Jose Mourinho has spoken about the fans’ backing of him during Chelsea’s Champions League victory against Dynamo Kiev, with supporters chanting his name and showing their support for the manager despite the London outfit’s awful season thus far.
Despite Mourinho having faced criticism from the club’s fans due to Chelsea’s incredibly poor run of form, those who packed out Stamford Bridge to watch the club overcome their Champions League rivals chose to highlight how, despite them regularly being disappointed by what his squad has had to offer this season, they still stood behind their manager. Mourinho spoke kindly of the club’s fans in the post-match press conference, saying: “I was always impressed when I saw Liverpool at Anfield, when we beat them 4-1 and, in the last 10 minutes, Anfield was singing for that team. I was impressed. With Chelsea, I think this is my moment. It was amazing.”
He continued: “The club should be proud of their fans. I can only thank them by giving everything I have, to thank them for this reaction. “The moment, I come back to the club and we played the first match at home against Hull City, the way the stadium welcomed me was amazing.
“But it’s not comparable to today. Today comes in a moment where the results are not good. It comes in a moment where you are asking for my “end”. The fans read newspapers. They watch TV. They listen to pundits, commentators, opinions, read blogs, and this was quite unbelievable what they tried to say today. Today they tried to say: “We want you here”. And, probably, they want to say: “All of you, let him work. We want him. Let him work.”
Mourinho also spoke about how some younger fans of the club may have difficulties admitting that they’re Chelsea fans after watching the team underperform this season, saying: “In good moments you see the street full of people celebrating in a buzz. It’s easy for kids to go to school in a Chelsea shirt when Chelsea win every match. It’s not easy for 11 or 12-year-old kids to go to school with a Chelsea shirt when Chelsea are losing matches, when probably they are bullied by other kids whose teams are winning.”
Chelsea fans have been forced to endure a run of disappointing results from their club this season, though many will be hoping that the match against Dynamo Kiev will be a turning point. While Chelsea were certainly the favourites to overcome their significantly less capable Ukrainian rivals, their form led to many speculating that their players could see themselves facing another humiliating upset. The fans’ vocal backing of them to overcome this slip in form may well stand to contribute to them working their back to their best from this point on.
