Mourinho's Progression

Mourinho's Progression

Posted by David Aniemeka on Tuesday, 3 December 2013 0

Jose Mourinho has been discussing the availability
of an injured trio ahead of what he expects to be a
very difficult game against Sunderland tomorrow.
The manager reported that Samuel Eto'o had
trained with the squad yesterday and was in
contention to play at the Stadium of Light. The
Cameroonian was injured in last week's defeat to
Basel and was expected to be out for around two
weeks, but Mourinho was pleased to announce his
recovery was quicker than expected. He also had
news on the Brazilian duo of Oscar and David Luiz.
'Eto'o is back training with the team,' said Mourinho.
'I will have to see today but he looks fine. There is a
chance he can play tomorrow.
'Oscar is not in condition to play, but his injury is not
a serious one. David Luiz is not training with the
team, he is still with the medical department. Let's
see for the weekend. I hope sooner or later I have
David so I can rotate a little back at the back, like I
can in other positions.'
With a third of the league season now passed, the
Portuguese was asked by a member of the press how
he felt his side had developed since he took over in
the summer.
'There is a lot of progress to be made,' the manager
reflected.
'There are things in the job that are not easy, and
one of those things is to make the pressure of
fighting for the title become something natural,
something the players accept in a positive way.
'Here we have some people that have won the title
before but not for quite a long time, and when you
don't win it for quite a long time you forget it.
'We have other people that have played in clubs that
are not used to fighting for titles, it is just about
doing fantastically today and not worrying about
tomorrow or any big responsibilities.
'You have to learn how to live with the pressure of
trying to be top of the league, how to fight until the
last moment, knowing that every detail of every
game can make a difference in the end. It's a
process, not something you do with a click.'
Mourinho had words of support for one man who has
won it all before, but has been out of the team in
recent games.
'I think Ashley Cole will start one of these two
matches, against Sunderland or Stoke,' the manager
reported.
'When any player that, all his career, normally starts
every game doesn't, naturally they are not the
happiest guy in the camp, but Ashley is always
professional, always a team player, so he deserves to
play.'
A second league game of seven in December takes
us to the north-east to face Sunderland, now
managed by former Blue Gustavo Poyet. Consecutive
home successes, against local rivals Newcastle and
title challengers Manchester City, leaves Mourinho in
no doubt as to how stern tomorrow's test will be, in a
month that could start outlining which of the six
teams the manager thinks can win the title breaks
ahead of the rest.
'Sunderland are better than the number of points
they have. The quality of the players is not
comparable with some teams that are in that part of
the table.
'I don't think they can play in a defensive way where
they just try to get a point. They have a positive
approach because they need to win matches and I
think Gustavo's style is to try to play good football.
You can see the way they are trying to play.
'There is a lot to play for in December and in the
beginning of January. After that we can have a look
and see if somebody from the six can open a real
gap.
'I don't think we can speak about favourites. All the
six teams are title contenders. This moment until the
end of the year is a moment not to decide, but to
clarify the situation.'

Sent From David Aniemeka