Who would have though that Kevin De Bruyne would be the subject that would cause Jose Mourinho to stomp out of his first press conference of the season?
But that is what happened today as the Special One took exception to all the questions about why De Bruyne had not made the trip to Romania.
“This is fantastic because nobody asks me about Mata. You are for three weeks speaking about Mata, and now you are speaking about Kevin de Bruyne,” Mourinho said. “So you are not interested in the players that are playing? You are interested in the players that are not playing. He was not selected. It was my decision.”
With that a visibly irritated Mourinho left Frank Lampard to handle the rest of the press conference.
After the Spurs game, Mourinho has this to say about De Bruyne:
“That’s what I am waiting for, that’s what I hope. I can be unfair sometimes and make mistakes. But I always try to be honest with the players, and I always try to make my decisions based on what they do in training and games. I played Kevin against Swindon, I didn’t like. I didn’t like. What I want is the players to perform.”
After losing to Basel on matchday one, Chelsea face close to a must-win game in Romania and I wonder if by putting the press focus and attention on himself, and not the players, whether Mourinho is looking to lower the pressure on his team?