“I would like personally to dedicate this victory to somebody who is so close to us”.
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Mourinho dedicated the game to the club’s player liaison officer Gary Staker, whose father died this week and has worked for Chelsea since the days when he was the only Italian speaker they could rustle up to translate for Claudio Ranieri. “My thoughts are with a big friend from all of us”.
With Diego Costa also struggling in front of goal, despite scoring against Norwich, the goals have really dried up for the champions with the Blues having scored just three in their last four in the league.
Neil laughed in response to his opposite number Jose Mourinho’s claim that there was a referees’ conspiracy against Chelsea, a bitter laugh given that he felt Norwich should have been awarded a penalty with the game goalless when Willian blundered into Robbie Brady. Youssouf Mulumbu’s distribution at Stamford Bridge could have been better but watching him break up play against a strong Chelsea midfield, and adding much needed pace in a defensive role, was one of the positives from Saturday’s defeat.
“It’s a bit of a relief”.
Kurt Zouma of Chelsea and Wes Hoolahan of Norwich in action.
“But you’ve got to remember the boys have got 70 minutes of hard work in their legs and what you don’t want to do is try to be too expansive and turn a good, solid, steady performance for a 1-0 into maybe three or four”.
You get the impression that Hazard’s willingness to become the centre of attention at Chelsea is exactly what the ailing champions need.
After spurning two chances he would have gobbled up last term, Costa struck when found by Cesc Fabregas.
“He’s working well, he’s a happy guy, he tries everything”.
“I don’t have a problem with Mourinho”. The Spurs game looms large for Mourinho because White Hart Lane is one place Chelsea fans hate to lose. Everything is connected. When you are full of confidence it’s not just about goals, it’s also about fluency. “Yes, he can do much better, but again, yes, one goal is very important”, Mourinho said.
Eden is the kind of player who is not so mentally ready to look back at his left back and leave his life for him. When I was young I played there.
Since beating Aston Villa 2-0 on October 17, Chelsea had been defeated by West Ham, Liverpool and Stoke City to leave them 16th in the top flight. I trust the players. “Our build-up play was creating a lot of chances on goal, which we have been doing of late as well, so we are pleased with that and at half-time the manager was stressing we continue and the door will open, the goal will come, and thankfully it did”. But we have good players and they know how to move and when to pass the ball.
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“We’ll be going there with a game-plan; we’re not expecting it to be any easier than normal”.
