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José Mourinho takes swipe at Graeme Le Saux before Maccabi Tel Aviv match José Mourinho takes swipe at Graeme Le Saux before Maccabi Tel Aviv match
(about 7 hours later)
José Mourinho has claimed he had no “Graeme Le Saux” in his Chelsea squad as he confirmed none of his players had expressed any reluctance to travel to Israel for Tuesday’s Champions League group game against Maccabi Tel Aviv. José Mourinho met Chelsea’s senior players to gauge their attitude and address security concerns before travelling to Israel for Tuesday’s Champions League game against Maccabi Tel Aviv. None of the squad expressed a reluctance to travel.
Chelsea departed for Haifa on Sunday hoping the extra day will help them acclimatise for the match against Group G’s weakest side. It is 14 years since Chelsea played in Israel and on that occasion six members of the squad – Marcel Desailly, William Gallas, Graeme Le Saux, Albert Ferrer, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Emmanuel Petit – opted out of the fixture.
Mourinho namechecked Le Saux when briefly reflecting on that issue from 2001. The former England defender, in his capacity as a member of the FA’s inclusion advisory board, has been critical of the Chelsea manager over the demotion and departure of Dr Eva Carneiro earlier this season.
The fixture in 2001, against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Uefa Cup, had been staged only a month after the September 11 attacks, with the world on high alert over terrorist attacks. The Israeli minister for tourism, Rehavam Ze’evi, was shot dead on the eve of the match.
Chelsea had been instructed by Uefa to fulfil the fixture but offered their players the choice of not travelling and ended up taking a youthful side. Under the management of Claudio Ranieri, Chelsea’s matchday squad included the likes of Joel Kitamirike – a Ugandan centre-half whose only appearance for the club came that night – Rhys Evans, Pat Baldwin, Danny Slatter and Joe Keenan. Gianfranco Zola captained the side as they lost 2-0.
Tuesday’s game follows the terror attacks in Paris and with tensions high in Israel. Two people were stabbed to death outside a shop in Tel Aviv last week.
“I didn’t speak in a formal way to the squad,” Mourinho said. “I didn’t have a meeting to ask them about their feelings. But I had a couple of individual contacts – more than a couple – to get the feeling.
“It’s not the same to go and play in Israel as it is to go and play in Stoke or Newcastle. The feeling is obviously different. But I got from them the sense of responsibility and, of course, everybody has travelled. Nobody even tried not to go. I didn’t have a single problem within the squad. I didn’t have a Graeme Le Saux. I had everybody without fears, just wanting to come. I even have a player whose wife is going to have a baby either tomorrow or the next day but he’s here, focusing on what he can do for us.
“The fact we went two days before has given us a bit of time to adapt and feel we are OK. We are safe, no problem, and we are just here to play our game. The best way is to focus on football and the happiness and responsibility we have to play football. Leave security questions to people who know more than we do. We just focus on playing.”
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Chelsea left for Haifa, where the game will be staged, on Sunday in a bid to use the extra day to acclimatise to conditions before the match against Group G’s weakest side. It is 14 years since the London club last played in Israel and, on that occasion, six members of the squad – Le Saux, Marcel Desailly, William Gallas, Albert Ferrer, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Emmanuel Petit – opted out of the trip, many apparently under pressure from their families, and remained in England.
That fixture, against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Uefa Cup,was staged just a month after the September 11 attacks in New York, with the world on high alert over potential further terrorist incidents. The Israeli cabinet minister, Rehavam Zeevi, was shot dead on the eve of the match. Chelsea had been instructed by Uefa to fulfil the game, but did offer their players the choice not to travel and ended up taking a youthful squad.
Tuesday’s game comes in the wake of the recent terror attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed and the Stade de France was targeted by suicide bombers. Tensions are currently high in Israel after five people were killed in attacks in Tel Aviv and the West Bank last week and a number of other incidents have taken place across the country.
Yet, when asked about the security issue in his pre-match press conference, Mourinho opted to single out only Le Saux – a member of the FA’s inclusion advisory board who has been publicly critical of the Portuguese over the demotion and departure of Dr Eva Carneiro earlier this season – when reflecting on the issues around the game.
“I think the best way is to focus on football and the happiness you have to play football, the responsibility you have to play football,” said the Chelsea manager.
“Leave security questions to people who know more than we do, and people who can do things we can’t do. We just focus on playing. I didn’t have a single problem within the squad. I didn’t have a Graeme Le Saux. I had everybody without fears, just wanting to come.
“I had even a player, maybe, whose wife is going to have a baby either tomorrow or the next day but he’s here, focusing on what he can do for us. So we’re here focusing on getting a result. We need that for our happiness, our pride, and the people who support us.”
Chelsea have brought a full squad with them to Israel, with only the injured Thibaut Courtois and Radamel Falcao absent.