Jose Mourinho expects Southampton to stick to their tried and tested game plan when they travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The Chelsea boss has accused a number of teams of parking the bus on their visits to London but is confident Saints counterpart Mauricio Pochettino will rely on the free-flowing style which has served them well this season. Southampton, who have won five and drawn three of their last nine games, are currently just one place outside the Champions League spots in the Barclays Premier League. Three of their forward players - Jay Rodriguez, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert - have earned England recognition on the back of Saints fine form and Mourinho is looking for more of the same in front of the Sky Sports cameras. Im expecting them to play according to their identity, he said. Do we allow them to do that? Do we allow them to play comfortably, the way they like to do it? Thats another point. But in their minds, I think theyll try to be what they are. And Mourinho was at pains to point out his personal record against Pochettino will count for nothing when the pair square up again on Sunday. During his time in charge of Real Madrid, the Portuguese came out on top each of the four times his side faced Pochettinos Espanyol. For the good and for the bad, I dont believe in this, he said. My record against him was me as a Real Madrid manager and him as an Espanyol manager. If the record was in his favour, it would be a big surprise. For the record to be in favour of a Real Madrid manager is normal. Hes a very good manager and is doing very well.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 20:50:39 +0000
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