Mourinho admits O'Neill's similarity
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Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says Aston Villa counterpart Martin O'Neill is in his class.
Reflecting on Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho said: "Martin O'Neill is a good coach and a good motivator.
"When players have managers with spirit, like us, and with this kind of character, they fight more, they are more motivated and they have more self-belief.
"They fought hard but they had a lot of luck. A lot of, lot of luck.
"I think they have to go home and realise they were very, very lucky to get a point.
"Maybe we didn't deserve to take all the points because we had 15 chances and only scored once.
"When you play well and don't get results you are not frustrated. You just accept it. But when you play so well, like we did, and produce a game of high quality with so many chances, everybody knows you deserve to win.
"In this game, one team wanted to win and one team wanted a point.
"I don't blame Villa. They came here to play their game and when they went one-down they had a reaction.
"In the second half, they could not have done any more. They could not stop us.
"Martin and I are not similar characters. Everyone has passion but it's the way you express it. During 90 minutes I can show my passion for 10 minutes. But Martin does it for 90 minutes.
"He shouts at everything and he complains about everything. We are different.
"I don't know how he works during the week but this kind of team can be lucky because they are motivated.
"Sometimes it is funny to look at him. He complains at everything but he is like that all the time. He cannot change.
"You have to accept him like he is and respect the way he behaves."
O'Neill was delighted with the point and, while agreeing he got a little carried away, he vowed not to change and expressed pride in his team and their desire.
After admitting his behaviour would at some time probably drive him to a heart attack, he declared: "We've come down to Chelsea with a relatively young side, some boys who have not played that many games, and it was a great effort by us and a great point for us.
"Of course, we got a little bit of luck. They had one shot by Shaun Wright-Phillips that hit the underside of the crossbar.
"But I simply don't see it as me being a lucky manager.
"I don't see our next game as being one where I just sit there on the bench and think we'll be all right now and Tottenham will miss 12 chances and we'll sneak a little goal.
"It's nothing like that. I live through these games. I started off in relative calm for all of at least 10 seconds.
"I don't think I'll ever calm down. I'm afraid that's me. Honestly, I'll just take one massive big woof and I shall be gone.
"When I was talking to Jose at the end, he said maybe I'd trigger a heart attack. And he may well be right.
"But he has been terrific for the game and they have a great side. They are in full flow now.
"I'm effusive because we've got something from the game and we remain unbeaten, which I couldn't honestly, after a couple of games in pre-season, have really wished for. We got off to a very poor start and looked more than a bit apprehensive.
"But after the first 10 or 12 minutes we started to cause them problems.
"We became more positive and we deserved to be level by half-time.
"We then came under severe pressure in the second half, especially in the last 20 minutes.
"On another day, we could have caved in. But there is a bit more confidence in the side now. We showed some resilience and did not do that."
Reflecting on Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho said: "Martin O'Neill is a good coach and a good motivator.
"When players have managers with spirit, like us, and with this kind of character, they fight more, they are more motivated and they have more self-belief.
"They fought hard but they had a lot of luck. A lot of, lot of luck.
"I think they have to go home and realise they were very, very lucky to get a point.
"Maybe we didn't deserve to take all the points because we had 15 chances and only scored once.
"When you play well and don't get results you are not frustrated. You just accept it. But when you play so well, like we did, and produce a game of high quality with so many chances, everybody knows you deserve to win.
"In this game, one team wanted to win and one team wanted a point.
"I don't blame Villa. They came here to play their game and when they went one-down they had a reaction.
"In the second half, they could not have done any more. They could not stop us.
"Martin and I are not similar characters. Everyone has passion but it's the way you express it. During 90 minutes I can show my passion for 10 minutes. But Martin does it for 90 minutes.
"He shouts at everything and he complains about everything. We are different.
"I don't know how he works during the week but this kind of team can be lucky because they are motivated.
"Sometimes it is funny to look at him. He complains at everything but he is like that all the time. He cannot change.
"You have to accept him like he is and respect the way he behaves."
O'Neill was delighted with the point and, while agreeing he got a little carried away, he vowed not to change and expressed pride in his team and their desire.
After admitting his behaviour would at some time probably drive him to a heart attack, he declared: "We've come down to Chelsea with a relatively young side, some boys who have not played that many games, and it was a great effort by us and a great point for us.
"Of course, we got a little bit of luck. They had one shot by Shaun Wright-Phillips that hit the underside of the crossbar.
"But I simply don't see it as me being a lucky manager.
"I don't see our next game as being one where I just sit there on the bench and think we'll be all right now and Tottenham will miss 12 chances and we'll sneak a little goal.
"It's nothing like that. I live through these games. I started off in relative calm for all of at least 10 seconds.
"I don't think I'll ever calm down. I'm afraid that's me. Honestly, I'll just take one massive big woof and I shall be gone.
"When I was talking to Jose at the end, he said maybe I'd trigger a heart attack. And he may well be right.
"But he has been terrific for the game and they have a great side. They are in full flow now.
"I'm effusive because we've got something from the game and we remain unbeaten, which I couldn't honestly, after a couple of games in pre-season, have really wished for. We got off to a very poor start and looked more than a bit apprehensive.
"But after the first 10 or 12 minutes we started to cause them problems.
"We became more positive and we deserved to be level by half-time.
"We then came under severe pressure in the second half, especially in the last 20 minutes.
"On another day, we could have caved in. But there is a bit more confidence in the side now. We showed some resilience and did not do that."
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