Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has once again damned the Premier League fixture list ahead of this Saturday’s west London derby with strugglers Fulham.
Opposite number Felix Magath has suggested that Fulham will look to capitalise on any fatigue that Chelsea may have incurred during their midweek Champions League fixture at Galatasaray.
Chelsea played in the Champions League away at Galatasaray on Wednesday evening, but Mourinho will be taking his troops to Fulham for a 3pm Premier League kick-off tomorrow.Magath believes that by working the opposition Fulham have a genuine chance of winning a crucial three points against the current Premier League leaders.
Instead of slating the Fulham managers direct tactics it has instead drawn praise from the Portugese manager, speaking to the Chelsea website he had this to say.
“We arrived back from Turkey at 6am in the morning yesterday, we trained yesterday with four or five guys and the rest were doing some recovery, and we haven’t trained today yet so I don’t know the squad yet”
“It is basic and in a world where not many people are honest in the way they analyse things, I have to praise Felix Magath because he is the first to say it’s a different match because Chelsea had this special situation with a midweek game so far away.
“We don’t play Sunday which would be difficult anyway, we play Saturday which is even more difficult, and he knows that because he has experience at this level for many years. I have to praise him because he is honest in his approach.”
It has again highlighted the congestion of fixtures around this time, with Arsene Wenger receiving staunch criticism following his decision to allow his players a two day break after the win against Sunderland. Speaking during his pre match press conference Wenger suggested ;
“I don’t see why that’s suddenly a problem,” he said. “We have played without a break since December, we don’t have to justify that, it’s unbelievable. We are in a society where everyone wants to control everything. I don’t understand this at all.”
“We came out of a heavy schedule. We had two days off, that’s all. Sometimes it’s not only physical, it’s mental, you’re under pressure all the time, there’s nothing unusual there.”
Chelsea seemingly have just cause to feel aggrieved with the fixture list, especially as the only other team to play in the Champions League this week Manchester United, not only played on the Tuesday but have a 10 day rest until their next Premier League fixture.
This could also be yet another masterstroke from Mourinho who has played down his sides chances of winning the Premier League all season, choosing to put pressure on the rivals around him.
The Special One has proven to be a canny operator and there is no doubt that this latest shift of blame towards the fixtures could be another subtle way of releasing pressure off his squad, and allowing them to continue their march towards their first Premier League title since the 2009/10 season, and their first during Mourinho’s second spell at the club.
