Chelsea legend Lampard: Mourinho ban not to blame for Stoke defeat

The Blues went ahead through an Aleksandar Dragovic own goal, before he netted the equaliser at the other end.

Mourinho obviously felt Hazard would not offer enough protection on that side and so the Belgium winger’s creativity was sacrificed to ensure that a defence marshalled by Ramires and Nemanja Matic – acting like two centre-backs in front of the actual centre-backs – would not be breached. He thanked Chelsea fans for showing their support during the match when they clapped, sang and cheered for him at Stamford Bridge.

“This is my moment”.

He added: “Everyone, players, coaches, you have good moments and bad moments”. Today they tried to say “we want you here” and probably they want also to say to all of you “let him work, we want him, let him work”.

“It is a fantastic feeling”.

“This is what Chelsea need to recreate and that happens when you are playing and winning games”.

“Until my last day, I will give everything to them!“.

The Portuguese has continually courted controversy amid Chelsea’s poor runand was handed a one-match stadium ban alongside a £40,000 fine for his behaviour in last month’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham, a game in which he was sent to the stands. Or they have a big heart.

“From a mental point of view it was important”. “When the negative moment comes, the team shake a little bit, but today we were prepared for the negative moment because they are coming every match. We had a good reaction against Stoke City, and to concede that Dynamo goal with 15 minutes to go, I think the team was strong mentally, the team kept trying and I’m happy with that”.

“The difference today was that we had confidence in the negative moment”.

The “everyone’s against me” stance is amusing in small doses, and has been successfully employed in the past to take the spotlight off underperforming players. When the hard moment arrives, face the hard moment, don’t crumble.

The Greek side’s 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb, achieved via a 90th-minute victor, means that qualification is out of Arsenal’s hands and they are in danger of failing to reach the knockout stages for the first time in 13 seasons.

“Now we can still finish first in the group”.

“I don’t think the criticism has much effect on the players because the manager tells us what to do and everyone believes in the manager and we are doing what he tells us”.

“This is the most prestigious tournament”.

“Of course the situation isn’t great for, but we will be fighting to stay in the competition”.