Ahead of the 2017/2018 English Premier League season expected to start 11th August, 2017, Jose Mourinho has taken a swipe at Chelsea’s title campaign.
The former Chelsea coach declared that Chelsea would not be a tough rival in the coming season as seen in the previous campaign.
The Manchester United boss said, “The most difficult thing to have is time to work, and they [Chelsea] have time to work,” Mourinho said.
He added that, “I know that he [Conte] said last season that it’s not his fault that they are not in the European competitions – it’s my fault and the players’ fault.
“But the reality is that he got in his hands a situation where they have time to work, time to rest, time to relax, times to disconnect, time to travel, time to have holidays, time to go to America and enjoy America for a couple of days.
“They have time for all these things so they are in a position of privilege, the same privilege that Liverpool had a couple of years ago and they almost won the Premier League. But I don’t want to say that they don’t deserve credit for it.”
“They choose a certain style of play that I think is very adapted to the qualities of these players,” Mourinho said.
According to him, “They defend a lot and well, and they counter-attack and kill opponents similar to my Chelsea. But the difference is they play with five at the back and I played four at the back, but the same criteria – a very strong team to defend and a team that kills on the counter-attack.
“Am I sadder to lose against Chelsea than another team last season? No. For me it’s just a game that comes in the wrong moment for us because the Europa League is a competition that can give us a Champions League spot and the FA Cup, it doesn’t, so the Europa League is more important than the FA Cup for us.”
Mourinho is of the opinion that this season will be a different ball game in its entirety, owing to the fact that they will compete in the European champions league and other competitions, even though Chelsea are likely to experiment with some formations and tactics going in to the new season.
However, pundits have argued that Chelsea’s transfer activities this summer has given manager Antonio Conte plenty of options for next season.
With Champions League football added to their calendar, the Blues were always going to strengthen across the field and interest in their starting line-up.”
It is only a matter of time to know whether these various analysis will work out or otherwise as strongly held by Manchester United coach.
