Jose Mourinho denies falling out with Chelsea players

Unhappy homecoming: Mourinho's Chelsea side lost 2-1 to Porto
Simon Johnson30 September 2015

Jose Mourinho insists he has not fallen out with any of his Chelsea players, despite dropping more first-team stars ahead of last night’s 2-1 defeat to Porto here.

Last season’s double Player of the Year Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic joined captain John Terry, who has been left out regularly this season, on the bench at Estadio do Dragao.

Oscar, Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao did not even make the trip, as Mourinho decided to get tough in order to spark an improvement in form. The changes failed to work, however, and Chelsea have now lost five of their 11 competitive matches this term.

Chelsea’s players refused to talk to the media after last night’s defeat, which has raised questions over whether their manager still has the support of the dressing room, but Mourinho said: “I have no problems with anyone and have a fantastic relationship with everyone.”

Asked specifically about the treatment of Oscar, Remy and Falcao, he added: “No punishment, no punishment. Just a decision.”

However, Mourinho was furious at his side’s defending which allowed Maicon to score Porto’s winner from a corner.

He said: “It makes me really angry because the easiest thing to do is to defend set-pieces.

Porto vs Chelsea: Player Ratings

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“We give a lot of time to that, we prepare for it a lot of times. Every player knew that corner, that movement, knew what they had to do, and it was a big mistake.”

Chelsea are now under huge pressure to qualify for the knock-out phase — they are third in Group G, one point behind Porto and leaders Dynamo Kiev.

However, Mourinho remains confident Chelsea will progress. He said: “Porto are in a good situation and now play two matches against Maccabi Tel Aviv, so they will probably put themselves in a great situation.

“We finish the group with Porto at Stamford Bridge. We now have two matches against Dynamo, with the next one in Kiev. In this moment they have four points, we have only three. So it is a hard group, but we can qualify and more than that I still think we can finish first.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea are expected to complete the signing of free agent Marco Amelia in time for him to feature against Southampton on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Amelia, who has been capped by Italy and played for AC Milan between 2010-14, has been on trial at the club.

Mourinho wants to sign an experienced keeper to provide back-up while Thibaut Courtois recovers from a knee injury.

Asmir Begovic will continue to play the majority of matches but Amelia will take the place of the inexperienced Jamal Blackman on the bench.

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