MX23RW : Friday, July 5 06:12:52| >> :120:44231:44231:

Jose Mourinho: 'No rifts with any of my Chelsea players'

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho denies having rifts with any of his players, and backs John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that he does not have any "problems" with his players, specifically John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic.

Questions have been raised over Mourinho's relationship with Terry after the captain was left out of the side that sealed a 4-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The centre-back, who played every single league game last season, was also substituted at half time of Chelsea's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City last month.

Ivanovic has also come under criticism this season, with reports claiming that the club will wait until the New Year to decide whether to extend his and Terry's contracts.

However, Mourinho has given his backing to both players ahead of this weekend's clash against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

"Last season he played every minute, before that he didn't," Mourinho told reporters in this afternoon's press conference. "He's a player of my total confidence. I trust him always and he's one of my men. Just because he's on the bench one game or I take him off he's still one of my men.

"You don't see me being critical of [Ivanovic]. So I don't think it is a question for me because I am not making an individual analysis or trying to isolate individual players from the context."

The defending Premier League champions have secured victory just once in five domestic games this season.

ID:246936: cacheID:246936:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2677:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chelsea's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho (R) and Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger (L) are kept apart by the fourth official Jonathan Moss during the English Premier League match on October 5, 2014
Read Next:
Preview: Chelsea vs. Arsenal
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Friday, July 5
 
5pm
Quarter-Finals
Spain
vs.
Germany
 
8pm
Quarter-Finals
Portugal
vs.
France
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!