Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho blamed sloppy defending for his side’s shock 2-1 home defeat against Basel in their opening Champions League game of the season but is sure they will still qualify for the knockout stage.
The Blues led through Oscar’s first-half strike but two goals in the final 21 minutes stunned the home crowd.
Mourinho said: “We respect a team that showed in the last years that they have enough quality and experience to play at this level.
“But in the end we lost three points that we must must get somewhere – away against Basel or Schalke or Bucharest – all of them or some of them.
“The objective to finish top two and go to the next stage is an objective that is not lost – far from it. We will fight for it and believe very, very much that we are going to achieve it.
“They scored in our best period. In the first half we had a big percentage of the ball but we did not create. They were very compact with everybody behind.
“In the first half we did nothing to score a goal. In the second half, when we had more space to play and better situations, they scored. It was a contradiction.
“The second goal is very difficult to accept because we work very much at organisation at defensive positions at set-pieces. We had three players who made a mistake and we were punished for it.”
Mourinho also suggested that the relative inexperience of his young side has played a big part in their defeats against Everton and Basel.
“I think the team probably is not a team with such a maturity and personality to face the difficult moments of the game,” he said.
“Against Everton we played amazing and they scored in they last minute of the first half and after that the team was struggling a little bit in spite of dominating the game.
“Today was a bit of the same; the team started accepting responsibility, pressing the opponent and trying to create.
“But when the first negative moment arrived when they equalised, the team shakes a little bit but the only thing to do is to work.
“We go home home sad and the supporters go home sad but we have to wake up and train and prepare for the next match.
“We have to work hard, believe in what we do and each other, be critical inside to resolve things inside the group but stick together.
“Against Fulham we have to try to get the result to wake up the team for a smile.”
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This post was last modified on 19/09/2013
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Mourning needs to shove his ego in his suitcase with his clothes 'cos Roman will boot him out a second time if he doesn't pull his finger out.
Ridiculous imbecilic decision to drop Mata all season
Ridiculous imbecilic decision to loan Lukaku out
Ridiculous imbecilic decision to bring in the ageing Eto'o on extortionate wages
Ridiculous imbecilic decision build his team around Lampard.
Seriously, Mourinho was a God to us, but his tedious smart-ass press conferences are so tired now that he is looking as stupid as Spain said he was and celebrated when he left La Liga.