Mourinho is like a bullet-proof vest

Jose Mourinho is like a bullet-proof vest to his players because of his intense desire to shield them from criticism, according to Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa.

Mourinho is currently in the midst of a crisis at Chelsea, having overseen just three Premier League wins from the club’s opening 10 games of the season, leaving the club languishing in 15th place.

Goal understands that Roman Abramovich is desperate to back his manager, however, despite reports suggesting a defeat to Liverpool on Saturday could see him sacked, and Arbeloa has talked up the Portuguese’s man-management skills.

Mourinho has been criticised in some quarters this season for attempting to invoke a siege mentality at Stamford Bridge – the former Madrid boss embarked on a seven-minute rant following a 3-1 defeat to Southampton – but Arbeloa believes he is mislabelled because of his loyalty to his players.

“He was like a bullet-proof vest for the players,” Arbeloa told The Independent, remembering Mourinho’s first season in charge at Madrid. “If someone was picked on by the critics he was the first to defend him.

“He fought against the fixture list; against the kick-off times if he thought they went against us; or against a referee if he thought he had been unfair to Real Madrid.

“He fights for the interests of the team without bothering about the fact that in the end his image is damaged because of it – he gets labelled as the moaner.”

A number of senior Chelsea stars have struggled for form, with PFA Player of the Year Eden Hazard, midfielder Cesc Fabregas and striker Diego Costa all notably off the pace in Mourinho’s third season at the club following his return

Ronaldo: I need people to hate me

Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted he is not a "humble" person and says he needs people to hate him in order to motivate him.

The Real Madrid star has a reputation for being a vain and egotistical personality, which has seen him become a divisive figure in world football.

Ronaldo, though, says he likes the animosity he generates among fans and feels the hatred spurs him on.

"I am not the humblest person in the world, I admit that," he told The Times. "I am not fake. But I like to learn.

"I don't mind people hating me, because it pushes me. When I go to play away they are always against me, but it's good.

"You have to see the good things from the haters. I need the enemy. It is part of the business. They start screaming when I touch the ball.

"It had started already when I was 18 or 19. It is not a problem for me. It is a motivation."

The Portuguese attacker enjoyed six prosperous years at Manchester United before earning a €94 million move to Madrid.

And Ronaldo says he remains thankful to Sir Alex Ferguson for the support he showed around the death of the player's father.

Thiago Silva: PSG can do something great in Madrid

thiago Silva has backed Paris Saint-Germain to do "something great" when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The French champions moved temporarily 10 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with a 1-0 win over Rennes on Friday, with Angel Di Maria's second-half strike enough for Laurent Blanc's much-changed side.

Having played out a 0-0 draw with Madrid in Paris earlier this month, Thiago Silva has backed his side to go one better at the Santiago Bernabeu if they can improve on their performance against Rennes.

"Winning was the most important thing, even if we did not have a very good game," he said. 

"We will reflect on what there is to do better, because we have the chance to do something in Madrid.

"We have a lot of respect for this team, but we can do something great there. Even players who aren't used to playing had a good game [on Friday]."

Midfielder Blaise Matuidi believes PSG can take confidence from their record-breaking start to the Ligue 1 season as they prepare to meet Rafael Benitez's side.

"We managed to play with a different team," he said.

"We didn't have a lot of chances, but we managed with what we had.

"Today we have 32 points from 36. We can always do better, but we're happy. It really is a very good start to the season.

"We are happy, we know that this Tuesday will be another game. It will be a tough game, but this was good preparation. It's always good for confidence. We did not concede opportunities.

"Winning was most important but we know it will be a different game in Madrid."

Guardiola: Bayern had enough chances to beat Frankfurt

Pep Guardiola rued Bayern Munich 's missed chances as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Eintracht Frankfurt.

After 10 successive wins at the start of the Bundesliga season, the Bavarian side dropped points for the first time at the Commerzbank Arena on Friday.

Javi Martinez, Douglas Costa and Robert Lewandowski all passed up opportunities to find the net as Armin Veh's side defended resiliently to earn a share of the spoils.

Guardiola felt his side deserved more from the game and praised their efforts despite failing to make a breakthrough.

"Of course, the opponent can play as they please," the Spaniard told reporters afterwards. "They defended very well with depth, because we had less space.

"I think we had enough chances to win the game. A big compliment to my team and for having tried everything."

Klopp full of respect for ‘nice guy’ Mourinho

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho is a nice guy – providing you are not a journalist or a referee.

