06/08/2015
Final whistle verdict: Another good training session
With the final 90 minutes of pre-season over Jose Mourinho expressed his satisfaction at being able to give his players more time on the pitch, tonight against strong Italian opposition.
Ever since the match action begun, against New York Red Bulls two weeks ago, the manager has stressed each friendly game be treated as a training session as his side continue building up their fitness ahead of the new season.
After our 1-0 loss to Fiorentina at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho explained why he was pleased with the evening’s work-out…
‘I thank Fiorentina for the good training session because it was a competitive training session,’ he said.
‘The players that didn’t play on Sunday played 60 minutes, for the others it was 30 minutes. Hopefully there were no injuries.
‘We have the real football on Saturday and today we couldn’t face this game in another way. We got competitive minutes against a good team who played for a result and gave us a very good training session. It’s a long season with 10 months of competition, and I’m happy with where we are.’
Mourinho reported Victor Moses is fine and he also explained why he couldn’t say whether Diego Costa would be fit for the weekend
‘I won’t risk my reputation again. You asked me before last weekend and I told you he was ready to play. He wasn’t. I don’t know. I don’t risk saying yes, and I don’t risk saying no. On Friday at the next press conference I think I will tell you again that I don’t know.’
Another striker, Falcao, made his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt at Stamford Bridge
‘He is very good for the situation – Copa America, holidays, one week of training sessions, not the three weeks the others have had, and minutes in different matches. Today I took him off in his best moment of the game. I am very happy with his evolution.’
