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Chelsea - Mourinho's helpful ego
Written by Sawyer | 28th July 2006 | 2 Comment(s)
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is confident he can manage the egos on his squad as he seeks to continue to mould the cast of stars into a cohesive team ahead of the coming English Premiership campaign, and what may be Chelsea's priority this season; The Champions League.
The addition of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko has resulted in another pair of publicity magnets being added to a club rich in players accustomed to the limelight.
Recently press reports have suggested that Didier Drogba was unhappy with the addition of Shevchenko, but Mourinho is confident he can get everyone to see eye-to-eye.
''It is dependant on egos and personalities,'' he said.
''If these big players have the desire to win and think that the team is bigger than the individual then it easy to work.''
However, he warned, ''but if the top players think about themselves more than other things then we have a problem.''
''But I want everybody to go in the right direction and put the team in first place. After that I think things are easy.''
Mourinho is often accused of possessing one of the biggest egos in football, which is probably just as well should any of Chelsea's highly paid stars step out of line.
The Blues are currently touring the United States and open their 2006/07 domestic campaign on August 19 at home to Manchester City, which remains a game that Arsenal's Ashley Cole could still feature in.
David Dein has confirmed they have held talks with Chelsea with concern to Cole, but at present he still remains an Arsenal player.
Dein's persona suggested all was amicable between the two clubs, which was a little different at the time of the ‘tapping-up' row.
However, considering Arsenal has the possibility of receiving a more than generous price for the player they have probably resigned themselves to the fact that Cole will depart, so it is just a case of where and how much.
Meanwhile, Germany international Robert Huth is said to be on the verge of joining Middlesbrough on a season-long loan.
The 21-year-old Chelsea defender was set to make a permanent switch after the World Cup, but he failed a medical exam following ankle surgery.
Boro will now take Huth on loan for the season to determine if the ankle injury will hamper his play.
Both clubs view the loan arrangement as a precursor to a permanent deal.
Huth has made 17 appearances for Germany and scored twice.
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Comments
Comment by MAL on Saturday 29 July 2006 @ 7:28am
Comment by Frank on Friday 28 July 2006 @ 11:50pm
Dose it matter anymore what Chelsky do? Even the idea of winning the titles is no longer appealing to a fan of the other contenders such as myself. I now look forward to winning where the field is less distorted, i.e. the cups and Europe and leave the Chelsky with their pre paid league title.
That's a good point Frank. There are many who feel the same as you. Mourinho will never be remembered as a great manager because of the money Chelsea have. He may well be a brilliant manager, but he will never get the credit for it as long as he remains with Chelsea. The Champions League with Porto was gained without beating any of the favourites that year. Ok, that's not his fault, but being unable to win with Chelsea’s entire funds is!! Ranieri would have won the League these last two seasons had he still been in charge, and had he been so Chelsea would have had less bad press due to Mourinho's ego. Mourinho has said he would like to manage Portugal at some stage, which we have to assume will be immediately after Chelsea. If he wins with them then he can stand on any pedestal he wants to, but I doubt he will.