The Portuguese, already appealing a £50,000 fine and suspended one-match stadium ban for suggesting officials were “afraid” to award his side decisions following the October 3 defeat to Southampton, was this week charged with misconduct after being sent off at West Ham.

Ahead of a huge game for Mourinho, Klopp, who knows the Chelsea boss from Champions League encounters when the pair were in charge at Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, insists his public persona is not a true representation of him as an individual.

“When I was in Germany, sometimes we sent short messages (to each other),” he said.

“From my side, I am full of respect for his work. I think if you are not a journalist or a referee he can be a nice guy, and I am not one of these so we have a good talk.

“I like to meet people and he is a nice guy and he was really full of respect during the game.

“He is emotional, I am emotional but we are full of enough respect after the whistle that normal life starts again and you can talk normally about things that happen and that is what we did.

“Everything is okay with us, no problem.”

Yaya Toure praises Manchester City's crack crisis-management team

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has praised the importance of his fellow senior squad members, insisting the club have "a lot of leaders".

Manuel Pellegrini's men slipped well behind Chelsea in the Premier League title race last season, leading to some observers writing off City's core as too old during the second half of the campaign and throughout the summer.

But City have flown out of the traps this time around and are currently top of the table after 10 games, and Toure believes their clutch of long-serving players have proven their ability to manage a crisis.

Asked about the importance of himself, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero to City's success since the 2008 takeover, Toure replied: “It’s my sixth season here but it’s been about more than just us three. 

"It’s about all of us; Silva, Joe Hart, [Aleksandar] Kolarov, [Pablo] Zabaleta. Those players have been massive for the club and we’ve been together for quite a while now. 

"We know each other very well; we work in the same way. It’s very important."

And the 32-year-old Ivory Coast midfielder says this summer's new arrivals, namely Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, have helped make life even easier.

Pellegrini: I hope Mourinho can turn things around at Chelsea

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini hopes his under-fire rival Jose Mourinho can turn things around atChelsea, and believes the Premier League strugglers can still fight for the title.

Mourinho faces an uncertain future at Stamford Bridge following a poor start to the season which has left the Blues in 16th place in the table on the back of five defeats from their first 10 games.

They were also knocked out of the League Cup by Stoke City in midweek and it has been suggested the Portuguese could be sacked if his side lose to Liverpool on Saturday.

But Pellegrini, who has not always seen eye-to-eye with Mourinho, whether in Spain or England, is not only confident his old adversary can turn things around but is actively willing it to happen.

"All managers have a moment in their career, in their season, a bad moment. It's normal," the City boss said on Friday.

Matchwinner Di Maria can do even better - Blanc

The Argentine fired his side to victory against Rennes on Friday and the coach believes he is capable of even more as he continues to adapt to the team

Laurent Blanc believes Paris Saint-Germain fans can expect even more from Angel Di Maria after his match-winning display against Rennes on Friday.

The Argentine scored his third Ligue 1 goal for the capital club, netting the decisive goal in their 1-0 win in the absence of Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Blanc is happy with the summer signing's displays so far, but feels he is still adapting to life at PSG.

"Di Maria offers many opportunities for a coach, he can play everywhere, we have to put his individual qualities at the disposal of the team," he told reporters. 

"It's not easy, it takes a little time but we will get there. I think he can do better. We must be patient, he has to adapt, he is happy to be in Paris and as he is an intelligent boy, I am not worried. 

"He has been decisive already, he may improve but he is playing well."

Mourinho refuses to speak to media after defeat

Jose Mourinho led a media blackout after Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham, with the manager and his staff refusing to speak to the press.

Chelsea fell to a 2-1 defeat against West Ham at Upton Park, leaving them 15th in the Premier League table after their seventh defeat of the season in all competitions. They lost just four times in all of last campaign.

Mourinho was also sent to the stands during the loss at West Ham, with the manager reportedly attempting to speak to referee Jon Moss at half-time.

This came after Nemanja Matic’s red card in the 44th minute, with the Serbian sent off for a second bookable offence. Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas were shown yellow cards for complaining to the officials, while Chelsea assistant Silvino Louro was sent to the stands.

Mourinho joined him for the second half and barely celebrated Gary Cahill’s equaliser just before the hour mark, while the Portuguese disappeared from sight soon after Andy Carroll scored what turned out to be the deciding goal.

