Reaction: Great Goals Great Music To Mourinho Ears
Mon, 18th Dec 2006
Jose Mourinho would not go as far as declaring Didier Drogba’s goal-of-the-season contender a seminal moment in the championship race, but that did not prevent him revelling in it nevertheless.
‘The Premiership is so long with so many crucial moments that you never know when it is a crucial moment,’ he argued as he reflected on a helter skelter second-half at Goodison Park.
‘But it was a difficult game and a defeat could have left us eight points behind. A draw could left us seven behind so the goal was very important.
‘The goal was magnificent,’ he added quickly. At that point he did not know that within hours, Man United would drop three points at West Ham.
After one of the poorest opening 45 minutes of his Chelsea reign, the manager was pleased with the way his players found a better stride.
‘For what we did in the second-half we didn’t deserve to suffer so much. When Everton got the second goal, it wouldn’t surprise me if with normal personalities, it is heads down and the game is over.
‘But top personalities in the team kept fighting and in the last period we scored two amazing goals.’
Manager of the home side, David Moyes, stood alone after this fixture two seasons ago as he argued against all other opinion that his striker James Beattie should not have been dismissed for an assault on William Gallas.
This season, the Everton boss was quite prepared to agree with his opposite number over the special nature of the Ballack, Lampard and Drogba goals.
‘You know that Chelsea will change their team, go with three at the back and put more up front. They will alter and they will gamble,’ Moyes said.
‘I thought that we had just about seen it off, but that’s maybe why you pay the money, to have players giving you that quality at any one moment.
‘We were beaten by three goals from 30 yards but I feel we should have done better on all three.
‘If our wall was right for the first one,’ he lamented. ‘With the second we all know what Lampard is about and we should have closed him down much quicker - and the same with Drogba.
‘But I can’t take away from the finishes which were top, top quality. The technique of all three players was fabulous.’
Mourinho accepted that Everton had caused his side problems and was not surprised that was the case.
‘I am not saying that Cudicini and Hilario don’t do well for us, they are doing a good job, but being without the best goalkeeper in the world for the last two months is not easy.
‘To play without the captain and the man who dominates the box is also not easy.
‘So to come to this kind of ground where the game is a lot box-to-box without these two towers is very difficult. But the answer of the team was always magnificent.’
The Chelsea manager was unable to say when John Terry would return from the back problem that kept him out at Goodison. Instead, he reviewed a title race that is more-or-less at the halfway stage.
‘In great moments, teams play great football, score great goals, the first chance you get you score and when you go on the pitch, everything is shining and flowers and blue skies. Some other moments, things are not going well.
‘We are not in a great moment but we are not losing many points. We have injuries, we are not lucky, we hit the post a minimum of two times every game, decisions are not for us and some players are not in the best of their form.
‘But I can compare a little bit with this stage last season. Man United were having problems and for us it was perfect. What was the distance?’ he asked.
‘12, 13, 14 points,’ he answered.
‘So when Chelsea went to a bad moment, we were too far ahead.
‘If in our difficult moment we can keep four, five or six points behind, we will be there in the second-half of the season.’
Mourinho chose to end on a lyrical note.
‘If you can play great music, play great music. If you cannot, play at least some music - and that is what we are doing at the moment.’
