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Mourinho coy on Terry selection

Cape Town - Jose Mourinho has refused to guarantee John Terry, and the five other players dropped by the Chelsea manager against Maccabi Tel Aviv, would return to the team for Arsenal's visit on Saturday.

Chelsea down Maccabi in style

"I don't know. Tomorrow I will start thinking about it. Everything was focused on this game. Tomorrow I will watch Arsenal," Mourinho said.

"I prefer to have problems because players have good performances."

Mourinho was in feisty form following Chelsea's much-needed first home win of the season as he slammed his critics in the media for a short-sighted view of the team's recent problems.

After winning the Premier League and League Cup last season, the Blues had made their worst start to a season since 1988 with one win from their first five Premier League matches.

But Mourinho said the questioning of his reign was ridiculous.

"It is human nature. You like people up and you like people down. (Wayne) Rooney was a disaster and then he broke the record and suddenly he is the greatest player in the history of English football," Mourinho said.

"You think in a different way. It is a different industry and it is an era when the pundits get big money to have their opinions.

"I'm a fantastic manager when I win matches and a fantastic manager when I lose matches.

"I'm not there waiting for my name to be sung by the fans. But I prefer it to them singing 'Mourinho out'. It shows they don't have short memories and they don't read the papers.

"It shows they know this club won four Premier Leagues; three with me and one with my team (after Mourinho left). So let's support this guy and we have a chance to win a fifth."

Despite Mourinho's typically confrontational stance, there was also a hint of relief that Chelsea had steadied the ship.

"When everything goes against you recently, and after five minutes of a game you have to win you miss a penalty, it is a great test of the character, so it was good that we showed we could cope. I'm happy with the performance," Mourinho said.

"I know what you are thinking. We didn't beat Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, but we beat a team that deserved to be here.

"I can imagine after a defeat how difficult it would be for everyone, especially two days before a game against Arsenal. It is very important."

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