Mourinho then led his players and staff from the stadium directly after the match, refusing to speak to the media, nor allowing any Chelsea officials to do so.

Gossip: Suarez, Mane, Guardiola

LIVERPOOL LINKED WITH SHOCK MOVE FOR SUAREZThat’s how every single outlet will surely report this story, with flurries of Liverpool fans flocking to read about how the club are interested in Suarez, Mario of Fiorentina.

The Viola midfielder is a former target of the club from last summer under Brendan Rodgers, but Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport report that Jurgen Klopp will revisit such interest heading into the winter transfer window.

The 28-year-old eventually joined Fiorentina from Atletico Madrid last summer, but has been used sparingly in Italy and is growing disillusioned with his lack of first-team football.

PEP PREFERS LONDONThe Daily Mail seem pretty adamant that Pep Guardiola will leave Bayern Munich at the end of his current deal with the German champions next summer, with the Spaniard heading to the Premier League.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are all likely to be interested in the former Barcelona head coach, but, according to the Mail, that list of four could well be whittled down to just two. Ol’ Pep prefers a move to London over Manchester.

City had previously been rather heavy favourites to capture Guardiola’s services as soon as Manuel Pellegrini was shuffled along, but Sami Mokbel’s claims throw the proverbial spanner in the works.

However, what are the odds of Pep getting either of the two London clubs? With Arsenal currently in #WengerIn mode (for now), that leaves Chelsea. Will the Blues part with manager Jose Mourinho in order to bring in one of his historic rivals?

SAINTS JUST WANT MORE MANE
Manchester United remain interested in Sadio Mane of Southampton, but the Daily Telegraph believe the Saints will settle for no less than £40million – double United’s initial valuation.

The claims come from Jeremy Wilson, who says Mane is considered in the same bracket as Anthony Martial, four years his junior but already a £36.7million player.

Wilson also cites ‘the lack of available strikers globally’ for Southampton being able to push the price up to around £40million for the 23-year-old Senegalese international, who has been in fine form under Ronald Koeman this season.

AND THE RESTChelsea are considering a move for Boca Juniors striker Jonathan Calleri in the January transfer window…Juventus are becoming increasingly confident that they will be able to sign Chelsea’s Colombian international Juan Cuadrado on a permanent deal…Barcelona and Arsenal target Nolito has ruled out leaving current club Celta Vigo in the January transfer window. “God will decide my future. I’m not leaving in January. I’m happy in Vigo,” he said…Manchester United goalkeeper Victor Valdes is hoping to move to a rival Premier League club in January, according to his agent Gines Carvaja…Chelsea are confident of deflecting interest from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain to sign Red Star Belgrade and Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic

End of the road for Sherwood at Aston Villa

“I am telling the players it’s a must-win because we need to win a game sooner or later. This is a cup final. Forget Wembley last season, this is a cup final.”

Considering Aston Villa whimpered to a 4-0 defeat in their last cup final in May, Tim Sherwood’s latest missive was perhaps the most ill-advised yet. Packaged as a “must-win” game against Swansea, Villa looked just as lifeless and listless as they had in their previous eight Premier League games. It is now nine league games without victory.

After an insipid first half, it appeared as though a rousing half-time Timmy team-talk had inspired his players. Jordan Ayew, signed by Sherwood for £10million in the summer, stooped to head home and Villa Park erupted with relief.

It was a relief that lasted six minutes. Gylfi Sigurdsson fired home a free-kick soon after, and Andre Ayew crowned another defeat for Sherwood, his 16th – and surely last – in 28 games with three minutes remaining.

Sherwood boasted of a fully-fit squad before the game, a statement which prompted yet more questions as soon as his starting line-up for a “must-win” game was announced.

Alan Hutton, Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott and Kieran Richardson should not have formed a Premier League defence eight years ago, never mind in 2015. Gabby Agbonlahor should not still feature in top-flight games, never mind start them. Villa’s best player in Carles Gil remains on the bench. Rudy Gestede – a man backed by Sherwood as the best header in English football – is fielded, but with no wingers on the pitch. A litany of mistakes, and that was before kick-off.

Bear in mind this is a side who spent more than every other Premier League club aside from Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United this summer. The problems at Villa run as deep as they do high in the infrastructure, but that no longer excuses Sherwood’s clear unsuitability not only for the Villa job, but for any managerial post currently.

“That’s my job as a manager to take that responsibility. I’m not in the background, am I? I’m the manager, I get paid to stand at the front and take it on the chin and that’s what I’m doing.”

