The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Skipper sticks up for young Blues after criticism from Mourinho
Stamford Bridge captain Cesar Azpilicueta has defended homegrown Chelsea players Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount following criticism from Jose Mourinho in the wake of their 4-0 hammering at Manchester United.
Former Blues boss Mourinho, in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports, questioned the wisdom of including Mount and Abraham in the starting XI as Frank Lampard’s tenure as Chelsea head coach began in defeat.
Mourinho’s reasoning centred on the duo’s lack of top-flight experience when the likes of N’Golo Kante, Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso were left on the bench on Sunday.
Azpilicueta said: “If they are here it is because they deserve to be. We trust in them. All the boys, they train to play for the Chelsea first team since they were young and now we have a massive opportunity to create a fantastic group, to learn from every game. Obviously everyone would like to start in a better way but we have to become stronger from it.”
Abraham and Mount started well at Old Trafford, the former rattling the post, and Chelsea were perhaps unfortunate to be trailing at the break following Marcus Rashford’s penalty.
However, the visitors unravelled once Anthony Martial had doubled United’s lead, with further strikes from Rashford and substitute Daniel James adding gloss to the scoreline.
Azpilicueta called on Chelsea to quickly draw a line under what happened ahead of a trip to Istanbul to face domestic rivals Liverpool in tomorrow’s Super Cup final, adding: “We know we can improve.”