Jose
Mourinho has told his Chelsea players they are far from 'untouchable' as he
prepares to unleash Diego Costa on his former club Porto.
The Blues boss memorably described the nucleus of his first Chelsea side as
permanent names on the team-sheet, but believes his under-performing players
are short of that status this term.
"Untouchables in football, only consistency can give you that status," said
Mourinho, whose champions are 15th in the Premier League table after two
wins in the opening seven games following Saturday's 2-2 draw at Newcastle.
"In this moment, we have fantastic players, the players that gave us the
title last season.
"But football is about today, it's not about yesterday. In football, you
have to be consistent in your performance, in your emotion.
"To be a winner, you don't need to win all the time, but to be a winner you
must have a strong mentality every game, every day. At this moment, I don't
have untouchables."
Mourinho had a strong core to his Premier League and Capital One Cup-winning
side last term, which included Costa.
The striker is two matches into a three-match domestic suspension, but is
available for Tuesday night's Champions League Group G clash at Estadio do
Dragao.
Mourinho will attempt to put sentiment to one side against Porto, whom he
guided to the 2003 UEFA Cup and the 2004 Champions League titles.
It is not his first return - he made an immediate Champions League return in
the 2004-05 season with Chelsea - but he is honoured to feature in the
Portuguese club's museum.
Mourinho visited the museum prior to undertaking his media duties on the eve
of the match, reminding him of his affinity to the club.
"When you are lucky to be part of it, when you are not just a simple
visitor, you are somebody that did something that deserve to be part of that
museum, it's very emotional," the 52-year-old added.
"You realise that you did something important, something time will not
delete.
"It's the kind of visit that makes my heart a bit softer and I have now to
go to the hotel and make it hard again, because now I have a big game."
There are numerous sub-plots in the encounter, not least the one which sees
Mourinho face Iker Casillas, the goalkeeper with whom he had a troubled
relationship at Real Madrid.
Mourinho interrupted the first question on the subject.
"If you're going to ask me about Casillas, I'm going to greet him at the
beginning and the end. No more questions about it," he said.
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