The story of how a League Cup final win 10 years ago today set Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea off on the trophy trail is frequently told but with the chance to win the same piece of silverware again this Sunday, our manager on this occasion is treating the game as one important final, and one final on its own.Mourinho’s pre-match media conference on Friday afternoon began with a question about that Cardiff win over Liverpool a decade ago, and he discussed the impact he had on the competition back then, and the importance of this weekend’s visit to Wembley on a developing team.
‘This is the only moment since I arrived in July 2013 that I don’t think about the future of this club, I just think about the moment,’ he said. ‘I don’t think about the consequences, I just think about this game. We have a final to win on Sunday and nothing else matters.
‘I don’t think it is because you win the cup final that you win the league. I don’t see connections. If we go home with a cup and a medal then perfect but on Monday we have to train, Wednesday we have to play, and there is no time to think about consequences.
‘I respect every competition,’ he added, ‘and for sure I am not far from the truth to say lots of teams have followed us since 2005 to 2007 when we took the League Cup as a real challenge and we were trying to win finals. We respect every competition and the League Cup is a big competition too.
‘Chelsea are doing well at this moment with a new team, with some people who have not played dozens of matches at Wembley and dozens of finals. We are building to make Wembley something normal for us in trying to go there year after year.’
Mourinho confirmed that only John Mikel Obi is out of the final due to injury. The midfielder, who has a knee problem, last played in the win at Aston Villa at the start of the month. Nemanja Matic begins a two-match suspension.
Our opponents on Sunday, Tottenham, have issued similar squad fitness news following their Thursday night defeat in the Europa League in Italy, and although Chelsea were last in action on Saturday,Mourinho doesn’t believe Spurs’ extra match since will be a factor come this weekend. He also took no special satisfaction in watching a Chelsea player on-loan at Fiorentina, Mohamed Salah, score one of the goals that knocked the north Londoners out.
‘I don’t think they will play with the team they played yesterday,’ he told the reporters at Cobham.
‘They will play with a couple of those players, no more than that, so I don’t think the physical part is in question.
‘Salah went there to play and he is getting his time on the pitch. We only care about his evolution, not that he scored a goal against an English team which I don’t think is good for anyone here. Sometimes in this country people with big responsibilities forget we need English teams to succeed in Europe. I am never happy when an English team loses in Europe because I work in this country and I may be affected by that in the future.’
Mourinho, who did not wish to comment further when asked about the incidents surrounding the Burnley game which lead to Matic sitting it out against Spurs, and against West Ham next Wednesday, was asked to comment on his hopes that the Capital One Cup final will not be dominated by refereeing decisions.
He responded by saying he believed all three teams involved – Chelsea, Tottenham and the match officials - go into the game with the same ambition to do very well, and added:
‘Hopefully even the players that like to complicate things will try to make the final a big final. The players that dive looking for fouls or cards. I am not saying week after week but almost every two or three matches they are simulating and pretending they are under aggression.’
For the supporters going to the game, our manager’s hopes are also clear.
‘For me recent history is the way Chelsea fans are behaving match after match, year after year, in country after country with no problems and no violence.
‘This is the way they behave cup final after cup final, going to Wembley, enjoying the day, using every ticket we have. What happened in Paris is not the way Chelsea fans behave and that is why Chelsea took immediate action about it and that is why Chelsea have already issued a statement about the relationship with Tottenham. Chelsea is a big club and I think the supporters know how to enjoy moments like cup finals.’
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