Mourinho backs Chelsea duo but will not comment on Ivanovic
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said he did not believe the absence of John Terry was a factor in their shock defeat at home to Crystal Palace.
The Blues were beaten 2-1 Stamford Bridge in their 100th home league game under Mourinho, having lost only one of the previous 99.
Mourinho refused to comment on the form of Branislav Ivanovic, whose poor start to the season continued as Bakary Sako caused the hosts major problems.
But he insisted he was happy with the performances of centre-backs Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill.
Asked about Ivanovic, Mourinho said: “I am not going to analyse individual form and performances. I can’t do that.”
But he denied suggestions Terry’s suspension might have had a serious impact upon his team, whose defending was again a cause for concern.
“I don’t think so. I think Cahill and Zouma have a lot of ability and played well and have had no problems,” Mourinho said.
“It could be a good excuse for me but I wouldn’t be being honest with Cahill and Zouma, because I thought they did well.”
Mourinho felt Chelsea should have had a penalty for a first-half challenge by Connor Wickham on Zouma.
But he also praised Palace, who took the lead through Sako’s goal and hit back straight after Radamel Falcao’s equaliser, with Joel Ward heading in the winner.
“My first thought is to Palace. They came with everything,” he said.
“The team was ready, the fans were ready and they came with a fantastic spirit. They were lucky, but they deserved their luck.
“Secondly, my team I think deserved more. I don’t want to say we deserved to win, because that’s not true. But I want to say we deserved more than the result we got.”
That result means Chelsea are still without a home win this season and have taken only four points from their opening four matches.
Mourinho insisted they were capable of making up ground on their title rivals but admitted it has been a “very bad start” to the campaign for the champions.
30/08/2015 @ 9:27 pm
chelsea have players. Alway dat does nt blv in youth, dats our proplem. Owner be wise with mourinho b4 he mess evryting down.
30/08/2015 @ 7:27 pm
We thanks god even if our performing is not good all of us known it is the game at some time it might refuse we still have the hope it is not late but you jose morinho advance your player to be in movement mostly of theme they have to look pedro’s way and you have to talk to your defender god bless our team chelsea
30/08/2015 @ 7:13 pm
to me mourinho worst d matter tell him to call d female doctor back to d first team and u wll see d team spirit,a doctor came in to treat ur best player on d pitch next u went to suspend her,how did u want others feels dats shows u dont care about there health as far u get 3point,,,,big problem in d team and boss caused dat…..iva need rest,,,aziec is okay dere and baba to d left,,,zouma and terry at center back,,,we pogba in d team,cheeks rubben can pare with matics,/remirez,,,hazard,fabrigas/osca and kenedy/willams/moses,,,,pedro/remy/costa/facao should top strike…..kallas better dan stone,,,,….we need standing 4,romeu can do dat but boss waste our youth too much and went ahead to pay huge amounth for d youth dat did nt have quality of yours youth team…..ake,,kallas,chalobal,piazon,solanke,ola ina,,,,with dis d team is okay,,,mikel should be release cause boss did not believe in him
30/08/2015 @ 6:48 pm
Kenedy,cheeks should come in, iva should wait 4 a while hazard and fabrigas should play harder
30/08/2015 @ 3:20 pm
I guess all I had to say has being said by my fellow Chelsea fans and if that’s the case, then even those who ‘know better’ at the club knows what to do but they ain’t got the balls to make the decisions quick. I still wonder how the form of the key players for last season just dropped drastically, the signs were there towards the tail end, but I just thought it was fatigue given the fact the coach didn’t rotate the team well enough leading me to believe the extended holiday would heal it all. The BOLD decisions should be taken, players should be dropped if they’re not performing and the ‘younger and more hungry’ ones should feature in their place.
IVANOVIC, FABREGAS, HAZARD and MATIC need to be reminded of ‘Passion’ and ‘Competition’… KTBFFH
30/08/2015 @ 2:27 pm
I have no one to blame but Jose, because he refuse to do the right thing at the right time.
From the beginning of the season I have had issue with the form of iva and Fab. But the coach still prefer to gamble with this guy.
He is not giving those young guys chance at all to grow with all the investment the club made to equip the youth team and till date none of them have made it to the first team.
Now you want to pay almost $80M on pogbe? Make no sense in any way at all.
We just need a manager that can integrate the youth to the senior team.
With all the love I have for mourinho, but I don’t think he’s nt good enof for the project.
