The Chelsea FC manager revealed that the coaching staff closely followed every single player from the Blues’ first-team squad during the international break, and insisted that his players would improve in the club environment rather than with their country
With his side languishing in the bottom half of the table, Chelsea FC manager Jos Mourinho is aiming for a return to normality in the coming month, when the Blues play in the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League as well as the Capital One Cup.
The Stamford Bridge outfit host Aston Villa on Saturday — one of the few sides that have been worse than Chelsea FC this season — to begin a run of relatively kind fixtures on paper, and the Portuguese manager is confident his side will be closer to the top of the table in a couple of months’ time.
Mourinho confident of improving the level of his players
Asked at his pre-match press conference whether his players would have welcomed the international break to get some time away from the club, Mourinho replied in the negative, insisting that the level of his Chelsea FC side is not a consequence of their ‘habitat’.
The Portuguese is quoted by the club website . as saying: “With the first fixtures, I watched every match involving my players, some live and some later. In the second fixture I went to the Spanish game, Silvinho went to Serbia, Jose went to Belgium, Rui controlled South America and Steve was with the FA, the England Under-21s.
“What I analysed in this period was that no player was better in the national team than they are with us, so ita s not their habitat which is making them play better or worse. At this moment they are what they are, which gives me total confidence that it will be here that we will improve them and they will go back to their normality.”
Mourinho also insisted that although his side needed points desperately, they would be closer to the their normal position in the table in a a couple of months’ time. “We cannot run away from the reality of the Premier League table,” said the 52-year-old.
“Obviously we know we will not be relegated, we know that in a couple of months we will be in a position where we normally have to be, but the reality now, today, tomorrow and before the game starts is the reality of the numbers, and the numbers are very cruel but objective. We need points.”
Chelsea FC revival has to begin against Aston Villa
Although the Blues’ faithful may already feel their side have reached rock-bottom, any result other than a win against 18th-placed Aston Villa at home on Saturday would be a step backwards. Mourinho’s men have to put together a run of positive results to stay within touching distance of the top four, and the run has to begin against Tim Sherwood’s side.
The Portuguese has been confident in his declarations about his team being in the top four by the turn of the year, but if the results don’t improve, there is a very realistic possibility that the club will miss out on a Champions League spot.
