Don't make any excuses when you lose, Jose Mourinho warns Chelsea

Simon Johnson
16 Mar 2010

Jose Mourinho has told Chelsea they can't use their goalkeeper crisis as an excuse if his Inter Milan side knock them out of the Champions League tonight.

Ross Turnbull is expected to keep his place in Chelsea's goal after first choice Petr Cech and back-up Henrique Hilario failed to recover from calf and groin problems respectively.

The 25-year-old, a free transfer from Middlesbrough last summer, has started only two matches this season.

But Mourinho said: “It's not the first time a team plays with the third goalkeeper. To be fair, I don't know the goalkeeper very, very well but, to be in Chelsea, he will play with quality.

“When I was Chelsea's manager, we played in the Champions League against Barcelona with our third-choice in goal.

“Cech and Carlo Cudicini were injured and Hilario made his debut against Barcelona. We beat them at Stamford Bridge and drew in Camp Nou. So I don't think it's a big problem, especially if we don't have a shot.”

Mourinho is under pressure to beat his former club and take Inter all the way to the Champions League trophy this season.

But he added: “I will still be the Special One whatever happens. How old is Giovanni Trapattoni? Seventy? I want to coach as long as him but, even at that age, I will still have things to prove.

“That's my motivation. So, after this game, I will still be the Special One. Win or lose.”

Mourinho has also vowed he will keep his cool on the sidelines if Inter progress, even though he still regrets the way he was sacked by Chelsea in 2007 after guiding them to five trophies.

He said: “My celebrations will be restrained if we win, out of respect, because it's Chelsea. Because it's the team where I worked for three and a half years — the same people, the same players, the same supporters who made me feel incredible every time we played in this stadium.

“I feel sorry because when I look at the big four teams from when I was in England, the managers are all still there: Sir Alex [Ferguson] is there. [Arsene] Wenger is there. [Rafael] Benitez is there. I did more than enough to be here. But the decision was made.

“Chelsea looked forward. I look forward. They move on. I move on. I keep winning important things. They keep winning . . . something. They won an FA Cup.”

Mourinho also made it clear that he would like to return to England one day to manage.

He added: “I have, as I said before, three things to do in my career.

“One is to come back to English football; another thing is to win the Spanish championship, because no one has won Italian, English and Spanish titles; and another one, when I'm old, is to coach my national team. But, for now, I would like to keep winning with Inter.”