Jose Mourinho insisted he will always be a Blue as he returned to Stamford Bridge ahead of Benfica’s Champions League meeting with Chelsea.
The three-time Premier League winner was appointed on September 18 by the Lisbon giants and will lead his new team out on Tuesday for what will be his eighth match in the visiting dugout at the ground he once called home. Despite being twice sacked by former owner Roman Abramovich, Mourinho remains Chelsea’s most successful manager.
Speaking to the media inside the stadium’s Ted Drake Suite — where the walls are adorned with framed photos of the 62-year-old clutching the Premier League trophy — he said:
“Of course I will always be a Blue. I’m part of their history and they are part of mine. I helped them become a bigger Chelsea and they helped me become a bigger Jose. When I say I’m not a Blue, I hope everyone understands I’m speaking about the job that I have to do tomorrow.”
He added, “These pictures, there’s not many clubs that do this. In many clubs, it looks like there’s a fear of what happened in the past. There is a continuous transformation of pictures. It looks like they want to delete people that made history in the club.”
Mourinho, who led Chelsea to their first league title in 50 years during his first season in 2004 before adding to it in 2005 and 2015, returns at a sensitive moment for current head coach Enzo Maresca. Three defeats in four matches have brought a new wave of pressure over the Italian as he seeks to forge a title-winning side from the lavish investments made by the club’s ownership.
Last season’s fourth-place finish, which secured Champions League qualification, looked like a step forward following league finishes of 12th and sixth in previous years. This progress was complemented by victories in the Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup. Nevertheless, supporter skepticism towards Maresca and his methods remains.
The sight of Mourinho back in west London, together with memories of past glories, will do little to ease the stalled bid to renew Chelsea in a positive light.
Mourinho, who professes to still be a Chelsea fan and has a home nearby in London as well as strong family ties, gave his backing to the club’s new direction:
“There was a sad period where even myself, from the outside, was putting some question marks,” he said. “It looked like Chelsea lost their identity as a club. But what happened last season put things back on track. They gave trust to Enzo, he brought his ideas, and he fitted well with the philosophy they want to give with the club.”
On Chelsea’s recent trophy successes, Mourinho remarked, “The Conference League is an easy competition to win for a big club, I did it with Roma. Then the Club World Cup — people can say the Champions League is much more important, but that badge (on the shirt) means a lot. It’s the first time a club wins it. That gives them a base of trust and confidence, even at the supporters’ level they feel it.”
He concluded, “I live five minutes from here, my son comes here. The feeling is completely different. There was a period of disappointment and doubt, but this is a period of happiness and trust.”
https://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/jose-mourinho-says-he-will-always-be-a-blue-ahead-of-benficas-game-at-chelsea-1812729.html