Mourinho blasts Carvalho in front of ‘the family’

Simon Johnson

Mourinho reacted furiously to Carvalho, who fumed to a Portuguese newspaper this week about his omission for the game with Wigan last week.

Mourinho is understood to have not only fined the defender, but gave Carvalho a public dressing down in front of his teammates including Essien.

Surprisingly Mourinho reflects on the situation with relish as he feels it has given him the perfect stage to show Essien that dissent will not be tolerated.

“I love these problems. You can imagine Essien on his first day arriving in the Chelsea dressing room, his first meeting and the manager kills Ricardo Carvalho in front of everybody. These are the problems a leader likes to have.

“The private conversation I had with Carvalho on the Saturday before the Wigan game was not enough and he had a reaction to the world that everybody could read. My disappointment is just that. He couldn’t say it to my face and I was reading it in Hungary on the internet.

“I felt why not deal with it in front of the family.

It was good because if Essien doesn’t need an IQ test, he understands me from the first moment. I gave Carvalho no chance to apologise. He wanted to but I gave him no chance. My meeting is my meeting. I speak and I only let people speak who I want to speak.”

It is clear that Carvalho has done himself more harm than good after Mourinho confirmed that he won’t start against Arsenal tomorrow.

But Mourinho insists his decision to criticise his management is not the only reason the former Porto defender will find himself on the bench at best. Mourinho simply believes William Gallas and John Terry are a better partnership having boasted the impressive record of conceding just two goals in 20 games when they played together last season.

He added: “I told Carvalho this stat on the Saturday and that is pure

mathematics. You don’t have to be clever to understand. It is not philosophy, it is a statistic so I was very surprised when he said what he said. He won’t play, Terry and Gallas will start. I don’t know if he will be in the squad, I have to think.

“He is still a very important player. He has no chance of leaving especially after the interview because I cannot let a player go when a player does this. If I do this it is easier for a player to think ‘if I want to leave I just give an interview against the manager’.

“So he has no chance to leave and no offer can take him from Chelsea. He will have plenty of time to understand me.”

Carvalho has already apologised for venting his frustration at missing out at Wigan.

“It was a mistake and I have apologised to the group for saying the things I did. I want to play for Chelsea and be part of the group.

“Like all footballers I want to play every game and I am disappointed when I do not do so. I am aware of, and accept fully, my responsibilities to the team and the group and understand what this means at a club like Chelsea where there are good players in each position and competition for places. Now all I want to do is train hard and fight for my place.”