Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says he is more worried about bird flu than the prospect of Manchester United catching the Blues in the Premiership. Chelsea’s lead at the top of table had stood at 17 points, but Manchester United’s run of eight consecutive wins has narrowed the gap to seven.
Mourinho said to the Evening Standard:
“For me, pressure is bird flu – I’m serious. I’m feeling a lot of pressure with the problem in Scotland. It’s not fun and I’m more scared of it than football. Football is nothing compared with life. For me bird flu is the drama of the last few days. I’ll have to buy a mask. Pressure depends on the individual. If you ask Claude Makelele if he feels pressure he will say ‘no’ because he’s played for Real Madrid and won championships. (But) if you ask a young player who has never been involved in this situation and who has never been a champion before, maybe the answer is different.”
Chelsea have not been at their best in the Premiership in recent weeks, losing to local rivals Fulham and dropping points against relegation-threatened Birmingham.
But Mourinho said his side’s dip in form had not caused him any concern. With all teams having six Premiership games left to play, time is running out if United are to complete one of the most incredible comebacks in history and Mourinho said he is still confident of success.
He said to the Sun:
“Eight consecutive victories is fantastic. And I would prefer to have a 15-point lead than seven. But I would always prefer to have more points more than less. To say I’m concerned is not correct. I’m not happy with the points we dropped – normally we have to beat Fulham and Birmingham. But ‘concerned’ is the correct word for Manchester United. I think they should be very concerned by the gap. I think Sir Alex Ferguson has to be an optimistic person, otherwise he wouldn’t be in his job for so long. I haven’t been in the job for so long but also have reasons to be optimistic because I can win my fourth consecutive title. The difference is United people will watch Chelsea against West Ham with a very high heartbeat. But we can be very calm and cool when we watch United play Arsenal, or even don’t watch it at all, because our future depends on our own results.”
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