From the blues website after the match
AFTER THE WHISTLE: TALKING TO JOSE
Chelseafc.com likes to grab a few words with Chelsea figures from the past when they attend our matches for whatever reason, and Sunday was no exception.
The whole world must know by now that José Mourinho was one of the spectators at Old Trafford, studying Manchester United in preparation for Inter's Champions League tie.
Our former manager spoke to us literally seconds after the whistle for full time, and was asked whether hearing Chelsea fans in song once more had stirred the odd emotion in him.
'Stamford Bridge, when I go back there for the first time, will be a real emotion because that was my home,' he said.
'Here is always a feeling, is always an emotion, but it was not my home. My home was Stamford Bridge so I look forward to going there again one day.
'Maybe we [Inter] can beat Man United and maybe Chelsea can beat Juventus and maybe we can see each other in the later stages.'
Being someone who expressed Champions League wishes in the past that proved more like accurate predications (we're thinking of his 'I want to play Barcelona' one of 2004/05), we was asked when he thought we might meet again.
'If possible, in the Final,' he smiled, 'but if it is in the quarter-final, I will be happy because it means that we both go through very difficult ties.
'I know that Man United is a team of great potential but I trust myself, I trust my players. Of course Man United is full of talented players but based on our organisation and our mentality, we can do it.
'Today was similar to the Man United team I know very well,' Mourinho observed, adding that he expects to make another two or three live scouting visits, including the Man U game away to Gianfranco Zola's West Ham.
'I will go one day to Stamford Bridge for sure,' he promised. 'Football is a small world and I will go around and around. I played against Porto, I played against Barcelona. I will play against Chelsea one day.'
Since the chat on Sunday, Mourinho has once more been in contact with Chelsea. He wishes the fans to know that despite what is suggested in some media stories today, his pre-Coppa Italia press conference yesterday contained no comment on Chelsea's play. He simply stated that he had concentrated on future Inter opponents Manchester United, not on how Chelsea performed on Sunday.
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The analysis of the events of Sunday afternoon will go on for a while yet, with thoughts of what would have happened had scores been kept level until half-time considering a fair first-half display, tempered by the knowledge that Edwin van der Sar between the Man U posts hadn't really been tested.
But it is at the other end of the pitch and the defending from deadball situations that is at the centre of a lot of debate at the moment. After the Whistle noted John Mikel Obi's comment to this website that it felt to him that: 'This season we haven't really conceded goals from open play. They are all set pieces.'
So we decided to take a look and he's not too inaccurate with that statement.
Take the Barclays Premier League alone and our opponents have scored eight times from deadballs and four from open play.
The open play foursome were Darren Bent's goal for Spurs from a ricocheted Frank Lampard clearance, Park's tap-in after a Cech save for Man United at the Bridge, Alonso's deflected shot for Liverpool, Man U's second at the weekend and van Persie's first for Arsenal, which as Mikel points out, was from an offside position anyway.
Of the set-piece damage, it has only been Robinho's direct attempt at the target, with help from a flick off the wall, that has not involved a free-kick from a wide position, a corner or a throw.
For the record, Chelsea have scored 34 league goals in open play, six from deadballs, one of which was a penalty.
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After the Whistle also listened to words from another figure from the management side of game who was at Old Trafford. Former England boss Graham Taylor was working for national radio as a summariser and was among the many trying to make sense of what they had seen. He spoke on wide issues after the game.
'I have seen Chelsea live more than any of the top clubs and at the start of the season I thought this is it.
'Chelsea are not in crisis, I don't like that word anyway when football is concerned, but it is not flowing like before.
'I'd like to see more width in the play,' he suggested. 'It is alright saying we like our full-backs to get forward but we saw for instance when Manchester United played at Stamford Bridge, how Hargreaves and Park stopped the full-backs. If your full-backs aren't getting forward, where is your real width to your play?
'The view that Drogba and Anelka can't play together, the second half performance would support that,' he added. 'I didn't see anybody making a run for the other one to get into the spaces.
'Is that the manager's fault or do you have to look at the players?' he asked.
'You would expect Chelsea to win at Southend but you have got to work to win, you've got to get it right.
'Forget the fact about whether Chelsea have big name players or not. The more confident you feel, the better you will perform. As a man-manager, you can help people with confidence, but only if the attitude is right. The attitude is not a manager's responsibility.'
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There were not many smiles to be had at Old Trafford but After The Whistle did allow ourselves just one small one at the sight of our former captain, the great Marcel Desailly, who was working for French TV, desperately searching for a misplaced pass to give him access to the commentary position.
We rather suspect that if anyone could have convinced the man on the door of his identity, Marcel could, although with us not knowing if there is a French word for 'jobsworth', maybe he has had past experience to the contrary!
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