Jose Mourinho still angry about "complacent" Chelsea's loss to Newcastle on eve of Schalke clash
Jose Mourinho still angry about "complacent" Chelsea's loss to Newcastle on eve of Schalke clash
"My teams can lose matches. But I don't like us losing when we don't have the determination or ambition we want to have"
"You cannot think you win because you have a nice shirt": Mourinho digs out his players
Clive Rose
Jose Mourinho has slammed his "complacent" Chelsea players and demanded an instant Champions League response.
Mourinho is still seething over the lacklustre display at Newcastle that saw his team drop five points off the pace set by league leaders Arsenal. The Blues'
manager is ready to ring the changes against visitors Schalke in the
Champions League on Wednesday, after accusing some of his team of
arrogance and going through the motions on Tyneside.
Mourinho
said: "When you win a lot, you cannot forget why you win. You cannot
think you win because you have a nice shirt or are in a good run or a
lucky moment.
"If you think like that, you're in trouble. You can never forget why you are winning matches.
"I
don't want my team to be reactive. This is not the philosophy we are
working on, and I'm not happy with the way we faced that match. It's as
simple as that.
"My teams can lose matches - they are
never 'unbeatable' - but I don't like us losing when we do not have the
determination or ambition we want us to have.
"That was the case at Newcastle." Bridge of sighs: Eden Hazard sums up Chelsea's trip to Newcastle
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Mourinho, who confirmed thigh injury victim Fernando Torres
will miss the Schalke game and Saturday's home clash with West Brom,
added: "A football player is a human being, and human beings make
mistakes.
"Sometimes they don't have the best approach. When you
win three, four, five matches, they forget why they won and think they
win just because they are good.
"But there are many other
ingredients in football that make you a consistent winner. For the three
big matches before Newcastle - against Schalke, Manchester City and
Arsenal - you know you have to be at the top of your level, and you are
at the top of your concentration.
"And suddenly you get a match
where you become a little bit complacent. It's the mistake not just of
football players, but human-beings.
"I didn't pick it up before the game.
"Maybe
I was also influenced by the way they grew up so fast as a team, and
the way they could play so fast to compete in that week and with the
pressure we put on ourselves in the Champions League.
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Chelsea Training
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"They reacted so well under that pressure - winning six
crucial points for us, great performances in big matches, dominant
performances - so maybe I was also caught by surprise.
"But the only difference is, during the first half, it looked like they were not feeling it and I was feeling it."
Frank
Lampard, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard could all
be omitted from Wednesday night's line-up, although Mourinho insisted:
"It's not about changing 11 players and I don't want you to see the
changes as somebody paying for the defeat against Newcastle.
"It's
simply that I read the game, and I read it once, twice, three times,
and you try to analyse the way people perform. It is not to punish
people - completely far from that.
"We just want to try and get the people just to win the game."
And Mourinho warned his Chelsea side to beware Schalke - despite their crushing win in Gelsenkirchen last month. Chelsea's 3-0 victory in the Veltins Arena put them top of Group E and wiped out impact of the shock home reverse at the hands of Basel in their opening group game.
But
Mourinho
knows the Bundesliga outfit are unbeaten in their last six away games
in all competitions, including victory in Switzerland.
“It will
not be an easy win, not at all,” said Mourinho. “No. No, no, no, no.
First of all, their record away is very good. Not just in the Bundesliga
but also in European competitions. Wunderbar! Branislav Ivanovic celebrates as Chelsea beat Schalke away
Martin Rose
“They
have very good results away, which means they feel much more comfortable
playing away than at home. That’s a point, a clear point backed by the
statistics.
“The other situation is they are a very physical team, which is not the case with us.
“I
don’t
know really what they want from the group phase: if they are going to
try everything to finish first, or just to try and finish second and
progress in the Champions League.
“They may try and win the game or be very defensive, playing for a point and get through in their last two games.
“We
have
to be ready for either approach but they are a difficult opponent and
the result, 0-3 in Germany, means nothing at this point.”
Julian Draxler The
latest boy-wonder off the unending German production line. Left-sider
probably coming to a Premier League club near you soon. Adam Szalai Hungarian striker and summer arrival from Mainz who has already filled the Klaas-Jan Huntelaar-shaped hole in Schalke's attack. Kevin-Prince Boateng Former Tottenham and AC
Milan midfielder now back in Germany. where he was born and played for
Hertha Berlin. Showed his courage when racially abused last season and a
real threat.
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