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| Confident Mourinho is not worried by first loss [GALLO/GETTY] |
Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho's fixation with playing three up front will come under further scrutiny at home to Werder Bremen on Wednesday following Sunday's 1-0 defeat by AC Milan.
The Champions League Group B clash gives the Italian champions an immediate opportunity to forget the derby loss, their first defeat under Mourinho, and to work on their malfunctioning forward line.
Mourinho, whose side won 2-0 at Panathinaikos in their opening group game, won two Premier League titles at Chelsea playing with two wide players supporting a forward and hoped he could replicate the formation at Inter.
Shaky start
He bought wingers Mancini and Ricardo Quaresma to complement striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic but so far the scheme has only worked in patches and failed against Milan.
They were isolated from the midfield and barely threatened in the first half, while the introduction of strikers Adriano and Julio Cruz meant Inter lost any real shape.
Inter prospered playing 4-4-2 under previous coach Roberto Mancini and Italian newspapers have made their first daring attempts at criticising Mourinho, but he is having none of it.
Blame coach
"When we win it's thanks to the players, but if we lose it's my fault.
"We have lost a match but for me there's nothing to worry about," the confident Portuguese said.
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| Head coach Thomas Schaaf feels the team are finally finding form [GALLO/GETTY] |
Werder improving
A dreadful display of finishing meant Werder could manage no better than a goalless draw at home to Anorthosis Famagusta first up but their forwards have certainly improved since.
The last two Bundesliga games have brought 10 goals for Thomas Schaaf's side, who followed up an incredible 5-2 win at Bayern Munich with a 5-4 thriller at home to Hoffenheim on Saturday.
"The goals will give us self-confidence but we're not naive," Schaaf said after Saturday's victory at the Weserstadion.
"We know we'll have to improve a great deal defensively when we play Inter."
Werder have no significant injury problems, with in-form midfielder Mesut Ozil likely to shrug off a slight knee problem in time to play.
Chelsea cautious
Chelsea take a trip into the unknown when they visit surprising Romanian debutants CFR Cluj with both teams looking to extend their winning starts in Champions League Group A on Wednesday.
While Chelsea's 4-0 win over Girondins Bordeaux in their opening match was always likely, Cluj's 2-1 victory over AS Roma in Rome in their first ever match in the competition proper provided a major upset and alerted Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to the potential dangers awaiting his side in Romania.
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| Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari will be taking no chances against Cluj [GALLO/GETTY] |
'Total respect'
"We will treat them with total respect.
"Any team that can win 2-1 at Roma will be dangerous in this competition," Scolari said on the night two weeks ago soon after hearing the result.
Chelsea, last season's beaten finalists, are taking nothing for granted in their first match against Romanian opposition despite Cluj's lack of European experience.
No chances
They flew to Romania on Monday, more than 48 hours before the game at Cluj's modest Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium, to prepare for the game but left without injured England forward Joe Cole, who missed Saturday's 2-0 win at Stoke City and is still struggling to overcome a muscle tear in his hip area.
Striker Salomon Kalou, however, did travel after shrugging off an ankle injury he picked up against Stoke as Chelsea won to return to the top of the Premier League.
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| Yssouf Kone is happy to have the opportunity to play against his heros [GALLO/GETTY] |
Cluj 'ready'
Cluj go into the match after drawing 1-1 with Steaua Bucharest in a tough league match on Friday which left Cluj fifth in the table, seven points behind Dinamo Bucharest with nine matches played.
"The game showed that we are ready to face Chelsea as we recovered a one-goal deficit and created several good opportunities to score and to win," said Argentine Juan Culio, who scored both their goals in Rome.
Cluj's Ivory Coast striker Yssouf Kone said that he had chatted to his compatriot Kalou, while another Ivornian Didier Drogba, should also feature in the game.
Friendly banter
"He congratulated me for our win against Roma, but he warned us that, if we want to draw or beat Chelsea, we are going to have to play twice as well as we managed against Roma.
"I told him I thought Chelsea were four times stronger than Roma so they were favourites, but I feel honoured playing against opponents like Frank Lampard and John Terry.
"You have something to learn just from being on the same pitch as them."
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