• Mourinho sees little change in Chelsea from his time in charge
• Internazionale set to face Chelsea in Champions League
José Mourinho says there will be no surprises when he takes on his former side Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League. The Internazionale manager recently returned to Stamford Bridge for the first time on a scouting trip to watch them beat Fulham 2-1 in the Premier League, and observed few differences from his time in charge.
The Portuguese manager, who won five trophies in his three years with Chelsea, claims nothing has changed since he left the west London club in 2007, and the core of the team has mostly remained the same in the intervening period.
“The last time I was there I was watching all the details with attention,” Mourinho told Uefa.com. “Even the warm-up is the warm-up they did in our time. The way they defend set pieces is exactly the same. The position they have on set pieces is exactly the same. Sometimes they play a 4-4-2 diamond, sometimes they play 4-3-3, which are exactly the systems we worked when there.
“I think it’s a quality of a good coach – and [Carlo] Ancelotti is a good coach – to understand how the players feel most comfortable. And instead of making crazy changes, just fine tune, which is normal to keep a winning structure. I think Ancelotti’s a very good coach and the team feels comfortable this way. And the team really is top – one of the best teams in the world.”
Chelsea may hold no secrets for Mourinho, but he admits that such familiarity with the opposition could be a double-edged sword. “When I look at that team only [Branislav] Ivanovic and [Nicolas] Anelka are not players from my time. All the other boys: Petr Cech, [Ricardo] Carvalho, [John] Terry, Ashley Cole, [Michael] Essien, Mikel [John Obi], [Didier] Drogba, [Florent] Malouda, Joe Cole, [Salomon] Kalou; all of them are boys from my time.
“So it’s a team without secrets for me. But at the same time I think I’m a coach without secrets for them. It will be easy for me, but I think also easy for them. I know them, but they know me. I know the way they play, the way they think, but at the same time they know the way I coach, the way I prepare my teams.”
It was precisely to prevent the negative effects of an emotional return to the place he calls “home” for the second leg on 16 March that Mourinho visited Stamford Bridge in December to watch that victory against Fulham. “Emotion, yes, when I went there, of course – I was going to my home, it was my home for three-and-a-half years.
“But, you know, I went there on purpose to watch a game, to see people for the first time [since leaving], to be in that stadium for the first time, because when I go there in March I want to go without emotions. So instead of it being the first time I go there, I was there a couple of weeks before. I want to be cool and ready for the game.”
Mourinho enjoyed a great relationship with the Chelsea fans and is now equally loved by Inter supporters. That is not surprising, given that he led the Nerazzurri to the Serie A title in his first season and has put them on course to retain the crown this year. After doing the double over their rivals Milan this season, his popularity has soared to such an extent that he recently asked supporters to stop singing his name and praise the players instead.
“Yes, fans are important,” he explained. “I think I had a good relationship with them at Porto and Chelsea. I have that now with Inter – a good empathy, we love each other, I feel the fans are always behind me and behind the team which is important.”
It is one reason why Mourinho, who led Porto to the Champions League title in 2004, enjoys such a stunning home record. Sides he has coached have not lost a home league match for eight years, a sequence stretching back to a 3-2 defeat for Porto by SC Beira-Mar on 23 February 2002. Another positive result at San Siro in the first leg on 24 February would set Inter up nicely for the return. “It’s quite funny and a bit of contradiction because at home I never play for a draw, never,” Mourinho said.
“I always play to win, so we do nothing to draw and keep the record, nothing! I feel no pressure about it. I feel the record is so amazing that I must feel very relaxed. One day I will have to lose, and when this day arrives I will be very happy because I will be able to say, ‘I didn’t lose at home for x years, I didn’t lose at home for x matches’.”
With a smile Mourinho then stressed that that run applies to domestic leagues only. Chelsea, however, will know just how well they have to perform to return from Mourinho’s new home on a high.
José MourinhoChelseaInternazionaleChampions Leagueguardian.co.uk