Mourinho keeps it in the Chelsea 'family'
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho admits he cannot afford to allow any of his players to feel neglected this season if they are to win the Premiership for the second successive year.
Mourinho has already been forced to carpet defender Ricardo Carvalho for speaking out about his exclusion from their opening game of the season at Wigan and Arjen Robben has also voiced his dismay with the coach’s rotation policy.
But after recording six consecutive victories without conceding a goal, Chelsea sit six points clear at the top of the Barclays Premiership.
It would appear the unrest which peaked during the first two weeks of the season has finally been quelled by the coach’s treatment of Carvalho.
The defender, now forgiven and back in the side while Asier Del Horno is injured, was fined two weeks wages for his remarks.
Carvalho spoke out while on international duty with Portugal and Chelsea have since moved to tighten up their existing rules on talking to the media while with their national teams.
Chelsea’s squad have been reminded by Mourinho that they must not speak about their life at Stamford Bridge in a critical manner while away with their countries.
The rule, which was originally included the code of conduct drawn up by Mourinho, has now been reinforced following the Carvalho episode.
But it is another example of the great faith Mourinho puts in having a group of players who all feel part of the squad.
The Portuguese coach achieved that to stunning effect last season when despite rotating his squad during all four competitions, not one of the players felt the need to publicly criticise him.
The spirit of togetherness brought Chelsea their first top-flight title for 50 years in Mourinho’s first year in charge and it is something he feels is vital to their hopes of retaining it.
“It is crucial,” he says. “Good players want to win championships and good teams win with this mentality.
“Of course I have to work on it. I can’t let players lose their confidence or commitment or lose their link to the group.
“I cannot leave a player 10, 12, 14 consecutive matches without playing. I have to rotate to make people happy. Ideally, I would like everybody to be happy. I have no doubt everyone wants to win but of course they all want to play and that’s not easy – only 11 can do it.
“But we will be in four competitions at the same time and everybody plays.”
Chelsea have already been labelled ‘boring’ this season but any suggestion they lack the same motivation to retain their Premiership title is quickly vetoed by Mourinho.
“Last season we wanted to succeed and win the Premiership, this season is no different. The players though have experienced the frustration with two Champions League semi-final defeats. They want to carry on so I don’t see any lack of motivation.
“If you win, you want to win more times. But maybe it changes other people in a negative way. For example, my colleague Arsene Wenger was saying that because he won the FA Cup four times he doesn’t care about the fifth, so it depends on people. We want to keep winning.
“What is success for Wigan and West Brom? To stay in the Premiership, they will fight for that. What is success for us? To win the Premiership and we will fight for that.”
Meanwhile Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who voiced his unhappiness with the rotational policy in a newspaper interview earlier this season, says he relishing the prospect of fighting for his place.
Robben scored the second goal in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Charlton at the weekend – a victory that put an end to their opponent’s unbeaten start.
But with Shaun Wright-Phillips waiting in the wings for a run in the side, Robben knows he cannot afford to let his game drop.
He said: “In every position there is strong competition with two people battling for one spot. Everyone knows if they don’t perform they can be replaced. At a top European club like Chelsea you know you have to perform. For me that’s not a problem, it can only make you better.
“I don’t need that inspiration. Competition is good but I always want to improve in every game and in training. The hunger is still there. Every player wants to win every game and it’s no different if it is Arsenal or Wigan. We want to try to win every competition we’re in. The main is to win the championship again and try to achieve something in Europe.”
