Mourinho Dismisses Rivalry Rumours With Arsenal Boss

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has laughed off suggestions that there is an element of tension between him and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger ahead of their clash on Monday.
Arsenal have the chance to be top of the Premier League at Christmas with victory over the Blues at the Emirates Stadium.
A victory for Chelsea meanwhile would put the cat amongst the pigeons at the top of the table, with Liverpool winning earlier today.

Mourinho has a clear edge over Wenger's Arsenal side having never tasted defeat when his Chelsea side have played against them.
The pair also clashed during Mourinho's first spell in charge of Chelsea, when the 'Special One' branded the Arsenal boss a 'voyeur'.
However Mourinho has moved to dismiss the tension in the build-up to the game, and says there isn't an issue between the two managers.
It's not me against Wenger," he told reporters.
"It's my Chelsea against his Arsenal. And that (the record) doesn't play Monday. It has no influence. That stat, for the game of Monday, means nothing.
"I just feel that we played better, we deserved more and we won these matches.
"In my time I remember just one game where we were close to losing, which was a game at home where (Michael) Essien scored the equalising goal in the last part of the game (in the December 2006 Premier League draw).
"After that, even at the Emirates, playing with 10 men for 75 minutes we played a fantastic match and we drew 1-1 (in May 2007).
"My memories are that, against them, we played very good matches. As a consequence of that, we got good results."
Chelsea have already beaten Arsenal in the Capital One cup this season, but Mourinho insists that result will have little bearing on Monday's encounter.
"Different competitions, different motivations, different responsibilities, different players in some cases," he said.
"Still Arsenal, still Chelsea, still a London derby, plus the fact that the first is playing the third, or the second, whatever you prefer.
"(It is a) big match for sure,  I'm waiting for the game and I'm ready to play the game and I want very much to play the game."

Mourinho Steams Up The Heat In Chelsea Citing Drogba And Ibrahimovic As Examples

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has challenged his squad to handle the pressure of competing for the Premier League title like Didier Drogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Portuguese led the Blues to two Premier League titles in his first spell at the club with Drogba as his attacking lynchpin, while Ibrahimovic’s goals helped Mourinho storm to the Serie A title in his first season at Inter. 
And the former Real Madrid manager now wants to see his current Chelsea squad develop a title-winning mentality, insisting that players deal with the pressure of competing at the top in different ways.
He said: “I like to put pressure on them, yes, but you have to analyse the players you’re working with. I gave Didier as an example. When I put real pressure on him, the animal was always coming out.
“Ibrahimovic at Inter – exactly the same. When I put real pressure on him, I knew that the answer was coming. It depends on the players’ profiles. Some react in a very good way. Some don’t.
“I have players who have told me not to criticise them in front of the other guys because, ‘It’s not good for my self-esteem’. I’ve had everything.
“One of the things is to make the pressure of fighting for the title to be something natural, something that players accept in a positive way, not in a negative way. We have here some people who won the title before, but they’ve not won it for quite a long time. When you don’t do that for quite a long time, you forget it.
“We’ve also got players who were playing in clubs not used to fighting for titles, clubs who’d do fantastic one day and see what would happen the next. That pressure to try and be top of the league, knowing that every little detail and every point can make a difference.