Fired-up Mourinho slams ´stupid´ third season critics

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has issued another resolute defence of his managerial record, dismissing suggestions he always struggles in his third season.

The Blues are preparing to welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday for their opening Champions League match of the 2015-16 campaign.

The competition will provide a timely reprieve from Premier League action for Chelsea, with Mourinho under pressure with his side down in 17th place after winning just once in five games to open the new season.

The 52-year-old, though, cannot understand why his performance is under scrutiny and reacted with particular emotion to a question about his record in his third season at previous clubs after critics suggested that was to blame for his team’s dreadful start.

“At Porto I didn’t have a third season and my third season at Inter I didn’t have,” Mourinho said at his pre-match press conference.

“My third season at Chelsea the first time I won FA Cup and Carling Cup and I played Champions League semi. 

“Third season in Madrid I won Super Cup, lost the Cup Final, and I went to Champions League semi. These are my third seasons so click Google instead of stupid questions.

“I am the champion of England, why should I be in trouble? Why? In other clubs, you have to go back two, three, four, five years to remember good results. In our case, you have to go back three months and three months ago we were the best team in the country, the best manager, best players.

“Can you ask me why some managers can’t be in difficult situations for five, six seven, 10 years? I think it’s a good question that you don’t know how to answer. We are not happy, but we know what we are.

“Our start has been so bad but nobody can steal what we are, nobody can steal our trophies, nobody can steal our history. We know what we are and the fans sing it: champions of England.”

Mourinho again insisted there were no major problems at the club other than the poor results and said he was still both ‘The Happy One’ and ‘The Special One’ – descriptions he has previously used about himself.

He continued: “When you are used to winning all the time, then when you don’t it is a strange feeling. Some people deal well with it, others not as good.

“Every season you have some seasons where teams don’t start well, have a bad result, and it is so easy to connect that to bad luck, bad injuries. It is quite sad that people go in other directions to find problems that don’t exist.

“I am still special and happy. I am adapting to the challenge.”