Although captain John Terry has been ruled out for a second successive game though injury, Thibaut Courtois will return in goal for the first time since he injured his meniscus in his knee during a training session three months ago.
Advertisement
The Belgian goalkeeper has been out of action since the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on 29 August but Mourinho admitted he will return to the team for tomorrow’s home match against Bournemouth, as he described the 23-year-old as the best goalkeeper in the world.
“Courtois is selected”, boss Jose Mourinho confirmed at his pre-match press conference. Everyone was happy. It was nice for Amelia, Pedro, Papy…it was the first time the squad gone out this season, so it was good.
Possibly we’re reading too much into this, and for all Chelsea’s attempts to spin the situation it’s hugely unlikely that every single report of internal strife among the players has been fabricated. So it’s important that we have him back.
“He was our goalkeeper all last season and we know how fundamental he was for us”. As one source familiar with the intrigue around Stamford Bridge said, “it’s unbelievable how good he can be when he gets back to just managing”.
“For me there are no questions marks”.
In other injury news, Nemanja Matic suffered a fractured nose and will be forced to wear a mask for a handful of weeks as he recovers. But Chelsea’s options are limited by the fact that, right now, they desperately need Costa.
Brazilian trio Costa, Ramires and Kenedy were pictured leaving swanky central London club Libertine in the early hours of Thursday morning along with boxer James DeGale despite being in training the next day.
Mourinho is confident his side are now moving in the right direction after recording three successive clean-sheets since the last worldwide break.
There are not many big-name players who can be signed for free in January, but one is available.
“He has always played”.
Jose Mourinho believes that Chelsea star Eden Hazard can adapt his game to play anywhere in the attacking third with enough study and application.
“I think the paparazzi had a problem with their memory cards (at the Christmas party)”.
Chelsea are likely to wait until later in the season to enter negotiations with the pair, who are both over 30 and therefore eligible only for one-year deals under club policy. He knows I don’t want to move and I want to stay at Chelsea.
Advertisement
“You hope a result like that can really boost the confidence of the players and that belief system you need to win games or get a point”.
