Mourinho: Chelsea not ready for new season
Jose Mourinho fears Chelsea may not be ready for the Premiership
kick-off as they prepare to bid for a hat-trick of titles.
The manager has injuries worries over several players, notably
Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele.
A dispute between the club and William Gallas continues to linger,
and the champions appear no closer to signing Ashley Cole.
Mourinho remains confident of adding a left-back to his squad
before the end of the month.
But he has only 15 senior players in his squad to face Manchester
City on Sunday and is worried about their physical condition after
a short pre-season.
Mourinho said: 'I prefer to play competitive matches than
friendlies but I only like to go into matches when I feel my team
is ready for it.
'That's not the case now. It's a funny situation to prepare a team
without training sessions. The challenge is bigger.'
Mourinho may not get much sympathy from his rivals.
He has, after all, spent millions this summer to recruit Ballack,
Andriy Shevchenko, Mikel John Obi and Salomon Kalou.
Mourinho said: 'We have new players, yes, but we also lost good
players and we will have 15 players for this game.
'I cannot complain because last season it happened to Manchester
City when they came to Stamford Bridge.
'They played with some young boys and without some important
players. This time it is for us.'
Hernan Crespo, Damien Duff, Asier del Horno, Eidur Gudjohnsen and
Glen Johnson have all left Stamford Bridge this summer.
Mourinho said: 'I would not say my squad is stronger now but it is
different.
'We don't have second-line players like we had in the last two
seasons.
'At this moment the door is open for players like [Lassana] Diarra,
Mikel, Kalou. Are they ready like Gudjohnsen and Duff were?'
Mourinho's concerns were evident in last weekend's FA Community
Shield when his new team looked short of fitness and familiarity
and lost to Liverpool.
His goal remains the same, however, to stockpile major trophies and
become only the second manager to win a hat-trick of Premiership
titles, after Sir Alex Ferguson.
Mourinho said: 'Our objective is to win it for the third
year.
'If other people win you can analyse it as a failure for the losers
or credit for the winners.
'Everybody tries to improve. Liverpool and Manchester United are
buying. Arsenal have kept their good structure from last
season.'
