SOCCER-ENGLAND/CHELSEA Mourinho praises medical staff but Carneiro not on bench

Record ID: 144025

  • Title: SOCCER-ENGLAND/CHELSEA Mourinho praises medical staff but Carneiro not on bench
  • Date: 14th August 2015
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 14, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, SAYING: "I cannot say it is crucial (to beat Manchester City on Sunday). I cannot say it is decisive, I cannot say it is very, very, very important. But, two title contenders, three points. So, if you can get three (points) and your opponent zero, then it is im
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5YBC2GSQXHRPAYJM7Y440CE7X
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said he has "fantastic" medical staff but the club's first team doctor Eva Carneiro will not be on the bench against Manchester City on Sunday (August 16) following her treatment of an injured player in a Premier League match.
    British media claimed this week Mourinho had banned Carneiro and physiotherapist Jon Fearn from the bench, training sessions and the team hotel after they treated Eden Hazard during 10-man Chelsea's Premier League draw against Swansea City last weekend.
    "First of all, I want to say that I have a fantastic medical department, with a top leader in Dr. Paco Biosca, with more than a dozen professionals, between doctors and physios and masseurs and specialists of different areas and I have a very good relation with them," Mourinho said at a news conference on Friday (August 14).
    "As they tell me all the time, they were never praised so much as they were with me over the last couple of years. Because normally, with managers, when things go well they keep to themselves, and when they have problems with injuries and (issues) related to the medical department, that is when they speak about the medical department. I praise them lots of times in this couple of years and they don't forget that, I don't forget that, and, as they also told me yesterday, we had disagreements during these periods, we need disagreements to improve."
    "We work together, we improve together, and that is the way we do things. And this is something I want to make very, very, very clear," added the Portuguese.
    Mourinho said his medical staff were "impulsive and naive" in a TV interview after the match as Chelsea were reduced to nine men in stoppage time despite both the referee and player calling for the doctor.
    Despite criticism of his decision this week, Mourinho is sticking to his guns and both Carneiro and Fearn will not be on the bench for the match against Manchester City.
    Mourinho says he takes full responsibility for this decision, and left the door open for both physios to return to the bench at a later date.
    "The bench is my responsibility? Yes. And when you ask me, obviously it is my decision, it is nobody else's decision. Every week I face a decision about the bench," he said.
    "Jon Fearn and Dr. Carneiro will not be on the bench. That doesn't mean that Sunday (against Manchester City) is the rest of our season, or the rest of our careers. They will not be on the bench on Sunday. That is clear. It is my decision, my responsibility. But that doesn't mean that they cannot be in the future. If you want to talk to me about football, I am here, if you want to talk about other issues, I am not here," said a defiant Mourinho.
    Champions Chelsea travel to last season's runners up Manchester City but Mourinho said the absence of Carneiro and Fearn will not have any impact on the result at the Etihad.
    He also responded to accusations that he is a ruthless manager, arguing he has a good relationship with most of the people he works with.
    "I am far from being ruthless. Far. Far. I have a fantastic relation with almost everyone that works with me. I am open to mistakes, I am open to communication, I am open to dialogues, I am open to critics. I make mistakes and, as some people in my medical staff were saying yesterday to me, we work together, we improve together. So I am far from being ruthless," he said.
    Despite much of the news conference focussing on Mourinho's criticism and demotion of his medical staff, attention did turn briefly towards the first big encounter of the English Premier League season, with Chelsea's visit to Manchester City.
    City set the early standard with a commanding 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion in their opening Premier League fixture but the Chelsea boss played down the significance of Sunday's game in the race for the title.
    "I cannot say it is crucial (to beat Manchester City on Sunday). I cannot say it is decisive, I cannot say it is very, very, very important," said Mourinho.
    "But, two title contenders, three points. So, if you can get three (points) and your opponent zero, then it is important. I am not going to say that the game is not important. But, for sure, I don't say that the game decides anything for the winner, or anything for the loser."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register