When pressed on if there was a problem with his striker, Mourinho again made light of the issue, suggesting Costa would have thrown something other than a bib if he wanted to hurt him. “They’re not happy. So for me, his behaviour was normal”. I just want them to be mentally ready to play when I need them.
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“It may feel like and look like good old-fashioned grunt work and that is because it is, but we can not think that we are above that”.
“Diego is privileged because he was the last player to be on the bench”.
“Playing the way we played, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10 matches we don’t lose one. So I’m really happy with my decision”.
Despite the fact Chelsea failed to score with Hazard – who forced Hugo Lloris to make a superb save from an angled volley – up front, Mourinho decided against throwing Costa on in search of a goal.
The Spain worldwide striker did not show up to Sunday’s pre-match warmup, ahead of the Spurs game. He is working well every day and his mood is positive.
“We have to win if we want to finish in the top four”, said Hazard, who only came close in the first half with an off-target header. Mourinho and his striker Diego Costa had a bust up on the touchline during the mid-week’s Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev. “I do not expect to have a player on the bench jumping and shouting because he is not playing”. “We enjoyed playing together”.
“He’s probably quite fortunate it didn’t land on Jose because I think there might have been a different reaction from him”.
Chelsea captain John Terry was also absent for the visitors after failing to recover from the ankle injury he picked up during the 4-0 victory in Israel.
‘Chelsea felt like “a small team” to Tottenham in their encounter at White Hart Lane, according to the host’s manager Mauricio Pochettino. It was clear that we always tried to win the game and Chelsea are happy because a point for them is more important than for us. They are aggressive and press and attack the opponent immediately when the opponent has the ball, many times from behind, but with the ball we were quite comfortable and were waiting for the chance on the break which we did well.
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“It’s very hard, though. We’ve only had 14 games in the Premier League and it’s too early to think about the end (of the season)”.
