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London's team coach Jose Mourinho admitted after Saturday's 0-2 loss in the English football championship match that he was expecting trouble before the game.
"We knew what problems 'Liverpool' players would cause us and how they would attack. However, I hoped that we would be able to withstand the first 15-20 minutes and this would give us solidity, confidence in our strengths," shared the eccentric "Chelsea" strategist from Portugal J. Mourinho.
"But Rafa (Benitez, 'Liverpool' coach - ed.) is not a fool, and I am not a magician. We could not do the impossible. R. Benitez knows how to best utilize his attackers - Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt. P. Crouch can win high balls, and D. Kuyt is solid, can stop the ball with his chest and wait for his teammates," said Jose Mourinho. - "You cannot play in the Premier League without defenders, there are a lot of tall guys to fight with."
"They ('Liverpool' - ed.) played well and deserved the victory, but we also showed well maintaining the intrigue in the second half of the match. I think we can recover from these setbacks. Even before the game, we knew that if we were not strong, it would be very difficult," admitted the 'Chelsea' coach.
Without any healthy nominal center-backs in his lineup, J. Mourinho had to rely on right-back Paulo Ferreira and midfielder Michael Essien in Saturday's match. However, none of these players were able to even stop the powerful 'Liverpool' attacking machine.