30/08/2015 @ 1:33 pm
loftus cheek….should play alongside with matic, while azpilicueta plays rigth back, and baba plays LB kenedy should be given full chance to compete with willian. Blue is the colour
30/08/2015 @ 1:01 pm
mou should keep ivanovic on d bench,while rahman and azpilicueta should be used on the flanks,also kenedy should compete with oscar @ 10 because currently now willian can’t play there. willian is just as cuadrado..willian neva scores jst runs around doesn’t create chances.. oscar should be favourite to play there with kenedy if this is done I see chelsea going back to winning ways
30/08/2015 @ 12:24 pm
I think Mou should bench matic, fabrigas, costa and iva and play. coutois, azpi, baba, zuma, cahil, Ramires/mikel, loftus check, hazard,kenedy/oscar, pedro/willian remy/falcao in the next four matches all things being equal and see everybody sit up. but honestly Mou seem a confused man to me. how can u sell betrand 10m euro and price Danny rose 15m euros, he should learn to trust in his new talents
30/08/2015 @ 11:57 am
Curtois, azplicuetta,zouma .cahil.baba.loftus cheek.matic. kenedy .pedro.hazard .costa sub
be ..willian..falcao..osca..fabrigas..moses
30/08/2015 @ 11:03 am
Ivanovic should be religated with out thinking about it…the whole of ninety minits was played at his corner and Mou Seem blind to it?….thanks to zouma he was exceptional…I guess its time to return Azpi to his default wing and play Baba…
30/08/2015 @ 10:14 am
Costa,oscar
hazard,willian,pedro
matic,kenedy
baba,cahil,zuma,azpli
coutoir.
Substitutes:
ramires for willian. Then kenedy swoop wit ramires.
30/08/2015 @ 10:01 am
Mou shld to de ryt tin if only he wants to win matches.iva and fabregas are great players but they av fade out nw.there are young and talented players on de bench which shld feature de rest of the games left.futbal is nt about big names.its about form and performance.those who can play well must be featured.i wonder if they read our comments at all
30/08/2015 @ 9:20 am
Spot on guys!! In addition, Matic’s form is also questionable, and thus have exposed our ageing back line. I agree, Iva should be on the reserve! Willian is only running all over the pitch without creating or taking chances. Mou should get bulk of the blame cos he made the selections. IMO, Willian is not giving anything extra as RAM. Hazard have been clipped. I like the passion of Costa, but he must buckle down to business not fights. Baba should be installed; Azpi replace vulnerable Iva; get a young, intelligent, rugged and pacy CM; install RLC; push Fabregas to no. 10, let him compete with Oscar; Kenedy to compete with Willian on the right; and finally, big names don’t longer play football now, so Mou, be bold to use this young players now or forget signing them only for them to be farmed out on loan. Tomas Kalas, is on the same level as the £40m rated Stones. Nathan Ake, would have been a back up for Azpi, etc. If you don’t use these lads now, how then will you have future stars? Mou, oppositions now understand your style and formation week in week out, please tweek your formation with few young additions. As seen, kenedy and RLC seems ready. Its up to you now! Have a re-think.
30/08/2015 @ 8:54 am
Chelsea will pick form and can win 10- 15 match in a sequence. But I fear refrees will put hands to frustrate the team. Believe in Mourinho, believe in CFC. I don’t get panic because, we have Mourinho as the Boss.
30/08/2015 @ 7:17 am
Ivanovic spends most of his time in the 18 mts box of the other end eesh whats going on
30/08/2015 @ 6:08 am
Who said Josè mourinho shouldn’t be blame when he keep using faltering and tired old guards at d defence and midfield?he plays old name rather than form.players like ivanovic and fabregas do not need to smell chelsea’s first shirt.these duos are disgrace and the cause of chelsea’s shaky defence.all the threats on chelsea’s go line from d start of the season came from the weak and out of form ivanovic side and fabregas isn’t helping at all.what’s Baba doing on Bench.BABA SHOULD BE USED AT LEFT AND CESAR AT THE RIght while kenedy should replace fabregas
29/08/2015 @ 11:51 pm
Chelsea ar really out of the race and t is a pitty with such a sluggish performance I no longer expect the team to reclaim the tittle it will b a miracle..I don’t blame Jose bt e whole blame goes to the Chelsea board which was reluctant in giving the manager the funds to buy..now the transfer window is closed Will Chelsea find a box to box midfilder and a good solid centerback I wonder? Ivanovic at the same time is such a disgrace Jose shld pick Baba and drop this old boy to the bench….Chelsea really need some major signing in two days. ..break the bank fo Pogba and a good defender that is fo us to finish at a better position. ..youth such as Kennedy and Cheek ar even performing better than our old guards. ….poor Chelsea this time we ar n crisis. …