MOURINHO: HELP ME! I'VE LOST THE PLOT
Mourinho will ask Roman for more cash to keep Blues on track Jose demands Chelsea improvement.. or else
Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer
ADMITTING to mistakes is not something we have come to expect from the "Special One".
But as Jose Mourinho revealed the extent of his defensive worries meant he had considered asking Didier Drogba to become an emergency centre-half, even the Chelsea boss must have begun to doubt his public certainties.
Like it or not, it was Mourinho who sanctioned the departures of William Gallas and Robert Huth, who allowed himself to begin the season without an established rightback but two left-backs, no effective cover in the middle, and who has spent the first four months of the campaign shuffling the pack.
In giving his inner-most thoughts on Drogba, he also confessed his concerns over the other strikers - most notably Andriy Shevchenko.
"It's a pity I have also problems in attack because if in this moment I have other strikers playing at a great level I would play Didier as central defender.
"He is one of the best players in the team at the moment. He is playing fantastic. He scores goals and he also fights for the team. He was also good in defensive areas. He is playing absolutely brilliant.
"But I cannot do it because in attack I have also a lot of problems. I have no Joe Cole, I have no Robben... and I have Andriy Shevchenko playing very, very far from his level.
"In this moment I have just Didier as the only attacking player and I cannot play him as a central defender."
Mourinho could never have envisaged the scale of the injury problems he has been forced to face this season, with the news that skipper John Terry faces a make-or-break date with a French surgeon today compounding those worries.
Yet, while Mourinho would not have expected to lose Terry and Petr Cech, he has to take responsibility for the lack of defensive cover in the most expensively-acquired squad in football history. The sales of Gallas and Huth have proved vital, while the incoming Shevchenko and Michael Ballack have done far more as marketing properties than on the pitch, leaving Drogba, Terry, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard to carry too many of their colleagues.
While Terry stayed fit, his sheer desire could paper over the cracks that looked wider with every week that found out Paulo Ferreira and Khalid Boulahrouz.
Terry permitted Mourinho to slay all manner of dragons on behalf of his players and attempt to draw rival managers into his mind-game wars. But it could only last for so long before reality struck.
Mourinho has watched his rock-solid defence dissolve with six goals conceded in the three games since Terry's back problem flared up on the eve of the trip to Goodison Park.
Already this season, Chelsea have conceded 15 goals - only eight fewer than they let in throughout the whole of last term.
And Mourinho's men have dropped six points on home soil from just 10 games, compared to the astonishing form that saw them pick up 55 out of 57 at the Bridge in their second championship season. Mourinho said: "The team is showing spirit. At this moment we have a lot of problems, problems that, if we didn't have a group built on character and friendship in the team, we could not survive - and we are surviving.
"It's not a drama and not so bad because the difference is four points. But what the team cannot do is miracles.
"If the problems carry on and we have no players back from injury and have to play every game under these circumstances we're in trouble."
Mourinho's lack of a rightback has been apparent all season, with Geremi taking over as first choice by default due to the failings of Ferreira and Boulahrouz, understood to have been furious when told he was being left out of the 16 for the game with Reading.
And while Drogba's golden touch in front of goal, with his double against Reading taking his tally to 19, has kept Chelsea in the title chase, the Blues boss admitted he was prepared to consider emergency measures to get that defensive shield back in place.
Mourinho said: "In the last part of the Reading game they had everybody up. They knew we didn't have Cech and didn't have Terry and that there are a lot of limitations in this aspect.
"At the moment, teams feel they can score goals against us. They feel it and they are scoring them. When you have a lot of problems in defence you concede goals.
"I'm disappointed that we don't have the players. It is a difficult time because we do not have the players to improve things and make changes and rotate and put pressure on some players with other players who are ready to play."
"I know this is Chelsea Football Club and we are very proud of it. But one thing is Chelsea with these players and another thing is Chelsea with John Terry, Petr Cech, Joe Cole and Robben and everybody. In this moment I am having problems."
There will be little sympathy given the money Chelsea have had at their disposal but Mourinho's injury concerns will see him go cap in hand to Roman Abramovich for more players when the transfer window opens next week.
Manchester City's Micah Richards is his top target, despite the likely £20million price tag, although Eastlands team-mate Sylvain Distin, whose contract runs out at the end of the season, could also be a cut-price short-term option.
Mourinho, desperate for Shevchenko and Michael Ballack to start showing they are worth their £130,000-a-week deals, will also be in the market for a striker, although finding a player eligible for the Champions League will not be easy.
