Jose confident of Abramovich’s support
Print Edition
CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho is confident he retains the support of the club’s owner Roman Abramovich on the eve of the UEFA Champions League match against Porto which could determine his future at Stamford Bridge.
At a lively news conference yesterday, the under-pressure Mourinho was in defiant but more good-natured mood than of late, insisting that he was an “optimist” and that his struggles had made him a better manager and a stronger person.
Mourinho was asked whether if he failed to make the Champions League knockout stages — a fate which could befall Chelsea if it does not beat his old side Porto in the Group G finale — he still expected to be manager for Monday’s Premier League match against leader Leicester City.
“There are no ifs,” he told his questioner calmly. “You are a pessimist — I am an optimist.”
Asked why he was confident of the support of Abramovich, an owner with a penchant for quickly firing under-achieving managers, Mourinho said: “Because I think I did lots of good things for this club for the owner to know the quality I have.
“He believed in me twice. One, when he brought me back to the club, and the second time when he gave me a new four-year contract. I don’t think the owner is a person to change with the wind. I know this wind is really strong because the results in the Premier League are really bad but I think the owner knows what I give to the club and he believes I am the right man.”
Mourinho has been surly at recent news conferences during the most difficult period of his garlanded career with champion Chelsea lying 14th in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil says that his team must stay focused and not be influenced by the “crazy” atmosphere at the Karaiskakis Stadium, ahead of the make-or-break Champions League clash against Olympiakos Piraeus.
The London club needs to beat the Greek champion either by two clear goals, or by any margin if it scores at least three times, to progress from the group stages. If it fails to do so, it will drop into the Europa League.
Having lost the reverse fixture 2-3, Arsenal heads into the game with a host of key players missing through injury, including forward Alexis Sanchez and midfielder Santi Cazorla.
Ozil is confident the Gunners can qualify for the knockout stages for a 16th straight year.
“It will be very, very hard. Olympiakos can play good football and we saw that at the Emirates,” Ozil said. “The fans will be behind them and our goal has to be to beat them. I have played in Greece before. I know that there will be a very good atmosphere, the fans are crazy and they really support their team.
“We have to be focused on the game, we have to give a really good performance.”
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