As the Chelsea squad prepare to face Maccabi Tel Aviv, Jose Mourinho has not lost hope of his team’s chances of securing a Champions League spot next season.
Despite being 12 points off Arsenal in 4th place, Mourinho issued a war cry to his players, suggesting that in order to remain among Europe’s elite, the current Chelsea team will have to repeat the heroics of 2012 and win the tournament.
Speaking to Chelsea.com, Mourinho said:
The next match is in the Champions League and we have to fight this match, believing that is the way that can take us to Champions League football next season.
Two seasons ago Man United didn’t qualify for the Champions league; last year Liverpool didn’t qualify for the Champions League and I said before the season started that another big team will not qualify for the Champions League. We have to make sure that big team is not Chelsea.
It seems clear from Mourinho’s claims that there is a distinct focus among the Blues management on the Champions League and having lost seven games already, it will be a tough task for Chelsea to gain a place in the top four.
Mourinho further stressed the difficulty of balancing player’s rest, after many critics blamed Chelsea’s late pre-season for their early dip in form.
It is difficult to have a good period of holiday and sooner or later you pay the price. We decided last summer to give the players a proper holiday.
We thought that they did a lot in the previous season and they were involved in consecutive competitions – and believed that the crucial period of the season starts in February. What we couldn’t imagine is the pressure of the bad results would push us in the direction of so many bad results.
The team will be high in confidence after a strong 1-0 victory over Norwich on Saturday, which saw Chelsea break their three game losing streak in the Premier League.