Yet Mourinho's more pressing concern is getting through the next week without another championship depth-charge rocking his men from their games with Fulham and Aston Villa.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...name_page.html
Mourinho will ask Roman for more cash to keep Blues on track Jose demands Chelsea improvement.. or else
Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer
ADMITTING to mistakes is not something we have come to expect from the "Special One".
But as Jose Mourinho revealed the extent of his defensive worries meant he had considered asking Didier Drogba to become an emergency centre-half, even the Chelsea boss must have begun to doubt his public certainties.
Like it or not, it was Mourinho who sanctioned the departures of William Gallas and Robert Huth, who allowed himself to begin the season without an established rightback but two left-backs, no effective cover in the middle, and who has spent the first four months of the campaign shuffling the pack.
In giving his inner-most thoughts on Drogba, he also confessed his concerns over the other strikers - most notably Andriy Shevchenko.
"It's a pity I have also problems in attack because if in this moment I have other strikers playing at a great level I would play Didier as central defender.
"He is one of the best players in the team at the moment. He is playing fantastic. He scores goals and he also fights for the team. He was also good in defensive areas. He is playing absolutely brilliant.
"But I cannot do it because in attack I have also a lot of problems. I have no Joe Cole, I have no Robben... and I have Andriy Shevchenko playing very, very far from his level.
"In this moment I have just Didier as the only attacking player and I cannot play him as a central defender."
Mourinho could never have envisaged the scale of the injury problems he has been forced to face this season, with the news that skipper John Terry faces a make-or-break date with a French surgeon today compounding those worries.
Yet, while Mourinho would not have expected to lose Terry and Petr Cech, he has to take responsibility for the lack of defensive cover in the most expensively-acquired squad in football history. The sales of Gallas and Huth have proved vital, while the incoming Shevchenko and Michael Ballack have done far more as marketing properties than on the pitch, leaving Drogba, Terry, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard to carry too many of their colleagues.
While Terry stayed fit, his sheer desire could paper over the cracks that looked wider with every week that found out Paulo Ferreira and Khalid Boulahrouz.
Terry permitted Mourinho to slay all manner of dragons on behalf of his players and attempt to draw rival managers into his mind-game wars. But it could only last for so long before reality struck.
Mourinho has watched his rock-solid defence dissolve with six goals conceded in the three games since Terry's back problem flared up on the eve of the trip to Goodison Park.
Already this season, Chelsea have conceded 15 goals - only eight fewer than they let in throughout the whole of last term.
And Mourinho's men have dropped six points on home soil from just 10 games, compared to the astonishing form that saw them pick up 55 out of 57 at the Bridge in their second championship season. Mourinho said: "The team is showing spirit. At this moment we have a lot of problems, problems that, if we didn't have a group built on character and friendship in the team, we could not survive - and we are surviving.
"It's not a drama and not so bad because the difference is four points. But what the team cannot do is miracles.
"If the problems carry on and we have no players back from injury and have to play every game under these circumstances we're in trouble."
Mourinho's lack of a rightback has been apparent all season, with Geremi taking over as first choice by default due to the failings of Ferreira and Boulahrouz, understood to have been furious when told he was being left out of the 16 for the game with Reading.
And while Drogba's golden touch in front of goal, with his double against Reading taking his tally to 19, has kept Chelsea in the title chase, the Blues boss admitted he was prepared to consider emergency measures to get that defensive shield back in place.
Mourinho said: "In the last part of the Reading game they had everybody up. They knew we didn't have Cech and didn't have Terry and that there are a lot of limitations in this aspect.
"At the moment, teams feel they can score goals against us. They feel it and they are scoring them. When you have a lot of problems in defence you concede goals.
"I'm disappointed that we don't have the players. It is a difficult time because we do not have the players to improve things and make changes and rotate and put pressure on some players with other players who are ready to play."
"I know this is Chelsea Football Club and we are very proud of it. But one thing is Chelsea with these players and another thing is Chelsea with John Terry, Petr Cech, Joe Cole and Robben and everybody. In this moment I am having problems."
There will be little sympathy given the money Chelsea have had at their disposal but Mourinho's injury concerns will see him go cap in hand to Roman Abramovich for more players when the transfer window opens next week.
Manchester City's Micah Richards is his top target, despite the likely £20million price tag, although Eastlands team-mate Sylvain Distin, whose contract runs out at the end of the season, could also be a cut-price short-term option.
Mourinho, desperate for Shevchenko and Michael Ballack to start showing they are worth their £130,000-a-week deals, will also be in the market for a striker, although finding a player eligible for the Champions League will not be easy.
Yet Mourinho's more pressing concern is getting through the next week without another championship depth-charge rocking his men from their games with Fulham and Aston Villa.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...name_page.html
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