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The extravagant head coach of London, Jose Mourinho, criticized the team leader Frank Lampard's critics at a press conference after Tuesday's 2-0 victory in the UEFA Champions League against Bremen's "Werder", stating that he is only guilty of being a great player.
Lately, the English media has been criticizing F. Lampard for his poor performance in the World Cup, where he did not score a single goal and missed a crucial penalty kick against Portugal. The media also constantly mentioned that F. Lampard is still in poor form.
In Saturday's Premier League match against Charlton, F. Lampard once again failed to score a penalty kick, so in Tuesday's game against "Werder", this duty was entrusted to the team's newcomer Michael Ballack. The German did not make a mistake and "Chelsea" celebrated their first victory in the A group matches.
However, at the press conference after the match, Mourinho attacked the journalists who asked about his team leader.
"He is only guilty because in the past ten years you did not have a player like him," Mourinho angrily retorted. "He is guilty for scoring so many goals. He is guilty for playing so many matches. He is guilty because he gives 100 percent in every game for Chelsea or the England team. He is guilty for being such a good player."
"I think you should treat him more respectfully," Mourinho said, and left the press conference.
Earlier at the press conference, Mourinho stated that after F. Lampard's failure in the Saturday match, he wanted another player to take a crucial penalty kick.
However, the Portuguese added that F. Lampard will still be the first on the list of penalty takers.
Mourinho was pleased with the victory brought by Michael Essien and M. Ballack's goals, but complained about the "undeserved" yellow cards.
"My players play very honorably. In England, they do not receive yellow cards," added Mourinho.
Mourinho emphasized that "Chelsea" was the only favorite in the tournament that received so many yellow cards on Tuesday.
However, he said that in a tough group, where on Tuesday "Barcelona" crushed Sofia's "Levski" 5-0 at home, he will not spare yellow carded players in the match against the Bulgarian champions.
"Against "Levski" I need three points," the coach said.
Meanwhile, Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf was pleased with his players' performance, but doubted the penalty kick awarded by the referee.
"Not many teams can defeat 'Chelsea' at their home. We do not have the right to go to London and expect to win, even though we played well," said the German.
"We made two mistakes, 'Chelsea' scored two goals," the coach added. "At this level, you cannot afford to make mistakes."
