Chelsea FC Boss Jose Mourinho Lashes Out At Didier Drogba After Criticism
Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho has dismissed criticism levelled at the Blues by club great Didier Drogba.
Speaking to the media to coincide with the launch of his book, Commitment: My Autobiography, Drogba claimed that Chelsea’s struggles were largely due to a lack of leaders within the Blues squad.
"During my time at Chelsea we had a lot of leaders in the team…[John] Terry is still there but on your own it is very difficult, so other players have to come up with this mentality. But it is not something you are born with, you build it within you. – Goal.com"
The Blues boss, when questioned about the striker’s comments, blindly dismissed them. Mourinho stated that Drogba’s criticisms were simply a tool to shift more books.
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"When you speak because you want to sell books, I don’t read. I don’t read. I like good interviews. I like interviews from big guys like Didier with good journalists, newspapers or television. But this is not an interview. It was to sell books. – FourFourTwo.com"
While such a sentiment could have been partly behind Drogba’s choice of words, Chelsea fans themselves will be disappointed in Mourinho’s childish response.
The fact of the matter is that the Blues are indeed lacking on-field leaders. With Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Drogba himself all leaving the club within two years of each other, Terry is the only senior player remaining.
Of course, some may point out that players such as Branislav Ivanovic have been at Stamford Bridge long enough to take on the mantle, but Terry appears to be the only remaining star who possesses those hard-to-define leadership qualities.
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Mourinho has seemingly taken this as a personal attack on both his decision to let the core of the team dissipate and his inability to sufficiently replace them.
Furthermore, his outburst does little but justify reports of a tense and awful dressing room atmosphere. Such a dismissive response to perfectly reasonable comments from one of Chelsea’s greatest players and fans represents the stress engulfing the boss.
Unfortunately, the tabloids will inevitably use Mourinho’s comments to create some sort of rift between the pair. Drogba was always one of Jose’s favourites during his both his stints and the Ivorian will undoubtedly understand that the manager’s statement was likely the result of the immense pressure he is under.
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Mourinho will be wanting to focus on a crunch clash with Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow as the Blues attempt to claw their way up the table. With two consecutive wins after the international break, Chelsea need to capitalise on this minor momentum if they want to finish in the top four.
Avoiding petty rifts such as this would help as well.