Chelsea
manager Jose Mourinho has warned his rivals that his players will not be
taking the FA Cup lightly ahead of Saturday's tie with Bradford.
Chelsea face three crucial games in eight days, with the Bantams' visit to
Stamford Bridge, the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool
and a top of the table clash with Manchester City.
The Blues will also play Paris St Germain in the last 16 of the Champions
League next month but Mourinho wants to be in contention on all fronts, even
though he admits the commitment to all competitions may hamper the club's
Premeir League ambitions.
"To help the title race, the best thing is to lose against Bradford and to
lose against Liverpool and to lose against Paris St Germain and to play only
Premier League until the end of the season." said Mourinho, whose side have
not won the Premier League since 2010.
"But not with us. Not with our mentality, not with our way of thinking about
our job, not with Chelsea DNA.
"The other day, a coach of a big team was knocked out of the cup and he was
saying 'good, very good, this is perfect for us, now we can focus on the
other competitions'. If I lose against Bradford I don't say that. I say it's
a disgrace."
Mourinho believes fixture congestion means a quadruple is "almost
impossible", but would rather chase victory in every competition and fall
short than not try at all.
"I prefer it very, very difficult, and congested, and lots of matches, and
risk of losing everything," he added.
"But I can't choose matches, I can't choose competitions. I can't. When we
lose, we lose. But we want to win."
Chelsea's desire was evident in the midweek Capital One Cup draw at
Liverpool. Mourinho denied knowledge of a tunnel altercation between Diego
Costa and Liverpool's Jordan Henderson at Anfield, which reportedly followed
on from a heated on-field exchange.
"I have no idea about what happened," Mourinho said. "I think I was the
first one to leave (the touchline). It was too cold to stay outside."
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