Jose Mourinho today hit back at claims from Yaya Toure that he has a lack of respect for other clubs. The Chelsea manager has tried to put pressure on Manchester City this season, saying the title is theirs to lose.
His comments have appeared to irritate City midfielder Toure who told Spanish newspaper Marca this week: “I think he talks more than before, perhaps because the English press likes it. He must give respect a little bit. He is always talking about everyone and that is not the correct way.”
But at his pre-match press conference for tomorrow’s game with Aston Villa, Mourinho insisted he had done nothing wrong and pointed to the comments he made ahead of the Champions League ties between Bayern Munich and Arsenal and City and Barcelona.
He said: “If to say before the Bayern Munich match and before the Nou Camp match that the English teams can do it, that Arsenal and City have enough quality to turn things around, if supporting the teams from the country where I am and work, if this is a lack of respect, okay it’s a lack of respect.
“City and Arsenal showed at Munich and Barcelona I was right. They had enough quality to do it because they both played very good matches. This is not a lack of respect, it’s support.
“The same as me saying City are capable of winning their three matches in hand to go top of the league. If that is a lack of respect, he has a strange concept of a lack of respect.
“I’ve tried to be respectful with the two English teams. I want to say the same in relation with Manchester United. I think they are a better team than Olympiakos [who lead 2-0 from the first game]. I think they can do it, and I hope they do.
“If tomorrow Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Michael Carrick or Rio Ferdinand says Mourinho is not being respectful, I think they are wrong because I support the English teams and I was not happy that the English teams were out of the competition.”
Mourinho has also hit out at the failure of the Premier League to award Eden Hazard the Player of the Month trophy again.
Hazard is in the running for the Player of the Year honours but lost out on the February award to Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, who won it for the second time this season.
Mourinho said: “Hazard to arrive in March without one single award makes me laugh.”
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Winger Hazard, meanwhile, admits the squad are feeling the strain of a long season and hopes fatigue won’t cost them in the title race.
Chelsea still have a minimum of 10 games left to play this season, which will take their tally for the campaign to 53. Although that is still a long way short of the club record they set last term of 69, Hazard said: “I think the team are tired but it’s normal because we have played a lot. Now we need to concentrate on our recovery.”
