Under-fire Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho hit out at any suggestion his players were not behind him after the Capital One Cup loss at Stoke and insisted he was in a “fantastic” situation.
The Blues suffered yet another setback in their disastrous season as they were beaten 5-4 on penalties in the fourth-round tie at the Britannia Stadium following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
But Mourinho was keen to praise his players’ efforts and said in his post-match press conference:
“Honestly, do you think they are not with me? That they didn’t give everything to win the game?
“That is really sad – not sad for me but sad for the players, and I think it is a lack of respect to the players, not to me.
“For me it would be a fantastic situation if the players are against me – I could say we don’t have results because the players are against me.
“I think what some people write and say is really bad for the players. They tried everything.”
There is plenty of chatter that if Chelsea don’t beat Liverpool at the weekend that the Special One will be sacked, but Mourinho responded to those questions saying:
“My general situation is fantastic.
“I have a day off tomorrow, a fantastic family. I can sleep well every night. I’m going to enjoy my day and Thursday. It will be one more day like I have had in the last 15 years of my life – honest and dedicated.
Asked if he had had any more reassurances since the weekend about his job, Mourinho said:
“I don’t need more.”
Chelsea’s exit was sealed when Eden Hazard’s penalty, the last of the shoot-out, was saved by Jack Butland. But as he has done all season, Mourinho refused to blame his players and said there was plenty in Chelsea’s performance that meant their players would leave feeling positive.
He said: “He (Hazard) is our best penalty taker but the last thing I do is to blame. If I have to blame someone it is the ones who tell the manager I don’t want to take it and run away.
“It is more difficult when you play very bad and lose than when you play well and lose. I think they (Chelsea’s players) go with sadness but with a positive feeling.
“How can they go home with lack of confidence? Lack of confidence, why? They played well.”
