Chelsea

[Arn]

Wouldn't surprise me if Rafa will try to sign Mata and Torres.

Torres and Mata to Napoli and Cavani to Chelsea?

[Cormack74]

Does anyone else feel that all of this is a bit rushed?

Mourinho has been slaughtered in Spain, and rightly so, and a few days later, he's Chelsea's manager and it's all a bit subdued on his part. Tit his would've been all agreed a good number of months back, but it feels 'tiring'.

I know this was in the pipeline for months, but there is no way he wouldn't feel tired or a little jaded and burnt out after last season in Madrid.

Maybe his introduction to the press on Monday will show me to be wrong, but I can't help but feel that maybe he needed some time off, especially after his rimming job on Man Utd in the Champions League.

You may be right.

Someone in the Times (Matt Dickinson?) reckoned Mourinho actually wanted Utd and that Abramovich really wanted Guardiola so at best this is a marriage of convenience.

[G]

You may be right.

Someone in the Times (Matt Dickinson?) reckoned Mourinho actually wanted Utd and that Abramovich really wanted Guardiola so at best this is a marriage of convenience.

Ahem

I wonder if the Chelsea fans have given any thought to the way Mourinho publicly rimmed Manchester united in an effort to be their new manager and has only returned because no one else would have him.

[Vermilion]

Yeah, heard that, it's true too isn't it, Abram.v'c did really want Guardiola, and Maureen said he wanted to follow Ferguscum.

Atleast it provides a stick to poke the Chavs with.

[Fosterbloke]

How much would Mata go for in this market? £30m?

[destinydude]

Break bank, get Mata if Luis is to be sold.

Actually, get Mata regardless of Luis

[Red_Polo]

I will piss myself laughing if they sell Mata

[Reece]

It's behind the paywall so can't read it, but Rory Smith just tweeted something about them buying Jovetic.

[Captain Stu]

It's behind the paywall so can't read it, but Rory Smith just tweeted something about them buying Jovetic.

Basically Arsenal have been in for him (apparently) for weeks and Chelsea have just thundered in and offered £23M for him.

[Arn]

I'll improve Chelsea through hard work, not spending millions on new signings, says Jose Mourinho


Jose Mourinho insists it will be hard work - not money - which will take Chelsea back to the top of the tree.

Chelsea fans will expect Mourinho's return to Stamford Bridge be accompanied by a spending spree as Roman Abramovich arms his manager with the funds to reclaim a title they last won in 2010 when Carlo Ancelotti was at the helm.

Forward reinforcements top the shopping list, with Andre Schurrle of Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester City's Edin Dzeko and Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic reported to be on Mourinho's radar.

But the 50-year-old insists that drawing the best from his existing squad will be his most pressing concern and refuses to prioritise any silverware.

"We have to improve the team, but when I say improve the team people are already thinking about how many millions Chelsea will spend. When I say improve the team, I mean through work," he said,

"My work has to improve players and improve the team. If I don't do that I am not happy with myself.

"If after that we can improve my ego and the team by buying a couple of players it is fantastic, but I have to improve the team and the players with my work.

"The priority is to improve my ego. In the last two years we have struggled in the Premier League.

"If Chelsea didn't win the Champions League then the club wouldn't have been in the competition this year. This year we had to fight until the last match to qualify.

"We must improve individually, improve collectively and improve the structure of the club around the football team, and try to win the next match, and to improve my ego.

"Which one is the next match? The Premier League? Let's go for the Premier League. If the next match is the FA Cup, let's go for the FA Cup.

"It's difficult for me to say something is the priority. The priority is to work hard, work professionally and make the team better and to improve my ego."

The grey hair that now covers Mourinho's scalp was not evident during his first spell in west London between 2004 and 2007, but he insists his capacity for hard work remains intact.

"I don't need a holiday, instead I'm sorry we don't start training tomorrow," he said.

"Victory makes miracles - when you win you are never tired. Happiness is much stronger than tiredness. Players need holidays, I don't. All I need is my ego.

"When we start the players will meet someone with great motivation and a big ego. In spite of my white hairs, which I didn't have in 2004, I'm still very strong at work and have a big ego."

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foot...o-8644891.html

[Captain Stu]

I'll improve Chelsea through hard work, not spending millions on new signings, says Jose Mourinho.

[RichC]

That first line

Mourinho will be spending a fortune this summer of that I am pretty damn sure!

[Shaggy]

Shock horror

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1468873/cristiano-ronaldo-thinks-knows-all?cc=5739#

Jose: Ronaldo thinks he knows it all

June 5, 2013

By Dermot Corrigan, Spain Correspondent

Jose Mourinho has suggested his former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo no longer listens to tactical instructions as he thinks he has nothing left to learn.

The Portuguese pair previous enjoyed a close relationship but it has apparently fractured since Ronaldo reacted angrily to criticism from the bench during a Copa del Rey win over Valencia in January.

After that, Ronaldo refused to speak publicly in support of his boss or tie their fates together.

Spanish lipreaders claimed the player told his manager to "f¨¨ himself" during Madrid's win over Malaga last month, and he did not then start any of the club's remaining three La Liga games.

Mourinho told Spanish TV show Punto Pelota that it was now difficult to coach the former Manchester United man as he reacts badly to any criticism.

"Cristiano Ronaldo maybe thinks that he knows everything and that the coach cannot improve him anymore," Mourinho said. "I had a very basic problem with him: criticise him from a tactical point of view, in that moment he did not accept it very well."

Ronaldo missed Madrid's final game of the season last weekend with Mourinho claiming the attacker - as well as team-mates Iker Casillas and Pepe - had been ruled out due to unspecified back complaints.

Pepe subsequently tweeted a photo of himself surfing just a few days later, Casillas told Spanish reporters that he had been ready to play, while A Bola and AS claimed Ronaldo now has no intention of signing a new contract at the Bernabeu as he was disappointed Madrid president Florentino Perez had not publicly denied the 'fake injury' claims.

The returning Chelsea manager nevertheless stuck to his version of events.

"Those two games in which he did not play, have been almost the only ones because he has given everything for Real Madrid," he said. "He felt a pain in his back. I do not doubt the injuries of the players."

Mourinho also claimed that Ronaldo's phenomenal goalscoring record for Madrid over the last three years had been facilitated by a tactical scheme which had been specifically designed [by Mourinho himself].

"He played three fantastic seasons with me, I do not know if the best of his career," the Special One said. "I think we discovered a fantastic tactical set-up so that he could express all his potential and express it in goals."

Meanwhile, Radio Marca has claimed that Mourinho plans to sell both Fernando Torres and Juan Mata as he shakes up the Chelsea squad for next season.

Torres however told reporters as he joined up with the Spain squad ahead of the upcoming Confederations Cup that he was not yet thinking about next season, but he was looking forward to working under the Blues' new "demanding" boss.

"There had been talk about this for a while and now it is confirmed," Torres said. "But first we have a very nice challenge in front of us, the Confederations Cup, which requires 100% [attention]. Once that is over we can think about starting the season well, with excitement, and knowing he is a very demanding coach."

[Sarb]

A player who thinks he knows it all v a manager who thinks he knows it all. I seriously have never known anyone love themself as much as Mourinho does. It's embarassing.

That picture of Mourinho standing in the tunnel on the weekend leaning against the wall, standing there like a lost little prick with Ronaldo telling him to come on out or whatever was cringeworthy.

[Shaggy]

They're both incredibly egomaniacal. It's a horrible trait. I find them both repellent.