Jose Mourinho has revealed in his press conference ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Newcastle United on Saturday that he has a fully-fit squad to choose from. Brazilian winger Willian, who limped off in the Blues’ 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Champions League last week, is back and available for selection. The only absentee is Diego Costa, who serves the second of his three-match ban.
Jose Mourinho reports that Willian and all his players are fit for tomorrow’s game. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 25, 2015
The only decision which Mourinho has to make is regarding who to play up front in the Spaniard’s absence. The manager revealed that he hadn’t made up his mind yet on that issue, while stating that he has no doubt that both Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy will be up for the task at hand.
Jose says he has no doubt about the quality of his three strikers. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 25, 2015
Chelsea are looking to continue their good run of form, which has seen them win 3 games in a row in the last week. Their only Premier League victory in that series though, against Arsenal last week, was marred in controversy, and Costa was given a retrospective punishment for his altercations with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista. The latter was sent off in the match, but his red card was rescinded by the FA earlier this week.
While questioned on the same, Mourinho preferred not to say much, stating that he would be banned if he stated his opinion. He did though, take a veiled jibe at Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger, saying that there was only one manager in the country whose job was safe no matter what his teams’ results.
“I think in this country, only one manager is not under pressure,” Mourinho said.
“Steve (McClaren) is under pressure, I am under pressure, Brendan (Rodgers) is under pressure, (Manuel) Pellegrini is under pressure.
“We cannot lose matches, we cannot be below expectations. There is one that for some reason is outside that list. Good for him.”
This is not the first time the Portuguese has launched an attack on Wenger, having labelled him a ‘specialist in failure’ two years ago. There is clearly a lot of bad blood between the two.
But for now, the focus will shift to matters on the pitch as Chelsea look to continue climbing up the table without paying too much attention to the other teams. They have already lost 3 games and are 8 points adrift of Manchester City at the top. The best thing for the defending champions to do at the moment is to take one match at a time and keep winning.
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