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Charismatic London coach Jose Mourinho remains calm. Although his team, which has recently been demonstrating not such powerful play, leads its closest pursuer in the English Premier League with a relatively small 7-point gap, the Portuguese claims to be confident that the real fight for the champions' title is already over.
Speaking to journalists, one of the best strategists of the old continent also added that what bothers him the most is not the improved game of his opponents, but the world-scaring bird flu, which was recently discovered in a Scottish fishing village in the UK.
"The bird flu pressures me," Mourinho insists, not letting on that he is joking. "I'm serious. The problem in Scotland causes me stress. It's not funny and it scares me more than football matters. Football cannot be compared to life, and bird flu has become a real drama for me lately. I will have to buy a protective mask."
Talking about the decreasing advantage and the problems it causes, the coach said: "Pressure depends on the individual. If you asked Claude Makelele is he feels pressure, the Frenchman would say no, because he played for Real Madrid and won many awards. But if you asked a young player who has never been in such a situation and has not become a champion, the answer would probably be different."
"Man Utd" has won the last 8 league matches and, taking advantage of "Chelsea's" stumbles, has brought some intrigue back to the battle for the first place. However, in order to eliminate the remaining 7-point advantage, Sir Alex Ferguson has very little time - only six remaining season matches.
"Man Utd" has been playing very well lately. Eight consecutive wins? Fantastic. But to say that I am worried is untrue. I am not satisfied with the lost points, because we should have beaten "Fulham" or "Birmingham". On the contrary - I am concerned that our lead should be the "Man Utd" club.
"I think Sir Alex Ferguson is an optimist, otherwise he would not have been able to stay in his position for so long. I have not spent as much time in the job, but I also have reasons to be optimistic because I can win a fourth consecutive champions' title. Now the only difference is that the match between "Chelsea" and "West Ham" will be watched by Manchester United fans with a faster heartbeat.
Meanwhile, we can remain calm watching the match between "Arsenal" and "Man Utd" or even skip them altogether, as the future depends only on the results of "Chelsea." In general, I would like to find myself in such a situation next year as well, as I have not yet had the opportunity to talk about a serious fight for the champions' titles."
