Jose hits back at Gerrard over Terry rift claim

JOSE MOURINHO has taken a swipe at Steven Gerrard as the Chelsea manager slammed claims of a rift with his axed captain John Terry.

Mourinho left Terry on the bench for Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in their Champions League opener at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

His decision to drop Terry came just weeks after he hauled off the veteran defender at halftime when Chelsea were beaten at Manchester City.

LA Galaxy midfielder Gerrard, working as a television pundit for the Chelsea match, claimed Mourinho’s treatment of Terry must be due to a fracturing of their relationship.

“There’s certainly a bit of friction behind the scenes because for me, you play John Terry week in, week out, he’s your captain,” Gerrard told matches.

But Mourinho said the questioning of his reign was ridiculous.

“It is human nature. You like people up and you like people down. (Wayne) Rooney was a disaster and then he broke the record and suddenly he is the greatest player in the history of English football,” Mourinho said.

“You think in a different way. It is a different industry and it is an era when the pundits get big money to have their opinions.

“I’m a fantastic manager when I win matches and a fantastic manager when I lose matches.

“I’m not there waiting for my name to be sung by the fans. But I prefer it to them singing ‘Mourinho out’. It shows they don’t have short memories and they don’t read the papers.

“It shows they know this club won four Premier Leagues; three with me and one with my team (after Mourinho left). So let’s support this guy and we have a chance to win a fifth.”

Despite Mourinho’s typically confrontational stance, there was also a hint of relief that Chelsea had steadied the ship.

“When everything goes against you recently, and after five minutes of a game you have to win you miss a penalty, it is a great test of the character, so it was good that we showed we could cope,” he said.

“I can imagine after a defeat how difficult it would be for everyone, especially two days before a game against Arsenal. It is very important.”

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv manager Slavisa Jokanovic admitted his players had been overwhelmed by their first appearance in the Champions League group stages for 11 years.

“It is a new competition for us. In the first game we played away against one of the biggest teams in the world. They dominated us and deserved to win the game,” Jokanovic said.

“We were too impressed with everything around us. We have to learn from this game.” – AFP