Now shackled by a win percentage of just 35% at Villa Park, this appears to be Sherwood’s last defence. He is a Football Man, willing to ‘front up’ and, as the leadership cliches pour out of his mouth, “take it on the chin”.

The thing is, no-one has ever doubted Sherwood’s determination. The issue is that he simply isn’t a Premier League manager; he’s a barely a Football League one.

As speculation concerning his job mounted throughout the week, Sherwood delivered a 427th embattled message: “I’m easy with it. My job doesn’t change. I still need to win a football match which I’m aware of. I’ll be taking full responsibility for the team’s performance and we’ll win tomorrow.”

Sherwood will surely therefore take “full responsibility” for his side having less shots than their opponents, less passing accuracy than their opponents, less passes than their opponents and less possession than their opponents. Oh, and less goals for their opponents.

This, after all, was a Swansea side who had not tasted victory of any kind since August. Only two sides have been on a worse run of form that Garry Monk’s men: 19th-placed Villa and rock-bottom Sunderland. If the Black Cats extend their Wear-Tyne winning run over Newcastle on Sunday, Villa replace them at the foot of the table.

Adamant war cries of “we’ll win tomorrow” are all well and good, and a clear staple of the Sherwood management theory. This does quite the disservice to Brendan Rodgers, but they are bosses built in a similar mould. Few are better equipped to lead a confident side in the midst of a good run of form, but both struggle to ignite that form in the first place.

Nick Miller asked a fortnight ago not only whether Sherwood was a good manager, but whether he was even a manager at all. What is clear is that at some point he has to back up the bluster. All signs suggest that he can’t.

“Am I going to be in the job next week? I’m not the person to ask. I feel like the club is in a hole,” Sherwood added after the game. What he fails to see is that he is the one holding the shovel.

Arsenal 2-1 Everton: Winning in the rain

Goals from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny helped Arsenal go to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Everton.

Two goals inside as many minutes in the first half from Giroud and Koscielny looked to have set the Gunners up for a comfortable evening.

A deflected effort from Ross Barkley pulled Everton back into the match just before half-time – but there was to be no equaliser for the visitors, who finished the game with 10 men as a result of Gareth Barry’s late dismissal following two yellow cards.

Giroud, preffered to Theo Walcott in attack, saw an effort come back off the crossbar before Romelu Lukaku also sent a header onto the top of the woodwork.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech made a superb late block to deny Gerard Deulofeu as the Gunners, who defeated Bayern Munich in their midweek Champions League tie, moved a point ahead of Manchester City, who play at rivals United on Sunday.

Giroud – who scored off the bench against both Watford and Bayern – was the target for all of the Gunners’ early assaults.

However, Everton, beaten 3-0 at Manchester United last weekend, remained resolute with plenty of attacking intentions themselves as the rain drizzled down on the slick Emirates Stadium pitch.

On 28 minutes, a cutback from Aaron Lennon through the six-yard box was only palmed away by Cech – but Everton defender John Stones could only hack the loose ball wide as it spun up off his shin.

After soaking up plenty of pressure in the rain, Arsenal swept into the lead on 36 minutes.

Ozil found himself in some space on the right and delivered a superb floating cross over the Everton defence for Giroud to steal in behind and send a backward header past Howard.
Before Everton could regroup, they were 2-0 down.

This time it was Santi Cazorla with the pinpoint ball in, whipping a free-kick on the left through the six-yard box – where Koscielny got in on the blind-side to nod in a second goal.

Everton were, however, quickly handed a way back into the match a minute before the break.

Barkley broke down left and drilled an angled shot goalwards from 25 yards, which took a wicked deflection off the trailing leg of Gabriel and flew past Cech.

The match remained very open in the second half as both defences were stretched on the break.

Giroud was inches away from a second goal on 68 minutes when Ozil delivered another slide-rule pass and the French forward lofted the ball over Howard, but was denied by the crossbar.

The visitors were soon close to an equaliser when Lukaku got up to head a cross from Barry onto the top of the crossbar.

As the clock ran down, Everton continued to press and Deulofeu found himself in space on the right side of a crowded penalty area – but Cech was out quickly to make a superb block.

In stoppage time, Ozil was unfortunate not to add a third for Arsenal when his low 18-yard effort struck the base of the post.

Barry was shown a second yellow card for a trip on substitute Kieran Gibbs as Everton finished with 10 men.

