• Manager protesting over Chelsea playing twice in two days
• 'If they think the game is not important, why should I?
José Mourinho intends to select a side comprised of players from Chelsea's development squad for next month's Capital One Cup tie at Arsenal in protest at the fixture being scheduled two days after the Premier League visit of Manchester City to Stamford Bridge.
The fourth-round tie at the Emirates has been confirmed for Tuesday, 29 October, with Tottenham, who had to play on Sunday and Tuesday this week, hosting Hull City in the competition on the Wednesday night. Policing demands mean the two north London clubs cannot stage games on the same evening though Mourinho, whose side visit Newcastle the following weekend, has been left furious by the Football League's scheduling of the fixture.
"My thought is that I have to make a decision, and my answer is the Under-21 team will have a very good experience in the Capital One Cup," said Mourinho, who claimed the League Cup twice during his first spell at the club and has long recognised the competition as a means of injecting momentum into a campaign. "If people think it's not an important game, why should I think it's an important game? If it's an important game you give time for the players to rest, equal conditions to both teams. If the organisation thinks the game is not important, why should I?
" But we play Sunday against Man City and we play Tuesday against Arsenal. When the people that decide the fixtures play us on the Tuesday after a Sunday match and Arsenal play on the Saturday (against Crystal Palace), it's something that I have to accept, because I have no other option, but I have to prioritise. The league is more important. After that we go to Newcastle, too, and probably it will be a good chance for the kids to play a good match."
Chelsea currently have over two teams of young talent on loan at other clubs, either domestically or abroad, meaning their development side is effectively likely to see players included from Under-19 level. "But unless the conditions are the same for everyone, this is something I have to think about," he added.
"Arsenal versus Chelsea, if you consider that to be an important game at an important stage of the competition, last 16 going into the quarter-finals, then we either both play Sunday and Tuesday, or Sunday and Wednesday. But to make Chelsea play on Sunday afternoon and then on Tuesday, it's because they're not interested in Chelsea going there at maximum strength. If they don't want it, probably we don't either."
The Football League, who determines the scheduling of the Capital One Cup, feels it has been placed in an impossible position on the matter given that the London derby at the Emirates and Manchester City's tie against Newcastle have been selected by Sky Sports for live television coverage.
That has necessitated games to be played on the Tuesday and the Wednesday and, in the previous round, City had been forced to play Wigan just 48 hours after the Manchester derby in the Premier League. To that end, and with the added complication of policing arrangements in London with Spurs also to play at home in midweek, the League felt it would be fairer if City were granted an extra day's rest this time around.
via Football: Chelsea | theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/27/jose-mourinho-chelsea-protest
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