‘Chelsea aren’t favourites’
1 Feb 2014 6:09 AM IST
Chelsea will head to the Etihad Stadium three points adrift of City, who replaced Arsenal at the summit after crushing Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.
A victory against Manuel Pellegrini’s side will see Chelsea draw level on points with them, but Mourinho believes his team are not yet ready to be installed as genuine title contenders.
‘We are not favourites to win any competition,’ he said, before vowing that Chelsea will pose a greater threat next term.
‘The speech will change completely next pre-season, and not just the speech. Normally the speech is adapted to the feelings, knowledge and experience.
‘Next pre-season, day one, I will say we are candidates to win the Premier League. This season, I won’t say that. It’s not what we feel or what we’re working for.
‘If we win or if we lose (at City), I don’t think we’re candidates. If we win, obviously, we’re the same points as City. If we lose, the distance is six.
‘It doesn’t matter. It is not what concerns me. What concerns me is my team playing well and trying to get the best possible results, feel the improvements. ‘And next pre-season, you will hear me say something completely different. I don’t give up. I’ll try to win the next match, against whoever. We will try to win.’
Mourinho’s efforts to build for the future have been strengthened by the signing of Kurt Zouma, the France under-21 defender, from Saint-Etienne for a reported fee of around £12 million ($19.8 million, 14.6 million euros).
The 19-year-old centre-back has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract, but will remain on loan at his current club for the remainder of this season.
‘He’s another young player in the profile of some Chelsea signings in the last few years. We like the profile. We think he’s very much adapted to the Premier League,’ Mourinho said.
‘If you don’t do it now, probably we couldn’t do it in the summer because other clubs were also very strong on him. So we did it. Now he stays at Saint-Etienne. ‘Pre-season he’ll join us. We’ll see if it’s to stay or go on loan, but he’s a young player in a position where we also need the future.’
Zouma follows Nemanja Matic, Mohamed Salah and Bertrand Traore into the club this month, prompting Mourinho to hail the long-term foundations being laid down at Stamford Bridge.
‘The greater objective is the improvement of the team and preparing the team for the future,’ he said. ‘To do something now as an emergency plan is not the best thing.’
Moyes content with just Mata transfer
LONDON: Manchester United manager David Moyes said on Friday that he is happy that Juan Mata will be the only new player that the Premier League champions sign in January.
Moyes secured the club-record signing of Mata from Chelsea for £37.1 million ($61.2 million, 44.8 million euros) last week, describing the Spaniard’s arrival as the start of his rebuilding process at Old Trafford.
United were linked with a move for Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos after Moyes watched the Germany international midfielder, 24, last week.
But 12 hours before the January transfer deadline was due to fall, Moyes declared United’s business finished and said that he would wait until the end of the season before adding any more players.
‘You can stand the cameras (at the gates of the training ground) down; they won’t be required. We’ve done our business and we’ll get on with it,’ he said.
‘There’s no disappointment because I said at the start of the window that we probably wouldn’t do much business in January. That’s for lots of different reasons, not any one thing.’ Moyes saw strikers Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney both return from injury in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Cardiff City.
Van Persie, who played for an hour, had been out since December 10 with a thigh injury and Rooney had been absent since January 1.
Moyes, who revealed that midfielder Marouane Fellaini is also close to a return from his wrist injury, said that he will continue to ease Rooney and Van Persie back into action gently.
‘We’ve got to be careful with them both because they’re both returning,’ he said. ‘Wayne only had 30 minutes and Robin had about 60 minutes, so we’re mindful of that and we’ll make sure they’re ready.
‘We’re a bit more concerned because Robin’s been out longer. Wayne’s been out for a shorter period so we have to manage them and do it right, but I’ve got them.’
A victory against Manuel Pellegrini’s side will see Chelsea draw level on points with them, but Mourinho believes his team are not yet ready to be installed as genuine title contenders.
‘We are not favourites to win any competition,’ he said, before vowing that Chelsea will pose a greater threat next term.
‘The speech will change completely next pre-season, and not just the speech. Normally the speech is adapted to the feelings, knowledge and experience.
‘Next pre-season, day one, I will say we are candidates to win the Premier League. This season, I won’t say that. It’s not what we feel or what we’re working for.
‘If we win or if we lose (at City), I don’t think we’re candidates. If we win, obviously, we’re the same points as City. If we lose, the distance is six.
‘It doesn’t matter. It is not what concerns me. What concerns me is my team playing well and trying to get the best possible results, feel the improvements. ‘And next pre-season, you will hear me say something completely different. I don’t give up. I’ll try to win the next match, against whoever. We will try to win.’
Mourinho’s efforts to build for the future have been strengthened by the signing of Kurt Zouma, the France under-21 defender, from Saint-Etienne for a reported fee of around £12 million ($19.8 million, 14.6 million euros).
The 19-year-old centre-back has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract, but will remain on loan at his current club for the remainder of this season.
‘He’s another young player in the profile of some Chelsea signings in the last few years. We like the profile. We think he’s very much adapted to the Premier League,’ Mourinho said.
‘If you don’t do it now, probably we couldn’t do it in the summer because other clubs were also very strong on him. So we did it. Now he stays at Saint-Etienne. ‘Pre-season he’ll join us. We’ll see if it’s to stay or go on loan, but he’s a young player in a position where we also need the future.’
Zouma follows Nemanja Matic, Mohamed Salah and Bertrand Traore into the club this month, prompting Mourinho to hail the long-term foundations being laid down at Stamford Bridge.
‘The greater objective is the improvement of the team and preparing the team for the future,’ he said. ‘To do something now as an emergency plan is not the best thing.’
Moyes content with just Mata transfer
LONDON: Manchester United manager David Moyes said on Friday that he is happy that Juan Mata will be the only new player that the Premier League champions sign in January.
Moyes secured the club-record signing of Mata from Chelsea for £37.1 million ($61.2 million, 44.8 million euros) last week, describing the Spaniard’s arrival as the start of his rebuilding process at Old Trafford.
United were linked with a move for Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos after Moyes watched the Germany international midfielder, 24, last week.
But 12 hours before the January transfer deadline was due to fall, Moyes declared United’s business finished and said that he would wait until the end of the season before adding any more players.
‘You can stand the cameras (at the gates of the training ground) down; they won’t be required. We’ve done our business and we’ll get on with it,’ he said.
‘There’s no disappointment because I said at the start of the window that we probably wouldn’t do much business in January. That’s for lots of different reasons, not any one thing.’ Moyes saw strikers Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney both return from injury in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Cardiff City.
Van Persie, who played for an hour, had been out since December 10 with a thigh injury and Rooney had been absent since January 1.
Moyes, who revealed that midfielder Marouane Fellaini is also close to a return from his wrist injury, said that he will continue to ease Rooney and Van Persie back into action gently.
‘We’ve got to be careful with them both because they’re both returning,’ he said. ‘Wayne only had 30 minutes and Robin had about 60 minutes, so we’re mindful of that and we’ll make sure they’re ready.
‘We’re a bit more concerned because Robin’s been out longer. Wayne’s been out for a shorter period so we have to manage them and do it right, but I’ve got them.’
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