Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has fired his first shot at Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel, claiming it's not as hard to manage at Stamford Bridge as everyone makes it out to be.
The Blues haven't been in the Premier League title picture for a while now, with former bosses Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard both failing to secure anything better than Champions League qualification, and now the job has been left to Tuchel.
Chelsea's hopes of climbing up the table would be boosted with a victory against Spurs on Thursday, and Mourinho is seemingly doing his utmost to increase the pressure on Tuchel ahead of the London derby.
"I don't think it's very difficult to coach at Chelsea because I was champion three times, (Carlo) Ancelotti was champion, Antonio Conte was champion," he said (via Sky Sports News). "It cannot be very, very difficult because we win titles there.
"I believe Chelsea always has great players and great squads and good coaches are happy to work with these clubs and with players that give you a very good opportunity to be successful and to win titles."
A large part of the perceived challenge of managing at Chelsea is the trigger-happy approach taken by owner Roman Abramovich, who has a track record of cutting ties with his managers almost as soon as things start to go wrong.
"Of course a coach needs time and needs stability and is a very good thing to feel stability," Mourinho continued.
"I'm not saying stability helps you sleep, I'm saying that stability gives you a different way of thinking, and you are not just thinking about today, you are also thinking about tomorrow, you are also thinking (about) the future.
"That's the way it is. It's Mr Abramovich's club, and you have to understand that it's up to him to make his decisions.
"In my case, I was there in two different periods, and I was champion in two different periods, and I'm very happy to have been there before and have that opportunity."
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Source : 90min