Chelsea's Mourinho reveals Abramovich crunch talks
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Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed he worked closely with owner Roman Abramovich during their tour of the United States discussing their plans for the new season.
"He was in the States during pre-season, he was watching our training sessions and we had some time to speak a little bit," Mourinho told chelseafc.com. "So he knows what we want to do.
"He knows that we want to improve because it is our third year. We want to improve our way of controlling and dominating the game and I explained that. He likes football, he likes to communicate so I tried to explain to him a few ideas about what we want for the season."
With the Champions League the most prestigious competition to elude Chelsea, it is understandable if many think winning that particular trophy must be the overriding ambition for both Mourinho and Abramovich for the 2006/7 season.
"Mr. Abramovich knows we cannot put one competition in front of another competition," insists Mourinho. "He is now in football for quite a long time and he understands what is a competition of 30-to-40 matches and what is a competition going into a knockout stage.
"When the Champions League goes into the last 16, it is a competition you cannot control. We can win it, yes, but I think another six, seven or eight teams can also do it."
"There are other good squads. Barcelona has a fantastic squad too. They didn't lose players and they bought Zambrotta and Thuram - two world class defenders with a lot of experience. In Eidur they have a player that every manager likes to have because he is a player who can play different positions and different systems and gives them great options.
"Real Madrid have also made an amazing investment, not so much in financial terms because they went to the Juventus sales, but in Cannavaro, Emerson and van Nistelrooy, we are speaking about some of the best players in the world. They have also a very, very good squad.
"Inter is buying everything. They already have Adriano and Martins and now they have Crespo and Ibrahimovic. They have in midfield a lot of good players in Figo, Stankovic, Cambiasso and they buy Vieira. So Inter has a massive squad too.
"And in England we have very good teams. Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool, they have very good squads. Man United went for me to the perfect player for them. Carrick is a player they needed for the last piece in the jigsaw. Bayern Munich lost Ballack but they went also for good players and improvement. There are a lot of teams in Europe with good squads."
"He was in the States during pre-season, he was watching our training sessions and we had some time to speak a little bit," Mourinho told chelseafc.com. "So he knows what we want to do.
"He knows that we want to improve because it is our third year. We want to improve our way of controlling and dominating the game and I explained that. He likes football, he likes to communicate so I tried to explain to him a few ideas about what we want for the season."
With the Champions League the most prestigious competition to elude Chelsea, it is understandable if many think winning that particular trophy must be the overriding ambition for both Mourinho and Abramovich for the 2006/7 season.
"Mr. Abramovich knows we cannot put one competition in front of another competition," insists Mourinho. "He is now in football for quite a long time and he understands what is a competition of 30-to-40 matches and what is a competition going into a knockout stage.
"When the Champions League goes into the last 16, it is a competition you cannot control. We can win it, yes, but I think another six, seven or eight teams can also do it."
"There are other good squads. Barcelona has a fantastic squad too. They didn't lose players and they bought Zambrotta and Thuram - two world class defenders with a lot of experience. In Eidur they have a player that every manager likes to have because he is a player who can play different positions and different systems and gives them great options.
"Real Madrid have also made an amazing investment, not so much in financial terms because they went to the Juventus sales, but in Cannavaro, Emerson and van Nistelrooy, we are speaking about some of the best players in the world. They have also a very, very good squad.
"Inter is buying everything. They already have Adriano and Martins and now they have Crespo and Ibrahimovic. They have in midfield a lot of good players in Figo, Stankovic, Cambiasso and they buy Vieira. So Inter has a massive squad too.
"And in England we have very good teams. Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool, they have very good squads. Man United went for me to the perfect player for them. Carrick is a player they needed for the last piece in the jigsaw. Bayern Munich lost Ballack but they went also for good players and improvement. There are a lot of teams in Europe with good squads."
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