- Chelsea striker Diego Costa reveals the only thing that will make him change his ways
- Blues chase Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann
Quick summary
That concludes the broadcast section of today’s press conference.
Let’s have a quick recap of what we’ve learned from Mourinho today...
- There are no fresh injury concerns ahead of the West Ham match
- Chelsea are far from happy with the videos circulating of Mourinho being confronted by the public.
- The squad has always been together and are showing signs of improvement
- Slaven Bilic is a good coach and Mourinho thinks the pair could become friends.
- Mourinho claims the media have shown him no respect
Mourinho lashes out at the media
Mourinho was asked about South African rugby players being at Cobham this week, but clearly doesn’t to talk about such trivial matters.
In fact, he uses it as a springboard to criticise the British media.
“You are not going to get any funny headlines out of me,” he says.
“I treat you the same way your bosses treat me: no respect. No respect.
“I am not speaking about football.
“Football I will expect every type of critic, even the stupid ones. [But] private life and stupid things that you bring to the light...
“I don’t like it, so we go to a different level of professional relations.”
Jose impressed with West Ham boss
Slaven Bilic wasn’t shy about sharing his admiration for the Special One this week.
Is the feeling mutual Jose?
“As a coach, I like him a lot,” he said.
“Since the Croatian national team period, Besiktas and now West Ham, I have a very good image and idea about him.
“As a person, I don’t know him very well but I have the feeling we could be friends.”
Chelsea squad sticking together
“I don’t know, I just know that the team was always together, the players were always together,” Mourinho said.
“The players were man enough to assume responsibilities and say even public some of them that they were feeling responsible for their individual poor starts.
“Statistics are very clear for us, as an example, we conceded six goals as a consequence of isolated individual mistakes but the team was always together.
“At this moment we have two important results, three important points in the Premier League, and against a direct group rival in the “Champions League we got a point away so the group was always solid, compact and together but obviously the mood improves with results.”
Hazard and Matic progressing
Mourinho has been reluctantly talking about individual players.
He said “The team’s performance and the results, because the victory over Aston Villa and the draw against Dynamo was positive, we could feel positive performances from individuals.
“Nemanja Matic came off the bench against Aston Villa and was man of the match three days later in Kiev.
“He [Eden Hazard] played the last match for 90 minutes and was part of the compact team that kept that clean sheet.”
Will he play against West Ham, then?
“I don’t know.”
Kiev reaction
He said: “It was a difficult match for us. We want to win, but you cannot lose.
“I think for about an hour the team played really well - the only thing we didn’t get was a goal that we deserved.
“It’s not easy to create chances in the Champions League - you look at the statistics.
“We had very good occasions, we hit two posts and one of them was a great save a swell.
“After that, there was a little fear of losing, so stability and we controlled the game well. Almost everything will be decided at home.
“In general, a little frustration not to win.”
Video nasty
Mourinho has refused to comment on his recent run-ins with members of the public that have been filmed on mobile.
Chelsea’s press officer then interjects and calls the incidents ‘overly intrusive’ and outlines the club’s objections.
That shuts down that line of questioning then!
Team effort
“It was not a clean sheet based on a super goalkeeper performance.
“This is not about defenders, you were right, this is about the team as a team.
“The team as a whole defended well.”
Team news
Mourinho starts by confirming there are no fresh injuries concerns.
He moves onto the fixture schedule and West Ham’s encouraging start.
“It’s not an easy week. We play Tuesday but it is better that you have one more day than we did before Kiev,” he said.
“Look to the table, see where they are and see where we are. It is easy to take conclusions.”
That means only Thibaut Courtois and Branislav Ivanovic.
He's here...
The Special One has arrived for today’s press conference.
Stay tuned for live updates and team news ahead of the West Ham clash.
This could be an interesting one...
Ballon d’Or shortlist
Eden Hazard is the only Chelsea player represented in the 23-man shortlist for FIFA’s 2015 Ballon d’Or prize.
Hazard is one of only five Premier League nominees as he sits alongside Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Yaya Toure.
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed the crown for the past two years and is hoping to make it a hat-trick again if he can fight off competition from the rest of the pack.
There’s no surprise to see the likes of Aguero, Manuel Neuer, Leo Messi, Ronaldo and Gareth Bale’s names featured in the running for the gong.
But there are a few global superstars who might feel a tad aggrieved not to be in contention, with a few members of the Chelsea squad who perhaps should have made the cut.
Here’s a look at which Blues players we think deserved to be in with a shout as part of our alternative Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Working hard at Cobham
The Chelsea players took part in a training session earlier this morning.
Here’s a quick look at them trotting out at Cobham.
Fire will continue to burn for Diego Costa
Firebrand forward Diego Costa sees no reason to change his playing style - unless Jose Mourinho or Chelsea instruct him to.
The Spanish international was hit with a three-match retrospective ban after clashing with Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny last month.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger labelled his behaviour ‘unacceptable’ and his on-the-field antics have drawn widespread criticism from pundits and opposing supporters.
However, Costa is only interested in pleasing his own club and is adamant he won’t be softening up just to silence the critics.
He said: “I have 100 per cent support from my manager, from the club and from the Chelsea fans.
“So other people, other opinions, I don’t care, I’m not really bothered. I will not change unless my manager or the people from my club or my supporters tell me so.”
Playing the blame game
Following that draw in the Ukraine, the Portuguese manager was less than impressed with some of the decisions from the match officials.
Indeed, he compared the referee to rugby union referee Craig Joubert whose controversial decision last weekend sent Scotland crashing out of the World Cup.
Speaking after the match, Mourinho was far from happy.
“The decision was crucial for the outcome, a fall in the box is a penalty,” he said.
“The referee was very good. I’m serious. He made one mistake and, for example in the Rugby World Cup, the referee in the Scotland game was very good.
“But he made one mistake and because of that mistake Scotland is crying.”
More questions than answers
Chelsea head into their clash at Upton Park with off the back of a goalless draw at Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night, which has raised further questions over the Blues season.
The Blues had seemed set to put a three match winless run behind them after a 2-0 victory over Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa last weekend, thanks to a Diego Costa strike and an Alan Hutton own goal.
But the draw at Kiev will put the pressure back on Jose Mourinho, who will not want to push Roman Abramovich’s patience too far.
Slaven Bilic praise for Jose Mourinho
Slaven Bilic insists Jose Mourinho is still the best manager around.
The Portuguese finds himself under scrutiny following Chelsea’s poor start to the season, with the reigning champions down in 12th place after just three wins from their opening nine games.
But as the Hammers prepare to host Mourinho’s men on Saturday, Bilic is backing his opposite number to guide them back into the top four this season.
“It’s a big challenge for us, it’s a big test,” the Croatian said. “It’s a special game because they are the champions.
“And you can easily say he is the best manager around. He’s been doing it all his career, he’s brilliant. He’s Jose Mourinho! “It just shows how strange football is. It’s the same team, the champions.
“I know Mourinho and he’s always motivated. His teams are always hungry and everyone expected them, maybe not to be top after nine games, but not to be where they are now.”
Welcome
Welcome to today’s LIVE coverage of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Ham United.
The Special One is due to meet with the media at 12noon this lunchtime and we’ll be bringing you all the very latest from Cobham as we get it.
Mourinho will no doubt be giving us the latest team news, gossip and more from the Premier League champions as he prepares for another battle.
West Ham will prove tricky opposition if their results so far are anything to go buy as Slaven Bilic’s men reside in the top four after exceeding expectations in the opening nine games of the campaign.
