Jose Mourinho spoke to the media ahead of Chelsea FC’s FA Community Shield bout with London rival, Arsenal, at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. The Premier League winners will take on the FA Cup holders in what the Blues manager explained as being an important game.
"It’s not a friendly like against Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, or Arsenal against Wolfsburg. It’s more than that but less than a Premier League match. We lost against Red Bulls and we’re not happy, so it’s normal we always try to play for a result and the Community Shield has a motivation different from a friendly or summer tournament. It’s the start of competition.Jose Mourinho via chelseafc.com"
In keeping with Jose tradition, the manager is always in mid-season form when speaking to the media. Surely, the club would love to get one over on Arsenal and add silverware to the cabinet, even if it’s less important than most trophy conquests.
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Match fitness was an issue that Blues supporters had hoped not to worry about before the actual Premier League season kicks off, but here we are with that exact question.
Diego Costa and Gary Cahill, two regular starters for Mourinho, picked up knocks against Barcelona in their last pre-season friendly in Washington DC. The striker reignited his trademark hamstring injury and Gary Cahill will now join the elite fraternity of Cesc Fabregas, Ramires, and Fernando Torres as a mask wearer due to a broken nose. The boss, though, played down any concern regarding his leading scorer.
"[We have] three top strikers. If one is injured, we have two. No concerns, no protections. It’s a position where we’re very strong. I’m not worried, match after match, and we have a fantastic group of strikers so no problem."
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Even though Mourinho may say that Costa’s potential unavailability for Sunday’s game is a non-issue, the real issue is fitness over an entire Premier League and Champions League season. Roman Abramovich didn’t spend the money on Diego Costa for the Community Shield title, and thus it would probably be smart to leave him out of the side on Sunday as a precaution even if available.
While Mourinho and Arsene Wenger will not be sharing a post-match bottle of wine any time soon, or indeed ever, Jose’s narrative this season of discussing the spending habits of league rivals is likely not to improve relations. Arsenal have spent a hefty sum of sterling over the past few years, seemingly ignoring the jibes directed southwest at Chelsea regarding the Blues’ spending on players. Meanwhile, Mourinho has never lost to Wenger, and the betting man would have to agree that the streak will not end at the weekend.
Not to be overlooked, Chelsea legend Petr Cech will be in an unfamiliar place come Sunday afternoon. The goalkeeper will be plying his trade for Arsenal following a somewhat controversial move to the London rival. Mourinho, however, feels that the Gunners haven’t exactly added to their squad with their purchase.
"I think they always had very good goalkeepers, now they have one more, but I never felt weaknesses in their goalkeepers."
He evidently doesn’t feel that adding Cech will make Arsenal any better than they have been, but whether he actually believes that or not is another story.
While the Community Shield is typically a forgotten competition once the season begins, this year there are several storylines that should make the 2015 edition one to remember.
In the meantime, check in with the rest of our FA Community Shield coverage at the hub page here. What are you most looking out for this Sunday? Should Diego Costa take the field? Get involved and sound off in the comments below!
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