Jose Mourinho: Two Games, 48 Hours, 780 Miles & One Happy Manager

‘I’m happy with our approach and the answer of our players. I obviously praise the opponent from League Two who gave us a match to the last minute. I wish them good things in their league.’ (Jose Mourinho)

It’s been a manic 48 hours for Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea FC squad and of course a couple of thousand incredibly loyal and completely dedicated fans, having to travel up to Manchester and back, and then turn straight back round to go to Shropshire for a Tuesday evening cup match.

For the Chelsea squad, that meant flying up to Manchester and then back again on Sunday, arriving back at Cobham around 11pm. A light training session Monday afternoon, before packing everything up again and setting of for Shrewsbury by road this time for a four hour trip to the team hotel, before what would be a hard fought, typical English cup match.

Commenting on Chelseafc.com, Mourinho was keen to praise the efforts of his players and in particular the dedication of the older and more established players, over the past couple of days:

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

"“The message I want is the message Didier, Filipe, Oscar and Cahill gave: doing something that they shouldn’t be allowed to do, but they did, which is play two football matches in 48 hours. They were fantastic.“I had people like Petr Cech and Mikel, people with lots of years at the club, who would prefer to start the game at Old Trafford. They didn’t and they came here today and gave a fantastic example. After that there are the young boys and they have to follow the spirit and the professionalism of the others.“Today even if I lost I would have the same kind of words for my players – their respect for the competition, for the opponent, for Chelsea and the Chelsea fans was fantastic.”"

For Didier Drogba, it has been particularly challenging, having to deputise not only for Diego Costa, but also for Loic Remy whilst both alternate strikers have been injured. Drogba himself has only just got back from his own ankle injury, but has played over 180 minutes of high tempo football and scored twice.

"“His character is bigger than his body. What he did today maybe was because of his character and not because of his body. Let’s see the reaction after this. But this is what makes players special,” suggested Mourinho after the game.“If I was a kid player and I played with this guy on my side, what more could I wish for? For the kids it must be a privilege and they have to learn by example – the example the older guys gave today.”"

Mandatory Credit: Mitchell Gunn-USA TODAY Sports

With the team bus on its’ way out of Shrewsbury’s Greenhous Stadium and heading back down the M6 motorway, thoughts can now turn toward a more relaxed period before building up again for the Queens Park Rangers match at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Who would be playing and who might get a well deserved break? The manager was happy to provide a brief insight into his thoughts, saying:

"“Normally Ramires and Diego Costa are back. Normally we will have only Remy as an injured player and Azpilicueta suspended.“If players that played 90 minutes two days ago were fantastic, I expect people that have not been playing a lot to raise their level and create problems for me. I love problems of choice, but it’s easy to choose my team for Saturday.”"

With Manchester City hosting the new ‘noisy neighbours’ Manchester United on Sunday, the QPR match is a great opportunity for Chelsea to pile increased pressure on Manuel Pellegrini’s team and move 9 points clear. As incredible as Drogba and some of the youngsters have been, I think we may well see the return of a fully fit and highly motivated Diego Costa.

Stay tuned for team news in the lead up to the match…