Mourinho may miss big match
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho will only watch tonight’s Barclays Premiership showdown between Manchester United and Arsenal if his wife gives him permission!
The Portuguese coach watched his side go 14 points clear at the top of the league but then confessed that while he would love to watch the big match it depended entirely on whether his wife had other plans for him.
Chelsea increased their stranglehold on the Premiership thanks to a 3-1 victory over West Ham at Upton Park.
Goals from Frank Lampard (24), substitute Hernan Crespo (60) and Didier Drogba (79) put paid to West Ham, who briefly levelled though Marlon Harewood seconds after the interval.
Mourinho was given an added bonus when Liverpool could only draw with Bolton - but he still did not know whether he would be allowed to watch the United game.
“It all depends on my wife,” he conceded. “If I am at home, yes, I will see it. But maybe my wife would like to go somewhere.
“I would like to see it – I like to see football and it is a big game. But maybe I will have no permission.”
Mourinho was left reeling by a potentially-serious injury to Ghana international Michael Essien, who left the ground unable to walk freely after being carried off in the 13th minute against the Hammers.
A challenge from Nigel Reo-Coker floored the Chelsea midfielder and although he returned to the action initially, he collapsed in a heap moments later.
Essien will undergo further scans on his ankle today in a bid to assess the damage, while Mourinho shrugged off a late injury to Argentine striker Crespo.
He arrived on the pitch in the 59th minute, put Chelsea 2-1 up with his first kick and then had to come off in the closing stages with a hamstring problem.
Crespo’s injury could, in theory, cause Mourinho more problems – especially when Drogba departs for the African Nations Cup later this month.
But he ruled out bringing in another striker as cover even if he lost Crespo for a number of weeks.
Instead, Mourinho said he would turn to Eidur Gudjohnsen – a player he labelled as the ’blond Maradona’ after his midfield performance against West Ham.
The Chelsea coach insisted if anyone arrives at the club during the current window it will be a midfielder – more or less confirming their interest in Dynamo Moscow’s Nuno Maniche.
“Crespo is injured but he can walk, Essien can’t,” confirmed Mourinho. “We have to wait and see what the X-rays and scans show.
“We still sign nobody or just one player in the window. I keep saying this. If we sign one player he will be a midfield player because we lost Tiago and Alexei Smertin and we didn’t sign another one.
“We have Essien suspended and injured and we lose Geremi to the African Nations Cup. He is also a solution in midfield.
“If we can get a player to help us then good, if not then we can cope with it. I told Gudjohnsen after the game that he was the blond Maradona.
“His flicks on the ball with the outside of the foot were amazing. But he played fantastic against Manchester City and also against Birmingham so the blond Maradona can play striker if necessary.”
