Mourinho wants to win it all at Chelsea

Portuguese eyes four trophies; wants to instil winning mentality at club.

BANGKOK:

Jose Mourinho said Chelsea would be gunning for victory in all four competitions this season as he prepared to kick off his second spell in charge with a friendly in Bangkok.

The 50-year-old Portuguese said there were ‘no priorities’ for Chelsea as they tackle the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, following their pre-season tour of Asia and the United States.

“The next match is the important one. If our next match is the Champions League, the Champions League is our competition,” Mourinho told a press conference.

“And the same with the Cups because we know what the English Cups mean, especially the FA. And we want to play every competition with this mentality — so for us, no priorities.”

Mourinho won back-to-back Premier League trophies, the FA Cup and two League Cups during his first time in London. But the Champions League, which he has lifted with Porto and Inter Milan, remained elusive.

He named Manchester United and Manchester City, the two most recent winners of the Premier League and both also under new management, as his main competition in England.

“In European football we have more candidates (to win the Champions League) and because of that it’s more difficult to win, but we want to be there and we will be fighting for it,” added Mourinho.

Mourinho said he would try to instill a winning culture from his very first game today — against the Singha All-Star XI, who shocked Manchester United 1-0 last week in David Moyes’s debut game in charge.

The Portuguese, known for his meticulous attention to detail, said he had sent his assistant to scout Saturday’s game and give him a tactical blueprint of the opponents, whom he rated as dangerous.

“I don’t like to lose, the players don’t like to lose... for sure, my boys will try to get a result,” he said. “Losing is not a drama, losing doesn’t change anything in the team. But it’s not nice, we don’t like it.

“Winning is part of the culture and if you can do that even in friendly matches, you have to do it.”

Mourinho coy over transfer rumours

Mourinho also deflected the latest transfer speculation, which includes links with Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke and even former Chelsea ace Didier Drogba, 35.

“Managers of big clubs are connected with everybody until August 31,” he said, referring to the end of the July-August transfer window.

“That’s the old story in football: rumours and rumours and rumours, and at the end of the day after so many rumours, something becomes true.

“But in this moment I’m so happy with the people I have here that I’m not thinking about other players.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2013.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.