• Premier League

Premier League will remain unpredictable - Mourinho

ESPN staff
October 4, 2013
Jose Mourinho insists the top teams will continue to lose games © PA Photos
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Jose Mourinho says he expects the Premier League to remain unpredictable and open right until the end of the season, and that he does not expect his team to be as relentless as the side of 2004-06 until they develop the requisite "mentality".

The opening weeks of the 2013-14 campaign have been marked by a number of upsets, with the Chelsea boss insisting the top teams will continue to lose games.

"Every weekend somebody will lose points. The first one was Arsenal in the first fixture, in the second somebody lost, [Manchester] City, we and [Manchester] United dropped points in the third, we lost on the fourth, Liverpool on the fourth, Tottenham on the third. Everybody's losing," he said.

"I think the league will be open until the end. In this moment, some teams are being helped by the fixtures, because some fixtures are more difficult than others. I think Manchester United had the most difficult ones, playing at home against Chelsea, away against Liverpool and Manchester City.

"Some other teams not so much. By the end of November, beginning of December, everybody basically played everyone and then we will find someone in a better situation than others. But I believe this is a situation that could go all the way with big doubts about positions and that is good."

Mourinho says his team must develop the correct winning mentality before anything else, but was pleased with the approach they displayed in the 4-0 Champions League win away to Steaua Bucharest.

"In relation to my team, [the dropped points are] because we are not strong enough to be dominant every match and to win consecutively without any defeat or lost points. That's my point of view. I speak about my team, not the others.

"We have a lot to improve and work to do. We will have ups and downs. That's normal with this profile of squad. I'm ready for that. But after defeats, we won against Fulham, had a fantastic second half at Spurs and didn't win because [Jan] Vertonghen did fantastic.

"Getting a 1-1 at Tottenham was a good result but at 1-1 we still tried to win. This is the mentality I want and I think it's more difficult to change mentality than to change tactics. Tactics [come] after because mentality is the most difficult thing to change. And they had a good reaction.

Mourinho also expects a firm challenge against Norwich, who he does not feel will be in a relegation battle by the season's end - reserving particular praise for manager Chris Hughton.

"I like the way he coaches and organises his team. They have a good mentality. Norwich are not a team to fight for survival. They have a completely different perspective. They're very strong at home and it will be a very difficult match for us."

Mourinho, however, feels his team are in fine mood after the Steaua game, saying he could sense it in training.

"We got a good result under pressure in Bucharest and that gave us confidence. I could feel that in training session. They were showing that they breathe in a different way," he said.

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