“I cannot say I had 11 players performing together, two or three players were not good“, he added without naming the culprits.
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Chelsea FC slumped to a 2-1 home defeat to Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace on Saturday, with Jose Mourinho criticizing the team as a whole for the poor display, whilst indicating some individuals had failed to meet his exacting standards.
Mourinho’s response was to replace Willian with striker Radamel Falcao and the Colombia striker delivered in the 79th with his first goal since January during his ill-fated season with Manchester United.
Mourinho refused to comment on individual performances, but accepted some players were below par.
Nevertheless, Mourinho said there was plenty of time for his side to reignite their title challenge. “They were lucky but they deserve the luck”. “We had that feeling that we could do it before the game and get a win because this is not their best start, and we have a really good squad who are playing well and are confident”, said Sako.
“I’d have to say as Crystal Palace manager, this was the best performance of the team”, he said “Not because of the victory, but the manner and the way we played”.
Chelsea were left reeling as fellow Londoners Palace secured their first win at the Bridge since 1982 and inflicted just Mourinho’s second defeat in 100 home league matches as the Blues’ manager.
The hosts were forced into the one change as Gary Cahill replaced the suspended John Terry, and their defence stood tall as Palace threatened on the break in the first half.
Fortunately for Chelsea they only had to wait 13 minutes for him to provide it with an equaliser that brought a huge sigh of relief on the Stamford Bridge bench, never mind in the stands.
“And I can go both ways”.
He said: “The game went against us in every detail”.
Mourinho described it as a “clear penalty” but accepted Palace deserved credit for their performance.
“Or, even when you are trusting the player arrives a moment when you think, “I have to change”.
“We gave an assured performance because you can nick a win here by parking the bus”.
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“The plan today was fantastic, we kept the ball well when they (Chelsea) turned it over to put them under pressure and we also showed some great teamwork”. The game started at a good pace, but there was nothing much to talk about in the first half, as neither side could score an opening goal.
