Chelsea boss happy to take lesson from Ferguson
COBHAM (England): Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes his Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson has plenty to teach him, especially about being a good loser.
In an uncharacteristically humble mood, Mourinho said he would have found it hard to behave as well as Ferguson did after Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday to reach the League Cup final.
“I'm a bad loser,” Mourinho, whose Chelsea side are runaway Premier League leaders, told reporters after a training session on Friday.
“When I lose I am not keen to be with the other people. He showed me respect and openness,” said Mourinho, who has often been dubbed arrogant since his arrival from European Champions Porto last year.
After the match the two managers shared an expensive bottle of Portuguese wine provided by Mourinho and took the opportunity to discuss Champions League and Spanish football.
“He is a good teacher,” Mourinho said of the man he describes as “The Boss” because of his success and longevity in football management.
“One day when he beats me I will have to behave in the same way.”5
Mourinho has had little practice at losing since billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich brought him to Chelsea, with one league and one Champions League defeat in 36 matches since the start of the season.
Ferguson and Mourinho have shared complimentary comments recently in contrast to the United manager's prickly relationship with Arsenal's Arsene Wenger.
United, who meet Arsenal in the league next Tuesday, are a point behind the second-placed north London club and 11 adrift of Chelsea. All three teams are in FA Cup action this weekend, with Chelsea hosting Birmingham City today.
Mourinho, who has often said his priority was winning the Premier League, added that he would be treating the FA Cup with the same desire as the League Cup.
“Every competition is important, you can't just throw it away,” said the Portuguese who has fond memories of growing up watching the FA Cup on television at home in Setubal.
He said he would make changes to allow players to rest and because others in his expensive squad who may have been on the sidelines recently “deserve to play”.
Italian Carlo Cudicini, who would walk into most first teams in the Premier League, will replace first-choice Petr Cech in goal, Eidur Gudjohnsen or Mateja Kezman will come in for Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and full back Glen Johnson will come in for Paulo Ferreira.
“All of our players are very good and my bench will be very rich in quality,” he said.
Mourinho, who said he had lost only one cup tie as a manager, last year's Portuguese final against Benfica, repeated he felt it would be too tough to win four titles.
“To win four is very, very, very, very difficult. I did it in Porto but as I keep saying domestic competitions in England and Portugal are very different.
“My opinion is Chelsea will win something ... we deserve it,” he said, adding that he felt it would be easier now for Chelsea to win the Premier League than the FA Cup or the Champions League because of the luck involved in knockout competitions. – Reuters
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