Chelsea may be back to winning ways but Jose Mourinho is still angry.
He has taken Chelsea to Israel to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League tonight and in his pre-match press conference he could not resist having a dig at former Chelsea defender Greame Le Saux.
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks 14 years ago, Le Saux, along with Marcel Desailly, Emmanuel Petit, William Gallas, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Albert Ferrer declined to travel to the Israeli city to play Maccabi’s rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Uefa Cup.
On their first trip back to the country since then, Mourinho was asked if any players had been reluctant to travel following the terrorist attacks in France and Beirut.
“I didn’t have a single problem within the squad,” he replied. “I didn’t have a Graeme Le Saux. I had everybody without fears, just wanting to come.
“I had even a player whose wife is maybe going to have a baby either tomorrow or the next day but he’s here, focusing on what he can do for us. So we’re here focusing on getting a result. We need that for our happiness, our pride and the people who support us.”
There is a little mystery as to why Mourinho singled out former England full-back Le Saux. As a member of the FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board, Le Saux’s name would have been on a letter that was highly critical of Mourinho’s handling of former team doctor Eva Carneiro.
Good to know that 1-0 win over Norwich at the weekend hasn’t sucked all the piss and vinegar out of the cuddly Portuguese.
