Jose: Old boys working like animals

JOSE MOURINHO says his Chelsea old guard are working “like animals” — and scaring the new boys to death.

Veterans Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole have set the fiercest pace in pre-season training so far.

The Special One, who kicks off his second stint as Blues boss in Thailand today, grinned: “The good thing with my previous players is that what I see makes me very happy.

“They know me. They know that I’m not going to make their lives easy, that I’m going to give them absolutely nothing.

“And because they know me, from the first day they never questioned that situation and worked hard.

“I honestly don’t see them any different to before.

“And when I see Terry, Cole, Lampard, the way they are working at 32, 32 and 35-years-old, it’s easy for me to demand the same from the other guys.

“I can say ‘Look at them. They don’t miss one minute — they are training like animals’.

“So you, who are 18, 19, 21, don’t tell me you can’t do it’.

“It’s so good for me because they are ready! It’s fantastic.

“After a week I’m still the Happy One because my boys are working fantastically.”

Mourinho admits he is still getting to know a lot of his squad but has been boosted by what he has seen so far.

The Portuguese added: “The players need to know me, I need to know them. This tour is fantastic for all of us to have the chance to get to know each other.

“The boys who were at the Confederations Cup, Fernando Torres, David Luiz, Oscar, Juan Mata and Cesar Azpilicueta, when they come they will smell immediately that we are doing something and it will be easy for them to come in.”

Mourinho, 50, is so content he has already announced he intends to play a 4-2-3-1 system next season — the only problem being his abundance of riches in most positions.

He added: “It is my favourite system. Sometimes I will change the triangle, with one in front of the defenders and two players up and sometimes I play with double midfielders and a No 10.

“And this is a team where we have not one or two, but three or four players who like to be a No 10.

“We have many more options than Chelsea had in the last year and these are crucial positions for me.

“I like these players to play with high intensity, so to have so many for three positions is brilliant.

“But I could change it, depending on the result. If we’re losing, I might need to have two pure strikers.”

Mourinho’s new-look Chelsea will be unveiled today in a friendly against Singha All-Stars in Bangkok’s National Stadium. And he has named two sides — one for each half.

Manchester United lost 1-0 to Singha All-Stars on Saturday in David Moyes’ first game in charge.

Mourinho said: “Winning is part of a culture. If you can do that even in friendly matches, we have to do it.

“I don’t like to lose, the players don’t like to lose. They are competing fantastically in training sessions and against several players, so my boys will try to get a result.

“To lose is not a drama. It doesn’t change anything in the teams but it’s not nice.

“It’s not the most important thing to get a result but we want to win.”