Mourinho fears God, not Ferguson

JOSE MOURINHO has revealed he fears nothing and nobody in the world of football – the only thing he is afraid of in life is God.

The Chelsea manager made his admission as he agreed with Manchester United skipper Roy Keane that Alex Ferguson’s team had lost the “fear factor” that used to be associated with them.

Mourinho, who takes his team to Villa Park for today’s lunchtime clash with David O’Leary’s Aston Villa, has respect for his football opponents, but no fear.

“Roy Keane knows English football and he knows Manchester United very well and so I am sure he is simply saying what he feels,” said Mourinho.

“When United are my opponents I say I respect them, I don’t say I fear them. They have a fantastic squad and a wonderful football team who when they play well they play really amazing football.

“The only thing I is fear God. I am religious, I don’t go to church every day, but I believe in what I believe. I am afraid of what we cannot control, so the only thing I am afraid of is health and happiness because that is what you cannot control.

“My first objective in life is for the people I love to be healthy and happy. In football, what is there to be afraid of? If you lose you go home and then train the next day.

“I don’t fear criticism or losing, you can do only your best and work hard every day with good ambition and a good attitude, then go home and sleep well at the end of the day because you know you did everything.

“That is why I admire England goalkeeper David James this week. He showed a fantastic attitude after his mistake against Austria. He went straight on television and admitted he’d made a mistake but said he was ready to play in the next game.

“Mr Eriksson decided not to play him but he will be back playing for Manchester City this weekend and you can almost be sure he will play well.”

Chelsea have made an unbeaten start to the Premiership campaign and Mourinho also dismissed suggestions his team were unattractive.

He said: “How many teams in England play with more style than us? In my opinion just Arsenal. We need time and we need to work, but we have no time at the moment.”

Mourinho is set to rest some of his international stars for the Villa game as he has one eye on Tuesday’s Champions League clash at PSG. Wayne Bridge is likely to sit the Premiership match out and Damien Duff may have to continue to wait for his chance.