Jose Mourinho pre-match press conference in quotes
Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-USA TODAY Sports
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has just wrapped up his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Premier League clash against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge (quotes per BBC Sport).
When asked about whether or not he really believed that Chelsea were not leading contenders for the title:
"“It’s the same. We are still third. The good thing is that we can feel now a little bit of space after Liverpool in fourth and the other ones.“The big objective for us is to finish top four or top three and when you see that little gap after Liverpool from us that gap is good because it gives us that stability and we can enjoy and get results that will allow us to stay at the top of the league.“We’ve improved, we trained well and trained hard and the younger people are getting stronger. The stable people are stable, the team is playing very well and I thought that even after the bad result against West Ham that the team was playing well.”“Statistics don’t play a part. If they did, we lost 5-0 against Manchester City in the last game. Statistics and the past don’t play – it’s the present, it’s the moment.“I’m not saying we’re not going to win, I’m saying we’re not candidates, we’re outsiders. We’re playing our league against ourselves to try to improve. We are not a squad like Man City’s with every player in the best moment of their careers of the age of stability between 25 and their 30s, all of them working together for a long time, a manager that arrived and the team was there ready for him.“Arsenal is the biggest example of stability and a manager working with players year after year. He’s working with these guys since they were really young players.“We are different. We are beginning. Of course we dream to win the Premier League and if we have the chance to win we’re not going to say we don’t want to but we don’t have the same responsibilities.”"
Mourinho revealed that striker Fernando Torres would not play this weekend, but could be available for the midweek trip to West Brom:
"“He is almost there but not there. If it was the last game of the season I’d say ‘let’s go and do it’ but there’s no point to risk him now. It’s not the moment to lose players; it’s the moment to try to have them all. Tuesday is a better possibility. We have just a couple of little things, not really injuries, that we have to assess and decide what we’re going to do.”"
The Chelsea boss also denied that the club were trying to sign Edinson Cavani from Paris St-Germain:
"“No. In this moment we are trying to sign nobody. I have no idea. He just arrived in the club six months ago. Maybe he’s so happy he doesn’t want to leave and maybe the club is happy and they don’t want him to leave.”"