Emotional Mourinho salutes never-say- die Chelsea fans
Jose Mourinho paid an emotional tribute
to Chelsea’s loyal fans as the
beleaguered Blues boss savoured the
dramatic 2-1 win over Dynamo Kiev that
earned him a stay of execution.
Mourinho has been under siege from
critics who claim his side’s woeful run
has left him on the verge of the sack.
And with Chelsea’s defence of the
Premier League title in tatters amid
rumours of a dressing room mutiny
against his leadership, Mourinho looked
a dead man walking when Dynamo’s
Aleksandar Dragovic cancelled out his
earlier own goal in the closing stages on
Wednesday’s Champions League tie.
But Brazil winger Willian came to
Mourinho’s rescue when he unleashed
his latest fabulous free-kick in the 83rd
minute to secure a vital victory that put
Chelsea’s bid to reach the last 16 back in
their own hands with two Group G
fixtures remaining.
Willian’s wonder strike was greeted with
unrestrained glee in the Stamford Bridge
stands as the Chelsea supporters who
had spent the entire match chanting
“Stand up for the Special One” and
singing Mourinho’s name over and over
were rewarded for their faith in the 52-
year-old.
“This is my moment. When I came back
to this club and we played the first
match against Hull, the way the stadium
welcomed me was amazing, but it is not
comparable to today,” Mourinho said.
“This comes at a moment when the
results are not good and you (the media)
are asking for my head.
“The fans read newspapers, they watch
TV, they listen to pundits’,
commentators’ opinions, they read blogs
and it’s quite unbelievable what they
tried to say today.
“They tried to say, ‘we want you here’
and probably they also want to say to all
of you ‘we want him, let him work’.
“It’s a fantastic feeling. To support the
manager shows respect and passion for
the club. It’s amazing.
“With Chelsea this is my moment. The
club has to be very proud of their fans.
“I don’t have another way to thank them
other than to give everything, which I
have always done and always will do.”
– Small mercies –
Although Chelsea were still well short of
the dominant form that made them
Premier League champions just six
months ago, Mourinho has to be grateful
for small mercies after their second win
in nine games.
For once his players didn’t fold under
duress and the Chelsea chief took heart
from the way they refused to settle for a
draw which would have pushed him
closer to an unwanted exit.
“It was acceptable to draw but the team
showed it wanted to win and emerged
from a negative moment,” Mourinho
said.
“From a mental point of view it was
important. When the negative moment
arrived in the past the team feels it too
much.
“Today was the perfect situation. We
conceded with 15 minutes left and the
team emerged. We wanted to win and
felt confident to do that.
“I spoke a lot with the players. When the
difficult moment arrives, face the
difficult moment, don’t crumble. And
they did. They were fantastic.”
Chelsea are now up to second in the
group and Mourinho challenged them to
catch leaders Porto by winning their
final two matches.
“Now we can still finish first in the
group. That is not the most important
thing, which is to qualify, but we can
still finish first,” he added.
Dynamo manager Sergei Rebrov refused
to give up hope of overhauling Chelsea’s
two-point lead over them in the race to
reach the last 16.
“This is the most prestigious tournament.
It is very important for the players to be
in it,” Rebrov said.
“Of course the situation isn’t great for,
but we will be fighting to stay in the
competition.”
0 Comments :
COMMENT