Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho took a swipe at his critics following Chelsea’s shook home defeat in the Champions League to Basel on Wednesday night, saying that the club remained one of the main challengers both at home and in Europe for titles.
The setback to Chelsea’s fortunes started last weekend after they lost 1-0 to Everton at Goodison Park, and then continued in their first-leg match of the Champions’ League group stage losing 1-2 to tiny Basel from Switzerland, yet according to Mourinho it is only a minor setback.
When speaking on Friday, he said: “I accept critics and for sure I’ll agree with some and disagree with others.
“But the first thing I have to say is we’ve lost nothing and I’m not worried.
“We haven’t finished third in our Champions’ League group and been relegated to the Europa League.
“And we didn’t finish third in the Premier League. I know the steps I have to take.
“We’ve lost one match in the Premier League and the other five contenders for the title have all lost one game also – with the exception of Liverpool.
“In the Champions League we lost a match we shouldn’t lose, and I agree completely with that, but we were not relegated to the Europa League.
“It’s not the way you start the season but the way you finish. You want to start good and finish good.
“But it’s better to start bad and finish well, rather than start well and finish bad.”
Chelsea is now three points behind league leaders Liverpool, and takes on Fulham Saturday night.
