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Mourinho a winner but still a failure
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-08-15 15:47

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho branded himself a failure after watching his champions offer a glimmer of hope to the rest of the Barclays Premiership at the JJB Stadium on Sunday.

It required a sensational goal from Hernan Crespo in the third minute of injury time to give Chelsea a victory that never for one moment appeared on the cards, and was ultimately rough justice on the Latics and manager Paul Jewell.

"I wasn't surprised by them [Wigan], but I was surprised by our performance," assessed Mourinho. "The difficulty is preparing them for these kind of games. I think this week I failed because I didn't prepare them, with respect, to kill off the opponent."

Mourinho, whose side swept to their first title for 50 years with consummate ease last season, looked anything but reigning kings as new-boys Wigan came close to pulling off a curtain-raising shock.

Although Chelsea's players and fans celebrated, Mourinho did not, and instead offered a consoling word in the right ear of Jewell, effectively apologising as he claimed the goal was "unfair".

He added: "We saw videos and we knew everything about them, so we were prepared - and I thought the players were too.

"We worked well in the week. Everything was good and I felt the players were ready for this, but they played better than us.

"Wigan showed they can play at this level. They fight well, are together and are well organised. They tried to close what they know Chelsea are good at and explore where they think Chelsea are not so good.

"They were well prepared, but we have to play better. To win we need to play better than this."



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