Jose Mourinho is a hard man to please.
Even in an end of season friendly.
In front of over 83,000 fans, Chelsea beat Sydney FC of the A-League 1-0 on Tuesday to finish their post-season tour Australia in style with Loic Remy grabbing the only goal of the game in sensational fashion.
The 2014-15 Premier League champions fielded a strong team which included the supposedly “unhappy” Diego Costa — Mourinho rubbished reports saying that Costa was unhappy and wants a return to Atletico Madrid — and a mixture of youngsters as the Blues now head off on a break before heading to the U.S. for preseason in July.
But before signing off from a highly successful 2014-15 campaign, Mourinho gave a warning shot to Chelsea’s young midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 19, which will likely ring loudly in his ears throughout the summer. The midfielder came on in the 41st minute but was then subbed out in the second half of the win over Sydney.
From Chelsea’s official website, here is the message Mourinho has for Loftus-Cheek.
“Ruben said he had a pain in his back but what I was feeling was that he only had the pain when Sydney had the ball. When Chelsea had the ball he was playing very well, but when Sydney had the ball I think he was more impdne ressed by watching Matic and Mikel work, instead of him working. So, with Ruben, it’s one step back in terms of my relationship with him. If he doesn’t know what it is to play for me and Chelsea it’s one step back.
“He has to learn that at 19 you have to run three times more than the others, you have to play to your limits and not play like a superstar with the ball at your feet because this is not Under-18s.
“The Under-18 competition is too easy for him. He’s too good to play in the Under-18s but I don’t accept that when he’s playing in midfield with Mikel and Matic when we don’t have the ball he doesn’t press, doesn’t have intensity and he’s waiting for everybody else to recover the ball. I don’t accept that in the superstars so how can I accept that in a kid? He has to learn what it takes to play for us.”
Ouch.
Loftus-Cheek made his full Premier League debut in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool in May and has received glowing praise from Mourinho during his rise through the club’s academy and reserve teams. Mourinho has already confirmed that the gangly central midfielder will be a part of the Blues’ PL squad next season but his comments will serve as a warning to Loftus-Cheek that he shouldn’t get ahead of himself.
Mourinho’s comments can be taken with a pinch of a salt, seeing as he’s the master of mind games, but one thing is for sure, he wasn’t impressed with Loftus-Cheek’s display in Australia and the academy product certainly knows about. As does the rest of the world.
