Football
8y

Jose Mourinho rift invented by idiots - Chelsea's Nemanja Matic

Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic has strongly rejected claims he had a poor relationship with Jose Mourinho, saying the rumours were invented by "idiots."

Several Chelsea players, notably Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, bore the brunt of fans' anger before and during Saturday's 3-1 home win over Sunderland, with some suggesting -- seemingly incorrectly -- that their poor performances since winning the title last season had been a deliberate ploy to ensure Mourinho's dismissal.

Matic, who has also suffered a drop in form this season, had been under scrutiny over his commitment to Mourinho but the Serbia international told reporters in Stara Pazova that he had always given his best under the Portuguese.

"I am sorry, as we all are," Matic said at a ceremoney where he was named the best Serbian player in 2015. "I worked with Mr Mourinho for two wonderful years, so I will always have nice memories of the period.

"I read several times about how I have bad relationship with him. I'll be a bit blunt. People who wrote that are probably some idiots. Why did they pick me? I spoke about it with Mourinho and we just laughed at it.

"I tried hard at every training session, at every match and he respected it. That's why I think the journalist who wrote about me not wanting to play for him is a real idiot."

After the victory over Sunderland, Chelsea are 15th, 11 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and 20 behind league leaders Leicester City.

They qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League as group winners, though, and will face Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16.

Matic hopes there is still time to salvage the season.

"You know that we are in a precarious position in the Premier League," he said. "In the Champions League, we are really good -- we finished first in the group. We drew the strongest opponents, but you never know. We'll see what we can do.

"There are still a lot of games to play. I hope we will be able to save the season."

Guus Hiddink, who led Chelsea to FA Cup success in 2009, has returned as interim manager until the end of the season.

Matic said: "He's an experienced professional who's already worked at the club, knows the people here, knows the mentality, so I expect that we'll be able to get good results with him.

"The change of coach has come at a really difficult time, when we're in an unenviable position, but that's life."

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