Mourinho maintains 'boring' stance
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho prepared for a return to Premiership action against Bolton this weekend by continuing his defence against criticism that his side is ’boring’.
The Portuguese coach defended his side’s style of play as they look to increase their lead at the top of the Barclays Premiership against Wanderers at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have a 100% record in the Premiership this season and have a nine-point lead over second-placed Charlton.
Mourinho fails to see how anyone could call his side ’boring’ but concedes it is a mentality he and his side will have to live with for the time being.
“I think they were very happy when Chelsea was a losing side,” he told Chelsea TV. “At that time football in England was not boring for them.
“We have to live with this kind of mentality and give the answer at the right time.
“My only doubt sometimes is that the critics have an intention or the critics are people who do not understand football well.”
Chelsea attracted much criticism for their 1-0 win over an ultra-defensive Anderlecht side in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho was keen to point out there is a difference between watching a boring match and a boring team.
He agrees with the critics who claim it was a poor game to watch, but maintains it was wrong to suggest his team were boring.
He added: “If they say Anderlecht was a boring game, I understand. I also think it was a boring game.
“But one thing is a boring game, another thing is a boring team. And we are not boring – we couldn’t play better.
When you are winning 1-0 and you are playing against 10 defenders, and you are 20 minutes from going home with three points why should you take the risks? But I think we are not boring.
In that game we faced a difficult situation against a very defensive team - that I don’t criticise because they tried with their difference of qualities to get a result and their option was to play that way.
“I am not a critic of that, I accept that. What I don’t accept is that people say Chelsea was boring in a game of this type of characteristics.”
Meanwhile Joe Cole, one of England’s heroes in their 2-1 win over Poland at Old Trafford on last night, is relishing the return of Premiership football.
Cole also starred in their win over Austria last Saturday and said it helped to have team-mates Shaun Wright-Phillips, Frank Lampard and John Terry alongside him for the internationals.
England finished top of their group thanks to Lampard’s late winner against the Poles – even though they had already qualified for the finals in Germany next summer thnks to Holland’s win over the Czech Republic.
Cole said: “It was a very good performance. They had one chance and it went in. We played some great stuff, very attacking, like a Premier League game. We are very happy.
“But it is good to have a lot of your club team-mates around you because you know each other’s games and it is great. We all know what Frank is capable of and he has got an important knack of scoring goals and he is such a vital part of the team.
“Shaun looks comfortable. He was getting a lot of good balls in and we all know what he can do. You’ve just got to get the ball to him and when he is one-on-one, that’s when he is at his best.”
Playing two consecutive matches for his country has given the midfielder fresh impetus and he is adamant he does not feel jaded by the schedule.
“I feel fit now. I’m going to go back to Chelsea nice and sharp. I was happy with how it went and I am looking forward to Saturday,” he added.
“It’s about going back to Chelsea now, putting England to bed and cracking on from there.
“It would be good to have another good performance on Saturday to keep the run going. Another three points would be nice.”
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