Mourinho rules out change of style
Jose Mourinho insisted he had no intention of changing Chelsea’s style of play despite another bumpy ride, this time against Crystal Palace.
Fernando Torres and Ramires scored first-half goals in a 2-1 win that took the Blues to within two points of leaders Arsenal, who they face at the Emirates Stadium a week on Monday.
But once again Chelsea looked open, with Palace coming close to snatching a point in an anxious finish at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho has admitted concerns over their defending this season – a far cry from his first spell in charge, when his team were known for being rock-solid at the back.
However, he says there will be no return to that more defensive style of play.
He declared: “Ten years ago I had a mobile phone that weighed two kilos and today I have a Blackberry – it’s evolution of the times.
“Football is different and our philosophy is also different. You shouldn’t compare different periods and different generations – in this case different leagues and different players.”
He added “I was expecting an easy victory and expecting big problems – I was ready for both things.
“To score a goal and kill the opponent by going 2-0 or 3-1 up you can go to a different result. In that game it could have been 5-1 or 2-2.”
A win at Arsenal would take Chelsea above the Gunners, leaving them top of the Premier League at Christmas.
But Mourinho said: “It’s not important. In this league to be top by December or even by the end of January is not crucial. I think this will be open until very late.”
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21/12/2013 @ 9:22 am
this is d way 4wad. likely under another coach wit difrent mentality, d team shud b set up 2 play short pasing futbal wit som one twos tht can thrive even wen oponent is packing d bus or puting men behind d ball. and frm d defensiv 2 d atacking players shud b ready 2 get d ball imidietly after loosing it in a high pressing gamd. noteably, wen d team employs a completely posesion-based futbal then oposition will simply get tired bcos it’s nt seeing d ball, nd might resort 2 fouls. dis is my personal opinion. u can agree or disagree
21/12/2013 @ 9:07 am
like Ruud Gullit said, mourinho does nt know d secret of sexy futball. d team lacks quality in posesion nd is poorer thn wen he was nt here. nt a gud coach 4 cfc.
14/12/2013 @ 8:59 pm
I think Jose is scared of man city. Always playing boring football and giving excuses. He has no clue of what he is doing yet he calls it philosophy!