. He deserved that the club let him go on a free transfer and with Matic we covered the situation in midfield and we could let Michael go.’

And finally he responded to the situation of Samuel Eto’o’s contract which will come to an end in the conclusion of his first season at the club. The Cameroonian recently hit an incredible and vital hat trick to seal a victory against last season. And he will be vital in the team’s run this Jan. to Feb. period since Fernando Torres is absent through injury. Looking further to the future, Mourinho didn’t discount Samuel Eto’o staying at Stamford Bridge for a second year but that decision will be taken by all involved much later on. He also ruled out any more arrivals before the window closes on Friday unless an incredible and surprising deal happens for one of our existing players. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed. Let’s hope for a great win against West Ham at Stamford Bridge and tie up with Arsenal at the top of the table regardless of Manchester City’s result in a tricky affair against Tottenham at White Heart lane.