The Premier League champions, Chelsea, didn’t get the perfect start to the campaign as per Jose Mourinho’s liking. The West Londoners were held 2 – 2 at the Stamford Bridge at the weekend by Garry Monk’s Swansea City.
The Blues boss didn’t seem happy with his medical staff in the dying minutes of the match. The Portuguese manager blasted his medical team for wasting time for a minor problem with Eden Hazard in the injury time.
“I wasn’t happy with my medical staff because even if you are a medical doctor or secretary on the bench, you have to understand the game,” said Chelsea manager Mourinho.
“If you go to the pitch to assist a player, then you must be sure that a player has a serious problem. I was sure that Eden didn’t have a serious problem. He had a knock and was very tired.
He added: “My medical department left me with eight fit outfield players in a counter attack after a set piece and we were worried we didn’t have enough players left.”
Garry Monk, on the other hand, was delighted to take away a point from the home stadium of the 2014-15 Premier League champions.
“For 90 minutes we were excellent, we really competed,” said the Swansea manager. “I set the team out to be offensive and showcase our talent. Of course there were moments we had to defend well, but the best chances fell to us. We got the result we deserved.
“It’s just one game, one point, but to come and do it here where we suffered last season should give us confidence. We know in this League you can get bitten, so we need to focus.”
Chelsea’s next stern test will be on this coming Friday as they face the former champions Manchester City. Pellegrini’s men were flawless in their opening fixture of the season as they defeated Tony Pulis’s West Brom.
Yaya Toure scored a brace while the club captain Vincent Kompany headed in the third. City won 3 – 0 and thus are ahead of every other side in the league after the opening game week.
Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United weren’t very impressive in their first fixture of the season but Kyle Walker’s own goal gifted them the result they had wanted. The 1 – 0 victory over Spurs would give confidence to the new signings at Old Trafford. The Italian full back Matteo Darmian was the best player in the red jersey in the early kick off on Saturday. United travel to Villa Park for their second game of the season, before meeting Club Brugge in the Champions League play-off on August 18.
Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool got the three points they were looking for. Coutinho stepped up for the Reds in the 86th minute and blasted in a magnificent shot from distance. The Merseyside giants won 1 – 0 against Mark Hughes’ Stoke City, who defeated them 6 – 1 on the last day of the last season.
Arsenal lost 2 – 0 at home to Slaven Bilic’s West Ham United. Petr Cech’s debut in goal for the Gunners was nothing short of a disaster. In the next game week, Arsene Wenger’s men travel to Selhurst Park to face Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace. It will be yet another tough test for the FA Cup holders.