- Jose Mourinho admits Petr Cech or Thibaut Courtois could leave Chelsea
- Duo are battling out to be Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper this season
- Mourinho has hailed the pair as 'two of the best three goalkeepers in world'
Jose
Mourinho insists he will have to act coldly when he announces to either
Petr Cech or Thibaut Courtois that they will not be his first-choice
goalkeeper for this season on Sunday.
The
Chelsea manager believes he has two of the three best goalkeepers in
the world at his disposal but will let one of them know this weekend
that they will not be his No 1.
And he admits that whoever he leaves out will be considering their future at the club.
'The best
way for me to work is to think pragmatically, in a cold way, forget a
little bit try to hide the emotions around these situations and decide
what I think is the best for the team,' he said at the Blues' press
conference on Friday.
'I don't tell you because they don't know. The team doest know. They will know at the same time all of them.
'My
opinion with all the respect to fantastic goalkeepers around the world,
I think Chelsea has two of the three best goalkeepers in the world.
'This
is something unique. Is it a problem for me? A great problem. They are
both fantastic goalkeepers. It's a problem every manager in every club
would like to have.'
Cech has
been Chelsea's No 1 since joining the club in 2004, but faces fierce
competition from rising star Courtois who enjoyed a successful three
years out on loan at Atletico Madrid - which culminated in winning La
Liga last season.
'If Petr [Cech] plays [Thibaut] Courtois can think about leaving, or visa versa,' Mourinho added.
'In this moment they are working well and hard and we are so happy to have them both.
'I
prefer to analyse this in that perspective. During the season if one is
definitely my first choice I have to support and stimulate the other
one.
'I can't have one of these incredible goalkeepers on the bench three or four months waiting for a Capital One Cup game.
'I have to stimulate the competition and I have to praise some top goalkeeper which is not my first choice.'
The
Portuguese has made four signings this summer that he believes can
propel the Stamford Bridge outfit towards the title this season.
The
West London outfit finished third last season in the Premier League and
the competition of England's top flight is something Mourinho thinks is
unparalleled around Europe.
'Last
season we did not feel as a title contender but we finished very close
to the title. We were not feeling one of the top favourites for the
Champions League and we played the semi-final. We did well,' he added.
'This
season we bought some key players after our analysis of last season and
our squad. We believe. More than believe we are already feeling that
these new players brought the squad and the team into another dimension.
'I imagine
the words you want to hear from me and the words I can say because I can
feel and I will think anybody can criticise me because of that, yes we
are title contenders. If you expect me to say we're going to win the
Premier League I can't say that.
'I
have to respect this competition. It is of the country championships,
the only one which has more than two title contenders. The only country,
with five or six for sure it's the only one.
'I
have to respect the opponents and the efforts of the other clubs to
improve their top teams. To tell what we feel and I discussed that with
the players this morning we all feel we're title contenders.'
In his first
season back in charge of Chelsea last term, Mourinho faced two charges
of improper conduct by the Football Association.
The
51-year-old was sent off in the Blues' 1-0 defeat Aston Villa in March
which preceeded an £8,000 fine in October for protesting to referee
Anthony Taylor about time-wasting during his team’s 4-1 win against
Cardiff City in October.
Despite his issues with the FA, Mourinho lays his disciplinary troubles with England's footballing governing body.
'It's easier to say they had a run-in with me. You know me for a long time,' he said.
'You
can analyse the way I am and approach things. You can see some
differences from 10, nine, eight years ago, they had a run-in with me
not me with them. Ask them. Or the only thing I can say is I hope they
don't have a run with me.'
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