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CHELSEA BOSS Jose Mourinho has cranked up the pressure on Premiership rivals Manchester United by suggesting they are expected to win the title next season after spending nearly £50m on new players this summer.
The Portuguese has also claimed he is the equal of United coach Alex Ferguson as they have both won the Champions League the same number of times.
Mourinho’s comments, made in Portuguese newspaper Record, are bound to stir up the animosity between the two clubs that developed as last season reached a tense climax.
And though United triumphed in the league while Chelsea lifted the FA Cup, next season Mourinho expects Chelsea to be tipped to fight off relegation because their summer budget is so far the lowest in the league. Chelsea have not yet spent a penny on a player, bringing in Steve Sidwell and Claudio Pizarro on free transfers.
“When Chelsea was spending money, everybody said that Chelsea had the obligation to win: ‘Chelsea spent the money, Chelsea are buying their titles,’ they said,” said Mourinho.
“I don’t even want to mention the fact that Chelsea are now spending nothing while United are spending a lot. I don’t want to know: they do their jobs, we do ours. I don’t care about their signings.”
His last comment may appear disingenuous as he went on to tell the newspaper what effect United’s spending spree will have on their expectations. “Two years ago everybody said that all the pressure was on Chelsea because people measured each teams’ possibilities and capabilities of reaching their goals in how many pounds they spent,” Mourinho explained.
“Now I’m waiting to see if people put us in the last place of the title candidates because they have to put Manchester United first, Liverpool second — they haven’t spent much yet but they will — and then Arsenal, Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Newcastle. I even want to see if the press will say that Chelsea are candidates for relegation!”
Mourinho is clearly trying to increase the pressure on United, who this month have tied up the transfers of Nani from Sporting Lisbon and Anderson from Porto for over £30m, with Owen Hargreaves set to follow in the next fortnight.
In typical style, he added that if Chelsea can compete with United this coming season, it would represent a great success.
“It’s a nice and motivating challenge for my team to show that with the same group as last season, we can still keep winning.
“And hopefully that will be in normal conditions, and instead of having 20 injuries we will have only ten, which would make me happy.”
The fact that United’s two young signings, Nani and Anderson, have been signed from clubs in Mourinho’s homeland, Portugal, does not make any difference to the Chelsea boss’s opinion. “I’m not worried because they can only play with eleven players,” he said. “And if they played them all, it would mean Ryan Giggs would be out, which would make me very happy.”
Mourinho urged a bit more patience from his bosses in their desperation to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, and reminded his owner Roman Abramovich that his record in Europe is no worse than Ferguson’s. “Sir Alex Ferguson is the manager who has won the most titles in English football and he’s been in charge of Manchester United for over 20 years,’’ said Mourinho.
“How many Champions League titles has he won? One! I have spent five years as a manager, and I’ve won one as well, so let me get on with my thing.
“A second Champions League title will arrive soon. It won’t arrive when we want it, it will arrive when it has to arrive. I don’t put pressure on myself.”
The Portuguese has also claimed he is the equal of United coach Alex Ferguson as they have both won the Champions League the same number of times.
Mourinho’s comments, made in Portuguese newspaper Record, are bound to stir up the animosity between the two clubs that developed as last season reached a tense climax.
And though United triumphed in the league while Chelsea lifted the FA Cup, next season Mourinho expects Chelsea to be tipped to fight off relegation because their summer budget is so far the lowest in the league. Chelsea have not yet spent a penny on a player, bringing in Steve Sidwell and Claudio Pizarro on free transfers.
“When Chelsea was spending money, everybody said that Chelsea had the obligation to win: ‘Chelsea spent the money, Chelsea are buying their titles,’ they said,” said Mourinho.
“I don’t even want to mention the fact that Chelsea are now spending nothing while United are spending a lot. I don’t want to know: they do their jobs, we do ours. I don’t care about their signings.”
His last comment may appear disingenuous as he went on to tell the newspaper what effect United’s spending spree will have on their expectations. “Two years ago everybody said that all the pressure was on Chelsea because people measured each teams’ possibilities and capabilities of reaching their goals in how many pounds they spent,” Mourinho explained.
“Now I’m waiting to see if people put us in the last place of the title candidates because they have to put Manchester United first, Liverpool second — they haven’t spent much yet but they will — and then Arsenal, Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Newcastle. I even want to see if the press will say that Chelsea are candidates for relegation!”
Mourinho is clearly trying to increase the pressure on United, who this month have tied up the transfers of Nani from Sporting Lisbon and Anderson from Porto for over £30m, with Owen Hargreaves set to follow in the next fortnight.
In typical style, he added that if Chelsea can compete with United this coming season, it would represent a great success.
“It’s a nice and motivating challenge for my team to show that with the same group as last season, we can still keep winning.
“And hopefully that will be in normal conditions, and instead of having 20 injuries we will have only ten, which would make me happy.”
The fact that United’s two young signings, Nani and Anderson, have been signed from clubs in Mourinho’s homeland, Portugal, does not make any difference to the Chelsea boss’s opinion. “I’m not worried because they can only play with eleven players,” he said. “And if they played them all, it would mean Ryan Giggs would be out, which would make me very happy.”
Mourinho urged a bit more patience from his bosses in their desperation to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, and reminded his owner Roman Abramovich that his record in Europe is no worse than Ferguson’s. “Sir Alex Ferguson is the manager who has won the most titles in English football and he’s been in charge of Manchester United for over 20 years,’’ said Mourinho.
“How many Champions League titles has he won? One! I have spent five years as a manager, and I’ve won one as well, so let me get on with my thing.
“A second Champions League title will arrive soon. It won’t arrive when we want it, it will arrive when it has to arrive. I don’t put pressure on myself.”
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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