Now Son has had his surgery, any idea how long he will be out for?
According to him (points to his press officer), weeks, a number of weeks, a big number of weeks, a few months. (laughs)
Good to see Harry Kane on Wednesday with Jimmy Greaves' family, he looked quite mobile.....
(Lots of laughter from Mourinho)
I'm trying to look for positives, any update on him?
The update is that he looked fine, yeah.
How's Dele Alli?
(More laughs). Oh my god Gary. Dele Alli is fine.
Did you have a word with him about his reaction?
No, no.
Do you like that kind of passion on the touchline?
Not as much (laughs again).
You used the blanket analogy a couple of weeks ago and how cold you would get, is it now just a towel or a handkerchief?
It's so cold now. (More laughs) We are so strong that we don't need anything, we can sleep in difficult circumstances, if you know what I mean. We don't need to be in a very comfortable place. We rest when we can, which is not a lot. I was already with someone from BT and I thank him already to choose the game at 12.30, I can thank you also to choose the Sunday at Aston Villa before Leipzig.
We rest when we can, the way we can and we go to every match ready for everything. Thats the spirit we want to keep. It was really hard for the boys to be in this position, I remember when I arrived, my first conversation with them was don't look at the table.
Forget you're 12 points behind fourth, don't think of any targets, top six or we just want to go match after match and see where this can take us. Well after three months we went from closer to the relegation positions, which obviously was never a problem. But we went from there to be one point behind the top four. Amazing effort by everyone.
So now that we're in this position, we earned the right to fight for it. It's difficult. In this moment, probably lots of people think impossible. OK but we're going to fight. Looking at this match, the only thing that matters now, 'lets go'.
You're still smiling through all the recent setbacks and if the season had started from when you came in, you'd be third and 11 points ahead of Chelsea. Does that make you proud?
I am but that's not about me. Not about me. If it was about me, I would even choose let's move quickly to July 1 and start the pre-season with my players, without injuries, going to Premier League day one with the same points as everybody else. That's not about me, it's about us, that's the club.
We have to face that, again I repeat the boys did fantastic to put themselves back in the positions where we belong, these positions fighting for the top four. The situation is difficult. I think nobody else in the Premier League for sure, but even in European football is in such a difficult situation as we are in terms of injuries in specific positions. Again we go.
Is it special going back to Stamford Bridge?
No, not special, one more game.
Why not?
Because I'm a professional, as I've said every time I played my previous clubs, I'll belong 200 per cent to my club. That's it. The only different thing will be at the end of the game I can walk from the stadium to my house but even that I won't take an advantage of because I'll go back from the stadium with my players. I won't use that advantage.
Special to see Frank Lampard?
No. Seeing him is always nice, if I meet him in the street, a restaurant or in the corridor of a football stadium. Even as an opponent it's always nice to see him, but not special to play against his team. It's not against him. It's my team against his team, not special.
When you were at United you said coming second was your biggest achievement....
Maybe I'll win that title?
But will getting top four with all the problems here be bigger?
In these circumstances, yes.
Because of all the adversity?
Yes. Stats are what they are and sometimes very silly, especially when people tries to identify what I called the quantitative stats and forget that football is more about qualitative stats. Especially about players' performances. Sonny and Harry, they score the majority of goals that Tottenham score. This season was so negatively special that we'll be without them both at the same time for a lot of matches.
So yes, not for me, my achievement, but collectively for this group of boys if we manage to finish fourth without Harry and Sonny it would be something incredible, incredible achievement for the boys. So we have to give everything we have.
Have you known a season like this before?
It happened and will happen with other clubs and for sure it happened. I don't think for such a period of time. I remember that for example at Inter I had to play Thiago Motta at central defender because I didn't have any more. This kind of situation can happen but normally happens once or twice because of big or small injuries and five yellow cards. But then the next week the guy with yellow cards is back and then next week the guy with the small injury is back, but this situation for such a long period of time is very, very difficult.
The position, apart from the goalkeeper, that is so, so, so, so specific and it's very difficult to find a solution or an adaptation is the striker position. If you lose four right-backs you play (Oliver) Skipp or (Moussa) Sissoko at right-back. If you lose centre-backs you can play Eric Dier or Ben Davies at centre-back. The specificity of the striker position is very, very difficult. You cannot say Davinson Sanchez go and play centre-forward, it's very difficult. That's the way it is. We have to go to game with everything we have.
It worries me a lot, the fact that the situation for us cannot get better. It can only get worse. If you can in one or two weeks, Harry Kane or Sonny is back. But the situation can only be more difficult for us. Next week we play Wolves, two says later we play Norwich, two days later we play Burnley...thank you very much for choosing the game for 5.30pm TV.
Two days lay later we play Leipzig and we are going to arrive there after three matches in eight days. Very hard. Good fun, in the end good fun. Good experience for everyone, a good test of the players' resilience and spirit and also for them a unique experience for them. We go together because next season we'll smile because we'll be in a very different situation.
You've signed Willian before, would you look to sign him again this summer?
I don't speak about players from other clubs.
What reception are you expecting at Stamford Bridge?
The usual.
Which is?
The usual.
How is Moussa Sissoko's recovery going?
I think Moussa will give us some matches this season. He went outside, started a little bit. Next week we'll have a different phase of his recovery. In an optimistic but realistic situation, I'd expect Moussa to play a few weeks of football with us.
It could be like six weeks of football with us. The whole of April and half of May. In normal conditions, we're going to have him back by end of March or beginning of April.
How did Son's surgery go?
It looks like everything went well.
Tanguy Ndombele had a full pre-season and we're now six months into the campaign, is it a concern for you that he still can't give you 90 minutes of football?
I can only speak about three months and three months of small injuries, setbacks, difficult to reach a good physical level. Playing one match and then getting injured again. So difficult, difficult time.
Are you seeing the benefits of the global training programme you've put him on?
At least he's not been injured in the last few weeks, he played a good 30 minutes in the last game and it was a game of high intensity. And hopefully he'll only improve. I hope that the first time he plays a match in the starting line-up, he can play and be on the pitch for 60-90 minutes and not have any setback.
Is Erik Lamela back training with the squad and just how important could he be for you right now?
Not training with the squad, just being protected to be in conditions to give us some time in the next match. A player I like very, very much, I've always liked, but a difficult season for him, lots of injuries and problems.
An incredible spirit to recover, incredible spirit to work and didn't even go home to Argentina in the days off that we gave to the boys. Stayed here working hard, trying to give us what he gave in last game, after no training, no conditions. Tomorrow will be the same, he'll be here to help.
(Mourinho stops to wave at some children who are waving through the press conference room window before resuming)
Do you think Chelsea will play three at the back again?
Tomorrow the same. I was told the same.
Will you take a different approach against Chelsea this time?
I have to see what players I have available, their condition. We don't have the same players as we had in the first matches. I was told they were back to a back five which is what they normally do when their results are not the best.
They did that when they went to Lille, they did that when they came to us, a system they played for a few us, and are very comfortable with.
It is a system very adapted to their routine and the qualities of their players. But they have so many options that they can do what the manager decides to do.
At the moment we don't have many options to think in the game on the tactical approach. We have what we have, with the players I have available, we have to try to build a competitive team.
Who will win the Fury v Wilder fight?
I don't know if I am going to watch so I cannot say I am excited. I am more focused on my game and the football.
The only thing I can say to these big guys of boxing, if it they think about a fight in London there is only one place to fight now. The best stadium in the world. That is the only place where they can do a fantastic show.
