Chelsea boss reluctant to change tactics

Jose Mourinho reiterated his reluctance change Chelsea’s tactics in the wake of the defeat at Sunderland.

Mourinho recently insisted there would be no return to the more defensive style of play synonymous with his first spell as boss, when the Blues were rock-solid at the back.

His team’s current brand of football can certainly be entertaining to watch, but a mixture of missed chances and poor defending has seen them suffer away losses in the Premier League against Everton, Stoke and Newcastle and now in the Capital One Cup.

But the manager remains adamant that he does not want to make wholesale changes.

“We want this team to play the way we are playing,” Mourinho said.

“We want this team to have evolution. But, based on the way we are playing at the moment, we have to finish opponents and we need goals to do that.

“Maybe the way to rectify it is to not concede goals and to have a different approach – to be more defensive, concede fewer goals and win matches with the few goals we score – but that’s not what I want.

“We are going in one direction, which is the right direction in terms of the quality of football we want to play, so it would be frustrating to change that, take a step back and go in another direction.”

Chelsea have the perfect opportunity to bounce back at leaders Arsenal on Monday, when a win would take them above the Gunners to the top of the table.

But Mourinho admitted that although the League Cup is not a priority for the club, going out was a significant disappointment.

He said: “It’s a competition that looks like it is not important. But when you reach the final, you feel it is a nice competition and you want to win.”

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