tribalfooball.com - February 23,
2007
Claude Makelele has lifted the lid on the internal pressure being
placed on Chelsea's players and manager Jose Mourinho.
Makelele, Chelsea's elder statesman at 34, told The Sun: "Now
Chelsea have become one of Europe's great clubs there is such
pressure on the manager and players from the public and
media.
"And from the owner, who puts pressure on behind the scenes. In
truth, we don't really know too much about what is happening. Roman
Abramovich does not say a lot but we can see there is so much
pressure the club is putting on the manager.
"It's unbearable, especially for the players. We want to be in the
right conditions to win matches and above all trophies. That is
difficult with this internal pressure."
It appears to be a clear call from midfielder Makelele for greater
harmony between the boardroom and dressing room at Stamford
Bridge.
And he appreciates Mourinho's attempts to shield his Premiership
champions from any dangerous fall-out.
Makelele added: "The manager has taken all the pressure on himself
and has always been behind us. It's impressive.
"I do feel the internal pressure around the manager. He is managing
to handle it and come through it well. The manager hides a huge
amount from us. He preserves us from everything internal, the
pressure within the club.
"He doesn't want us to feel that. The objective is not to think of
those things.
"It's to go out and win matches and all the trophies ahead of us.
That's the most important thing.
"We won't do that if we are involved in what's happening between
the manager and the club."