Chelsea boss Mourinho blasts Wilmots over Hazard Real Madrid claims

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has blasted Belgium coach Marc Wilmots over comments regarding Eden Hazard.

Wilmots has stated this week he'd like to see Hazard move to Real Madrid.

"The national team is the national team and the coach is the coach," Mourinho said.

"When Hazard is in the national team I don't open my mouth. Ever. But some people don't have the same ethics and comment when the players are at the club."

SPORT ALERT: Number of #BPL goals by their 30th birthday

Number of #BPL goals by their 30th birthday

187 - ROONEY
176 - Shearer
174 - Henry
152 - Fowler
146 - Owen

Number of #BPL goals by their 30th birthday

187 - ROONEY
176 - Shearer
174 - Henry
152 - Fowler
146 - Owen

Walcott: Arsenal can beat anyone

Theo Walcott believes other teams are starting to get wary of Arsenal as they continued their good form by beating Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

The runaway Bundesliga league leaders were defeated 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night to give Arsene Wenger’s men their first Champions League win of the season and keep alive hopes of qualification for the knockout stages.

It was a third straight victory for Arsenal, who impressed in beating both Manchester United and Watford, with the north London club now second in the Premier League table, just two points behind Manchester City.

Walcott feels inflicting a first defeat of the campaign on Pep Guardiola’s side will serve as a warning of Arsenal’s intentions.

“You play against the best in the Champions League, Bayern are a top, top class team, but we showed our class,” said the England international.

“The confidence is just flowing through the team at the moment, you can see that. Results show that and if we continue this you never now where it is going to take us, but we are looking really strong.

“We have been fantastic in the (Premier) League, the two games before in the Champions League weren’t great, but the confidence is flowing through the team and you can just sense that, and I think a lot of teams are starting to be a bit wary of that.

“That is what we want, we want to put out a message and (the result on) Tuesday night can hopefully show that.

“But this result can’t just be a one-off. We need to keep on doing it.

“However we have still got a lot to do (to qualify) and won’t get ahead of ourselves because our focus now is on the Premier League.”

Walcott added: “That (next Champions League tie in Munich) is a long way ahead, there are a lot of games coming up before that game, but again we believe we can beat anyone. If we beat Bayern, we can beat anyone.”

Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer pulled off a remarkable first-half save from Walcott’s point-blank header but was eventually beaten when he failed to collect a deep free-kick as substitute Olivier Giroud headed into an empty net before Mesut Ozil added a second in stoppage time after the German had clawed the ball back from behind the goalline.

Veteran Arsenal stopper Petr Cech also make some crucial saves, one early on from Thiago and then deflecting Robert Lewandowski’s shot over just before Giroud broke the deadlock.

Walcott is in no doubt of what the 33-year-old, signed from Chelsea in the summer, brings to the group, having made his first Champions League appearance for the Gunners.

“There have been a lot of top-quality goalkeepers, but the calibre he has brought to this club, and what he does off the pitch as well , which you guys don’t see, just everything is just perfect,” said Walcott.

“It is just his whole manner and how he approaches the game and how he helps others. He is a team man, he wants people to do well and he has a lot of belief in this team.

“He makes massive saves in crucial times of the games and that is what lifts spirits and he shows why he has been at the top of his level for many, many years.”

‘I’m not punishing Kompany’, says Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini has dismissed suggestions he is punishing his Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany for playing for Belgium.

Kompany has been on the bench for both City games since Pellegrini expressed frustration that the defender played for his country in a Euro 2016 qualifier last week.

The 29-year-old had missed City’s previous five games with a calf injury and Pellegrini had insisted he would not be fit to play during the international break.

That proved not to be the case and Pellegrini consequently left him out of the starting line-up for games against Bournemouth last weekend and Sevilla in midweek. He has still offered no guarantees that he will return for the Barclays Premier League leaders’ derby clash with Manchester United on Sunday.

But Pellegrini said: “I don’t have any problem with Vincent Kompany. I need every week to choose the XI that I think is the best for that game and when the others play they must wait, exactly the same for the players of the squad.

“I’m not punishing Vincent and I don’t have any problems in the relationship with Vincent.

“I think that after one month or five weeks without playing and without training you must be fit and you are not ready to play an important game. It’s important to work some days before he returns to the team.”

Kompany did appear as an injury-time substitute in the Champions League win over Sevilla. His late introduction did lead to some confusion as captain for the night Yaya Toure offered him the armband only for Pellegrini to stop him.

