Monday 3 February 2014

Mourinho: Manchester City are underachievers

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has continued his criticism of Manchester City ahead of Monday's Premier League showdown by saying their opponents should have won more silverware.

Having already claimed that City have enjoyed the rub of the green from referees in recent weeks and taken aim at the financial backing received from the club's Abu Dhabi owners, the Portuguese said they have not won enough since Sheikh Mansour took over the club in 2008.
They won the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League the following season, but the current Champions League campaign is the first they have progressed past the group stage.
"They won one title, won a couple of cups," Mourinho, in his second spell at the west London club, told reporters.
"Only in Europe they didn't do well, or close to doing well. Speaking objectively, they did very bad in the Champions League in previous seasons, also in the Europa League. But the team is fantastic, the squad is fantastic and normally they (should) win more titles."
City, currently second on 53 points, can move ahead of Arsenal at the top of the table with victory on Monday, while a win for the Blues will put the top three teams within two points of each other.
Manuel Pellegrini's side have scored 72 goals in 18 home matches this season, but Mourinho insisted they were capable of scoring regularly as well, despite being unable to break through some resolute West Ham United defending on Wednesday.
"The intention with which we are going there is to play our game, play a good game and remember they also have to stop us," he told the club's website.
"We will think more about us than about them.
"I want to attack them, I can tell you that. But maybe after 10 or 20 minutes you realise Jose isn't attacking. If I don't it's because I can't. I don't know if other teams refuse to attack or if they can't do it."
Mourinho also believes it will be "impossible" for clubs to compete with Manchester City if Financial Fair Play is not enforced.
City's vast spending in an era of Financial Fair Play has come in for repeated veiled criticism from Mourinho, who is keen to see how the economic regulations are explained and enforced by European football's governing body UEFA.
"If they (football's authorities) want to make it impossible (to compete with City), it's impossible," Mourinho said.
"(Chelsea) are not competing outside what is important for us, the 'fair' Financial Fair Play.
"We are working, thinking and believing that Financial Fair Play is going to be in practice.
"So there are things that are impossible for us (to do)."

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