Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho revealed he banned television from the team’s hotel and bus journey to Wembley, with main title rivals Manchester City playing Liverpool before their Capital One Cup final date with Tottenham.
Despite that, one member of his backroom staff still managed to give the Anfield game away.
But Mourinho says City’s 2-1 defeat at Liverpool does not mean the end of their title hopes and he is not ruling out a late run from Manchester United either.
“It’s in the hands of everyone,” Mourinho said after the 2-0 win that keeps the club’s hopes of a treble this season alive.
“We have lots of difficult matches to play. City have difficult matches.
“United are third, right? Nine points (behind)? They are in the title race too. Liverpool (beating Manchester City), I predicted that.”
“I knew that was an impossible mission, but I didn’t want the television on in the hotel or on the bus.
“I told them (the players) I didn’t want any kind of manifestation or disappointment if City scored in the last minute, or Liverpool won. I wanted complete silence.
“We were successful on that. But one member of my staff jumped up in the bus. Silvino (Louro, an assistant first-team coach). I wanted to kill the guy. He broke the rule.”
Mourinho was able to celebrate his 21st trophy in 15 years as a manager, and he admits it is the thrill of lifting more silverware that keeps him going.
“It’s difficult for me to live without titles,” Mourinho said. “I need to feed myself with titles. This is important for me and the boys. For the club it’s one more cup, but it’s the first one of a new team.
“You have Petr Cech, John Terry, Didier Drogba and, after that, everybody belongs to a new generation of players. So, as a team, very, very important.”