Pellegrini claims his actions have been misinterpreted by some and he was not trying to deny Kompany the captaincy, but tell Toure that he was not being substituted.

Speaking at a press conference, Pellegrini said: “It’s very easy to explain. Maybe it’s not what you (media) are expecting to listen to because maybe it can be a better history for you.

“The only thing that I thought was that Yaya was changing his armband because (he thought) he was leaving the pitch, but it was not Yaya, it was De Bruyne.”

The Kompany issue has overshadowed the build-up to the derby from City’s point of view but Pellegrini recognises the importance of the game.

The Chilean said: “It’s a very important three points. I always say that it’s a match of six points because it is a match against a team that is behind you, but it is not a game that will decide the title this year.

“At this moment we are in a good moment, we are top of the league, but that doesn’t mean that we are going to do a better season than the last one. It’s important not to make the same mistakes and try to improve every game.”

While City were at home in the Champions League in midweek, United had to travel to Moscow.

United boss Louis van Gaal feels this will benefit City but Pellegrini does not see it that way.

He said: “I don’t think that will be a key factor. Normally the key factor in the big games are the individual performance of the players.

“Maybe if the derby was tomorrow instead of Sunday it’s a small advantage, but from Wednesday until Sunday I don’t think that United will have any problem to recover.”

Nigeria’s Chinedu Obasi on trial at Sunderland

Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has confirmed the club have handed a trial to Nigeria international Chinedu Obasi.

The 29-year-old was released from German side Schalke 04 in the summer owing incessant injury woes, and the Black Cats who are aiming to revive their stuttering start in the English topflight are keen to sign him should he impress during his probationary stay at the Stadium of Light.

"There's a triallist in at the moment. He used to play for Schalke but he's been injured," Allardyce was quoted by Skysports.com.

"He's a Nigerian international and we are just seeing because he's got a reasonably good CV, in terms of where he's played before.

"He has been fraught with a bad injury, which is why he's not been fixed up with a club yet, but we'd like to see him for this week and perhaps next week.

"But I need someone who has an impact now, not in three weeks time, so it will be a difficult task I think.

“But he's here and if he can show us anything we haven't got then there maybe something we can do."

Obasi who boasts of 18 international caps with Nigeria with four goals joined Schalke in 2012 after an impressive run with TSG Hoffenheim where he scored 25 goals in 91 Bundesliga outings.

Sunderland sit at the base of the English topflight log with three points from nine games.

Mancini convinced Inter will start scoring soon

Inter head coach Roberto Mancini does not believe his team's poor run of goalscoring form will continue for much longer ahead of their Serie A game at Palermo on Saturday.

A recent slump in form has seen Inter slip down to third in the table after picking up only two points from their last three games, scoring just two goals in the process.

Indeed, Inter have only scored eight goals from as many league games in all of 2015-16 to date – a tally lower than any other team in the top 10.

Mancini, though, feels the evident lack of firepower is easily explained and thinks it will come to an end soon.

"In one of those games [Fiorentina] we were down to 10 men after half an hour, that is important," he said.

"In Genoa [against Sampdoria] we had nine shots, we only conceded on the break and then against Juventus we can accept creating a bit less.

"I am not worried. We have a striker and a captain [Mauro Icardi] who will return to scoring soon. I am certain we will start scoring goals again.

Mourinho: I'm not being funny any more

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted his current relationship with the media is over after telling the press that he will no longer be supplying "funny headlines" due to a lack of "respect".

Speaking to reporters ahead of the club's Premier League match with West Ham United on Saturday, the Blues boss fielded questions on Eden Hazard, West Ham United and improved results before turning on the media and lambasting the coverage of non-football matters.

"You are not going to get any funny headlines out of me. I treat you the same way your bosses treat me: no respect. No respect," Mourinho told a news conference.

“I am not speaking about football. Football I will expect every type of critic, even the stupid ones. [But] private life and stupid things that you bring to the light...

“I don’t like it, so we go to a different level of professional relations.”

The Blues boss also offered no guarantee that Hazard will feature against West Ham, despite the Portuguese praising the 24-year-old's performance against Dynamo.

Hazard was dropped for the Blues last Premier League match, a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, but returned to the starting line-up for the 0-0 draw in Kiev, hitting the post early in the first half.

But Mourinho suggested he did not know if the Belgium winger will feature against Slaven Bilic's side, implying that he may once again find himself on the bench.