Jose Mourinho has scoffed at suggestions that Chelsea are in crisis after watching his side crush 10-man Macclesfield 6-1 in the FA Cup.
LONDON: Jose Mourinho has scoffed at suggestions that Chelsea are in crisis after watching his side crush 10-man Macclesfield 6-1 in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. The Premiership champions are currently experiencing their worst ever league run under Mourinho, and while a three-game winless streak would not cause a flicker of concern at most clubs, at Chelsea it constitutes a mini-crisis.
They have fallen six points behind Manchester United in the race for the league title after injuries to key players and some uncharacteristically sloppy defending, but Mourinho believes the criticism of his team’s form is proof of the inflated expectations that surround Stamford Bridge. “It makes me laugh a lot that people here and in Portugal are talking about this being my ‘darkest moment’,” Mourinho said.
“That means the dark moment of my career is three draws. In second place, in being in the last 16 of the Champions League; then being in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup and the last 32 of the FA Cup. “Is that so dark? I find it enjoyable. I have now realised that what I have achieved in my career in management means that this is a dark time. “It doesn’t make angry or give me extra motivation - my motivation is always the same. It doesn’t change just because there are critics. We cannot say that we are in our top moment now just because we beat a team with a lot of pride and honour, but who play in League Two. But we played very professionally and we coped well. We defended better today and we are improving.”
Mourinho’s only gripe at the end of a largely satisfying day was the indiscipline of Lassana Diarra, who had been due to start against Macclesfield only to forfeit his place after arriving late for a team meeting on Saturday morning, and another blank afternoon for Andriy Shevchenko. The Ukrainian has now scored just once in his last 13 appearances and has failed dismally to live up to expectations following his 30million pounds move from AC Milan in pre-season, although Mourinho had some encouraging words for his misfiring forward.
“I think Shevchenko tried hard,” he said. “It’s frustrating for a striker to be in a team who wins 6-1 but not to get his name on the scoresheet as well but he fought well, worked for the team and was unlucky.”
The scoreline suggests a romp for Mourinho’s men, but in reality this was far from a straightforward afternoon. Macclesfield were competitive in a feisty first half and only the brilliance of Lampard and, more pertinently, the dismissal of Macclesfield’s goalkeeper Tommy Lee for a professional foul on Shevchenko prevented them remaining so.
Lampard swept Chelsea into the lead in the 16th minute after Salomon Kalou’s cross had bounced off Shaun Wright-Phillips and he was one of the few Chelsea players to keep his cool after John Murphy had drilled into the net following a horrible error by Ricardo Carvalho. Lampard restored Chelsea’s advantage moments later with another fierce drive and he completed his hat-trick shortly after half-time from the penalty spot after Lee had sent Shevchenko sprawling. With Macclesfield forced to hand defender Dave Morley the gloves in the absence of a substitute goalkeeper, Chelsea cruised to victory.
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