Tuesday, 15 September 2015

Chelsea vs Maccabi Tel Aviv press conference LIVE: Blues face the media ahead of Champions League opener


We know what we are
Mourinho: "Last season they (Maccabi) kicked Liverpool out of the Champions League.
"They are not unknown. Last week I spent hours watching their matches.
"We know what we are. We are champions of England.

"Nobody can steal our trophies, nobody can steal our history. We know what we are.
12:13 pm
Go and Google it!
Mourinho describes himself as special and happy - not short of confidence is he?
He adds: "My third season in Porto - I didn't have.
"My third season in Inter - I didn't have.
"My third season in Chelsea the first time, I won the FA Cup and Carling Cup.
"My third season in Real Madrid I won the Super Cup.
"These are my third seasons so click Google and check. The question is stupid."
It's all getting a bit heated now.
12:10 pm
Talking tactics
Mourinho: "We have to know that they can beat us but we have to prove that we are a better team.
"I respect Maccabi. I watched them and did my studying.
"I had information in the last week that they will probably play with five defenders.
"We are prepared for them playing four in the middle or also ready for the five defenders.
"We trust ourselves and think we can win the game."
Action Images / Andrew Couldridge
Jose Mourinho
 
12:08 pm
Making changes
Mourinho: "I cannot be worried about what you say, what you write.
"Yes, I'm going to make a couple of changes. I have to try a different dynamic.
"I have to give chances to people who are not playing.
"We have to go game by game. We need to qualify because we are not a Europa League team.
"It's important to us as professionals."
12:06 pm
Fighting talk
Mourinho: "I am the current champion of England, why should I be in trouble? Why?
"I think that's a good question and you don't know how to answer it.
"I trust the squad. The market is closed so you cannot ask me about replacing players.
"I like my players. I have a squad and I don't have to play the same XI. I can make changes.
12:04 pm
Problems
Mourinho: "Every season you have teams that don't start well.
"It's so easy to connect that with football, injuries, bad luck, bad moment.
"It's quite sad that people go in the other direction and try to find problems that don't exist.
"The only problem we have is that we don't have good results. It's a big problem for us.
"In other clubs you have to go back 10 years to remember good results. In our case you have to go back just three months."
12:03 pm
Jose in the house
Jose Mourinho has arrived.
He seems pleased to be away from Premier League action.
Mourinho: "A new competition. Zero points for everyone. To start well is important
"After this game we have two difficult matches away."
The Special One is then asked about the mood in the camp.
He adds: "When people is not getting the success they are working for, people is not happy."
12:00 pm
Ball control
Here's a quick shot of John Terry and Gary Cahill training earlier this morning.
The press conference will begin in a moment.
GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images
John Terry and Gary Cahill attend a training session
 
11:53 am
Fans' fury
Blues fans' ire  this season is focusing primarily on one man – Branislav Ivanovic.
But Dan Levene believes the Serbian full-back is less to blame for their predicament than many claim.
Have a gander at Levene’s latest column here and see if you agree with his assessment of Chelsea’s struggles so far this term.
 
11:50 am
Kingsmeadow purchase
There were some interesting developments at Chelsea yesterday and we broke the news that the club is on the verge of signing a deal with AFC Wimbledon to take over the lease at Kingsmeadow Stadium,
The south west Londoners are hopeful of completing a move back to their spiritual home of Merton and are in the process of trying to secure planning permission for an 11,000-seater stadium in Plough Lane.
Chelsea intend to use Kingsmeadow as a new base for their ladies and youth teams.
You can learn more about the move, including details of the cost and timescale with our story here.
 
11:47 am
Begovic up for the fight
Asmir Begovic was once again thrust into the limelight at Goodison following a major injury to Thibaut Courtois.
He was unhappy with the result on Merseyside but already has plans to put things right at Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening.
He said: “Things are obviously not going our way at the moment, so it was a difficult day. We knew it was going to be a tough test – coming to Goodison is never an easy task.
“They played very well in stretches, tested us and scored goals at the right times and we didn’t, so that obviously makes a big difference.
“We have no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have to pick ourselves up and look forward to our game on Wednesday. We have character and we have lots of different challenges.
“We know we still have quality as a team and we need to get a good performance and a good result against a tough Maccabi team – hopefully that can give us a boost to really kick on.”
And steers the ball past Begovic.
 
11:45 am
Training
Here's a look at the Chelsea boys arriving for training earlier.

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