Speaking ahead of today’s game against Manchester City, Jose Mourinho said the versatility of Cesc Fabregas is what makes our summer signing so important to the side.
The Spanish midfielder has enjoyed an impressive start to his Chelsea career since moving to Stamford Bridge from Barcelona in June.
During last week’s win against Swansea he became the first player in Premier League history to record an assist in six consecutive matches, while in midweek, against Schalke, he scored his first Chelsea goal.
‘I think Diego Costa is doing fantastically and the numbers are obviously great, Fabregas the same,’ said the Blues boss. ‘His numbers for a midfielder are fantastic; the number of assists and the quality he brings to the game. But, for them to be playing so well the team has to be playing well. Ivanovic, Matic, Hazard, they are all playing well.
‘One of the reasons he’s so important for us is because he can play in any position in midfield. At Barcelona he was playing many times in their style of a number nine or on the left wing, but it depends what you want for the game, what the plan is and where you think he can have more influence.
‘I thought he was going to stay at Barcelona, I was looking at him as the natural successor to this generation of players they have who are getting older, like Xavi. The surprise for me was not that he didn’t go to Arsenal but that he didn’t stay at Barcelona. We had other faces in mind, players on standby in case we couldn’t get him.’
A win for the Blues today would see us extend our lead over the champions to eight points, and Mourinho indicated he would not be making any significant changes to the side, particularly from a defensive point of view.
‘Normally if you want to rotate or give a chance to other players you don’t do that in big matches,’ he explained. ‘You try to be as stable as possible and play with the players who have stability in the team. If everything goes well I’ll start today with Cahill and Terry, I won’t start with Zouma for the first time.’
Expected to lead the line this afternoon is Diego Costa, with the Brazilian-born striker having already netted seven goals in his first four Premier League matches, including a hat-trick against Swansea a week ago.
There were occasions last season, during his time in Spain, when the 25-year-old attracted negative headlines for his on-pitch behaviour, but Mourinho couldn’t be happier with the manner in which he’s conducted the early part of his Chelsea career.
‘Here he’s got the right advice and education,’ said the Blues boss. ‘He’s had two yellow cards; one was completely unfair because it should have been a penalty and the other was because he was being provoked the whole game and had a little reaction. He’s giving zero problems to referees and just concentrating on playing his football. He’s not afraid of aggressive opponents, he doesn’t let players intimidate him, but he’s there to play football and score goals.’
On the two previous occasions Mourinho has guided the Blues to the title, we flew out of the blocks and quickly built up a big lead over our rivals, taking 20 points from our opening eight games in 2004/05 and an incredible 31 points from our first 11 matches the following campaign.
The manager, however, was quick to point out a strong start is no guarantee of success, and recalled a nerve-shredding end to one of his championship-winning seasons with Inter as proof.
‘At Inter we lost the lead and recovered with two matches to go, only because Roma lost to Sampdoria,’ he explained. ‘If they didn’t lose that game we wouldn’t have won the title.'
The Spanish midfielder has enjoyed an impressive start to his Chelsea career since moving to Stamford Bridge from Barcelona in June.
During last week’s win against Swansea he became the first player in Premier League history to record an assist in six consecutive matches, while in midweek, against Schalke, he scored his first Chelsea goal.
‘I think Diego Costa is doing fantastically and the numbers are obviously great, Fabregas the same,’ said the Blues boss. ‘His numbers for a midfielder are fantastic; the number of assists and the quality he brings to the game. But, for them to be playing so well the team has to be playing well. Ivanovic, Matic, Hazard, they are all playing well.
‘One of the reasons he’s so important for us is because he can play in any position in midfield. At Barcelona he was playing many times in their style of a number nine or on the left wing, but it depends what you want for the game, what the plan is and where you think he can have more influence.
‘I thought he was going to stay at Barcelona, I was looking at him as the natural successor to this generation of players they have who are getting older, like Xavi. The surprise for me was not that he didn’t go to Arsenal but that he didn’t stay at Barcelona. We had other faces in mind, players on standby in case we couldn’t get him.’
A win for the Blues today would see us extend our lead over the champions to eight points, and Mourinho indicated he would not be making any significant changes to the side, particularly from a defensive point of view.
‘Normally if you want to rotate or give a chance to other players you don’t do that in big matches,’ he explained. ‘You try to be as stable as possible and play with the players who have stability in the team. If everything goes well I’ll start today with Cahill and Terry, I won’t start with Zouma for the first time.’
Expected to lead the line this afternoon is Diego Costa, with the Brazilian-born striker having already netted seven goals in his first four Premier League matches, including a hat-trick against Swansea a week ago.
There were occasions last season, during his time in Spain, when the 25-year-old attracted negative headlines for his on-pitch behaviour, but Mourinho couldn’t be happier with the manner in which he’s conducted the early part of his Chelsea career.
‘Here he’s got the right advice and education,’ said the Blues boss. ‘He’s had two yellow cards; one was completely unfair because it should have been a penalty and the other was because he was being provoked the whole game and had a little reaction. He’s giving zero problems to referees and just concentrating on playing his football. He’s not afraid of aggressive opponents, he doesn’t let players intimidate him, but he’s there to play football and score goals.’
On the two previous occasions Mourinho has guided the Blues to the title, we flew out of the blocks and quickly built up a big lead over our rivals, taking 20 points from our opening eight games in 2004/05 and an incredible 31 points from our first 11 matches the following campaign.
The manager, however, was quick to point out a strong start is no guarantee of success, and recalled a nerve-shredding end to one of his championship-winning seasons with Inter as proof.
‘At Inter we lost the lead and recovered with two matches to go, only because Roma lost to Sampdoria,’ he explained. ‘If they didn’t lose that game we wouldn’t have won the title.'
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