PHOTO | OZAN KOSE Chelsea`s head coach Jose Mourinho attends a press
conference ahead of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 football match
between Galatasaray and Chelsea on February 25, 2014, at the Kasimpasa
training ground in Istanbul.
AFP
ISTANBUL
Chelsea manager Jose
Mourinho on Tuesday vented his fury following the broadcast of comments
he made 'off the record' about striker Samuel Eto'o, as the Premier
League club prepared to face Galatasaray in the Champions League.\
The
focus moved away from the first leg of their last-16 tie in Istanbul on
Wednesday to the fall-out caused by the broadcast of what Mourinho
thought was a private conversation on French television.
On
Sunday night, Canal Plus showed Mourinho talking about Eto'o, joking
that nobody knew whether the Cameroonian was 32 years old or 35 while
also saying that he could be tempted to move for Monaco's Colombian
striker Radamel Falcao, because "I don't have a centre-forward and he
doesn't have a team. He plays in front of 3,000 people."
But,
before Chelsea's eve of game training session at the base of
Galatasaray's rivals Kasimpasa, outside Istanbul, Mourinho hit out at
the journalist responsible for the recording.
"I think
you (all) should be embarrassed as media professionals because from an
ethical point of view you can't be happy that a colleague can record a
private conversation and make it public," said the Portuguese.
"It's not a happy comment for me, absolutely, but from an ethical point of view it's a real disgrace."
"I'm not defending what I said, I'm attacking something I think is fundamental in your area.
"From my perspective the comment is not a good one, but it's not something I would do in an official way.
"First
of all because I don't make fun, second because if there are managers
who really defend their players I am obviously one of them, and third
because Samuel Eto'o is Samuel Eto'o.
NO REASON TO BE UPSET
"It
was with him that I had the best season of my career (winning the
treble with Inter Milan in 2010). He is one of the few players who is
working with me in a second different club, and a manager never does
that when he doesn't like the player or the person.
"And
he has no reason to be upset because also he said a few years ago that
Mourinho was the only person in the world he would never play for, and
after one year he was playing for me at Inter."
While
Chelsea are top of the Premier League and go into their meeting with
Roberto Mancini's Galatasaray as favourites, Mourinho's side have missed
the presence of a prolific centre-forward this season.
Eto'o,
Fernando Torres and Demba Ba have scored just 17 goals between them
this season in the league and Champions League, and the Blues have never
suitably replaced Didier Drogba, the veteran Ivorian who will line up
against them at the Turk Telecom Arena.
"I know that
facing Drogba is difficult and a strange feeling, I have to admit that.
But we have to do our job just as we know he wants to do his job," said
Mourinho, who also faced his former protege last season when his Real
Madrid side beat Gala 5-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the same
competition.
Chelsea may be favourites to win the tie,
but Mourinho continued to play down their chances of lifting the trophy
for the second time in three seasons.
"We are not
favourites, that's obviously (sic), but when a team reaches the
quarter-finals I think anything is possible, so I think this round is
very important for every team," he added.
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