Gary Neville: Jose Mourinho is jealous of Chelsea’s success this season.
According to former Manchester United star player Gary Neville, United current manager Jose Mourinho is envious of Antonio Conte’s success at Chelsea this season.
The Stamford Bridge club have been the Premier League’s most consistent side so far and have earned lots of praise for their dramatic transformation under their new Italian boss.
Their upturn in fortunes this current campaign have been in stark contrast to their struggles last term, when they ended up 10th in the Premier League table and without a trophy following Jose Mourinho’s sacking.
Now at Old Trafford, Mourinho recently aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Chelsea by tagging them as a “defensive” team earlier this month.
However, former United defender Gary Neville feels that his comments show that the Portuguese tactician is somewhat jealous of his former employers and their success under former Juventus coach Antonio Conte.
Neville speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football said: “He [Mourinho] is probably envious, probably saying it as a compliment, because when I watch Chelsea they look balanced to me, the right mix of what you would like.
“I have never watched Chelsea this season and thought they were really boring, I have seen them go away to City and be absolutely outstanding, I’ve seen them be resilient when they needed to be, I’ve seen them play great football.“
“When I have watched them this season, they have a look of a team that’s got the right balance, and if Jose Mourinho is saying that, maybe he is being a little bit mischievous, but he will be thinking that is the balance of a champion team.
“Jose will be searching for that balance, understanding that at United you need to be a little bit more expansive in the way in which he plays.”
Man United are presently in sixth position in the Premier League table and also 12 points behind Chelsea as they bid to try to finish in the top four this season.
But, This will be Chelsea’s biggest problem if they win the title – Gary Neville
He additionally delivered his verdict on Chelsea this season and what could happen if they should win the title.
He says that the mentality of the Chelsea players will be the key to success if the Stamford Bridge club are to enjoy a long spell of dominance in English football.
Chelsea are currently the heavy favorites to win the Premier League title campaign, considering that they’ve built an eight-point lead at the top of the table.
But we are still looking if the west London side will be able to continue their dominance and win the title this season.
Will The Hunger Remains?
But Neville has questioned whether Chelsea’s players will have the hunger to go on and win more titles if they were able to eventually triumph this season.
He is of the opinion that he doesn’t think it is a case of whether or not the training programme is sustainable, but it is more of whether the players have the mentality to win the league [if they do now] and come back and have the right attitude to do it again.
“That’s been the problem for Chelsea over the past few years when they have done quite well and some of those players have been through that story when Carlo Ancelotti or Mourinho were in charge and they haven’t been able to raise the game the following season.
“If they keep the same attitude and application, it’s not down to the training programme. If it doesn’t go well, the managers gets sacked.
“It wasn’t Mourinho who changed or Claudio this season, but the players’ attitude and mentality that changed.” he concluded.
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