“Because of my name I’m not a guy who can make mistake after mistake”, says Cruyff, who has been the sporting director at Maccabi Tel Aviv, who face Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday night, since April 2012.
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Fourteen years ago, six Blues players controversially pulled out of a UEFA Cup tie at Hapoel Tel Aviv following an escalation of troubles in Israel and the Middle East.
Marcel Desailly, Emmanuel Petit, William Gallas, Albert Ferrer and Eidur Gudjohnsen also did not travel on that occasion.
That said, Jose Mourinho’s attacking players haven’t been at it this season either. He is the best manager.
“I don’t have a problem with him”, the 24-year-old told the club’s website. I didn’t have a Graeme Le Saux. “I had everybody without fears, just wanting to come”, said Mourinho.
“I don’t enjoy other people losing matches”. They do find themselves in unfamiliar territory at the moment, in lower mid-table and will need a good morale-boosting win on Tuesday to build on ahead of the London derby against Tottenham Hotspur. The Portuguese was subject of a first vote of confidence in that period last month. While that result eased a few of the pressure on the club in their European campaign, the Blues have already seen their attempts to defend their Premier League crown practically ended, with Chelsea 14 points behind league leaders Leicester City.
“I didn’t start the season well, I know, but I gave everything in training and on the pitch. If we play like we have been doing we can win”, Mourinho added.
“Until you can satisfy your most important customer [it can’t happen]… our TV audiences may be huge and while we have huge worldwide audiences, the core part of our show is that attending fan”.
A 2-1 win over Dynamo Kiev in their last group game in November lifted the club into second place at the expense of the Ukrainian champions.
Chelsea are 15th in the Premier League after 13 games, yet Mourinho maintains a place in the top four and Champions League qualification is possible.
Mourinho said: “It was simple”.
In the Champions League though, Maccabi have struggled this season.
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While Chelsea are looking up, Norwich’s focus is on Premier League survival, with boss Alex Neil aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty when Robbie Brady was bundled over by Willian in the first half.
