Mourinho blasts back at Beattie
Jose Mourinho has warned the rest of the Barclays Premiership that the only way they can stop Chelsea winning is to rely on a dose of good luck against them.
The Portuguese coach also responded to Everton striker James Beattie’s claim that the best way to stop Chelsea is to out-muscle them by suggesting that he paid more attention to his poor goal record at Goodison Park instead.
Mourinho has suffered a difficult week with a 1-1 draw against bottom club Everton being followed by a defeat on penalties to Charlton in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night.
But Mourinho insisted that the side which finally ends their unbeaten league run will need to stock up on their luck or hope that his side have an unlikely off day.
Mourinho, preparing for today’s game with Blackburn at Stamford Bridge, declared: “The best way to beat Chelsea is to be lucky. Because we are strong in every aspect of the game I don’t think there is a way to stop us playing and winning.
“Teams have to play very well and to be lucky. But when I say they have to play very well, I don’t think there is a way of playing against us.
“You cannot say the way to beat Chelsea is to play counter-attack because we have very fast players and we are a very good team at recovering the lost ball.
“You cannot say the way to beat Chelsea is to kick long balls up the field and play a direct game because we’ve proved that we can cope with it.
“You cannot say the best way to beat Chelsea is to have a go and attack, to try to win the game directly, because we are very strong on the counter-attack and can kill the opponent with it.
“Everton tried to play two strikers and long balls, what problems did they give us? No problems – not one header.”
Mourinho’s most stinging retort, though, was reserved for striker Beattie, whose penalty earned Everton a draw against Chelsea last Sunday.
It brought an end to Chelsea’s winning start to the season but Beattie’s suggestion that Mourinho’s men could be out-fought was met with a curt response.
“James Beattie should be worried about being at a club for one year and scoring two goals,” he replied. “He should worry about that and not what Chelsea are doing.”
