JOSE MOURINHO HAS taken a swipe at Steven Gerrard as the Chelsea manager slammed claims of a rift with his axed captain John Terry.
Mourinho left Terry on the bench for Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in their Champions League opener at Stamford Bridge, following the club’s worst start to the season since 1988 continued at the weekend, when they were defeated 3-1 by Everton.
LA Galaxy midfielder Gerrard, working as a television pundit for the Chelsea match, claimed Mourinho’s treatment of Terry must be due to a fracturing of their relationship.
“There’s certainly a bit of friction behind the scenes because for me, you play John Terry week in, week out, he’s your captain,” Gerrard told BT Sport.
Terry played the full 90 minutes in all but one of Chelsea’s league and Champions League games last season, helping Jose Mourinho to his third league title with the club, and the first of his second spell in charge.
But Mourinho was quick to dismiss Gerrard’s claims, despite not offering an explanation for Terry’s absence..
“Steven is wrong,” Mourinho said.
“I like him very much and respect him. I think he feels the same way but he is wrong because we have no problems.”
