Mourinho pleased by early progress

16 July 2013 23:17

Jose Mourinho believes he is building something special at Chelsea just a week after beginning work with his players at the start of his second spell as Blues boss.

The Portuguese returned to Stamford Bridge last month and will take charge of Chelsea for the first time in nearly six years in Wednesday's pre-season friendly with Singha All-Stars at Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium.

Only those involved in the Confederations Cup - David Luiz, Oscar, Juan Mata, Fernando Torres, Cesar Azpilicueta and John Obi Mikel - are still to join up with Mourinho's Chelsea after goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer flew in from London.

"The group is good," said Mourinho, who led Chelsea to back-to-back Barclays Premier League titles in his first spell from June 2004 to September 2007.

"And the other six guys, when they come, I think they will find something good.

"When they come I think they will smell it immediately that we are building something and it will be easy for them to come in."

Mourinho insisted those players remaining from his first spell - Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, among them - receive no favouritism, but merely set an example to the new talent in the Blues squad.

"It's normal after one week that I don't see any more 'the old' and 'the new' because we are getting into the dynamics of the squad," Mourinho said.

"The good thing with my previous players is that what I see makes me very happy - I don't see them any different to before.

"And when I see Terry, Cole, Lampard, the way they are working at (age) 32, 32, 35, it's easy for me to control the group and it's easy for me to demand the same from the other guys.

Source: PA