José Mourinho had harsh words for his players after they narrowly avoided defeat at Newcastle, rating Chelsea’s first-half display in their 2-2 draw among the worst he had seen in his seven years at the club.
“There were too many individual performances that were awful,” the Chelsea manager said. “When so many individuals are playing so badly it is impossible for a team to be a team.”
Mourinho said the game had been saved by the introduction of Ramires and Willian as substitutes. “They took the game to a different level and brought us both the goals to earn the point. Ramires is one of the few players we have who can shoot from outside the box, so he is a good option to bring on when the opposition is using a low block and making it difficult to get into the penalty area.”
Still waiting for his first league win at St James’ Park, in either of his spells in England, Mourinho then went on to suggest part of the reason is that Newcastle pick their matches. “Against some teams they sweat blood, and against others they don’t,” he said. “It is an attitude typical of a team that wins nothing, though I think Newcastle deserved a point today for the way they fought. They gave everything.”
Steve McClaren was not about to argue with that, though he admitted his emotions were all over the place after giving Chelsea such a scare then having to hang on for a point.
“We could have won it at the end, we could have lost it,” he said. “A win would have taken our self-belief up a notch, and we were close, but I think in the end we all have to be satisfied with a great performance.
“The response to the poor performance in midweek was exactly what I was looking for. We showed a togetherness, and I am not just talking about the players but the supporters.
“That was much more like it, and we have set a benchmark now, a standard. That is how we want to play every week.”
