Ex-Chelsea midfielder, ex-promotion-winning Watford manager, and now Maccabi Tel-Aviv boss Slavisa Jokanovic believes it’s ‘always a good time to take on Chelsea’, according to Mike Walters of the Mirror.
Chelsea’s disastrous start to their Premier League campaign has certainly changed the dynamic of their first Champions League match against lowly Tel-Aviv. It is truly a debate of whether The Blues’ deformation will continue tomorrow or whether they can pick themselves up with a win against a weak side.
This dynamic has Jokanovic pondering Chelsea’s current state for sure:
I can be surprised that Chelsea have taken only four points after five Premier League games, but that may give them extra concentration and extra motivation to fix their problems.I would prefer, if possible, that they were more worried about their game with Arsenal on Saturday than us, but I don’t believe I’m going to find that.
It makes no difference for us – it’s always a good time to play Chelsea, and I’m going to enjoy this opportunity to test myself, test my team and test the strength of Israeli football.
The Maccabi Tel-Aviv manager seems to not be scared of facing a club as massive as Chelsea either:
Of course we must respect the competition, the opponents and the manager. They are one of the strongest clubs in Europe, but we must respect ourselves too.
Though the matchup of Chelsea FC vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv surely resembles David and Goliath, Jokanovic is prepared to face the challenge, and he and his boys are most certainly up for it. But, he has almost disregarded the Premier League champions’ abysmal form in suggesting that he’d be prepared to face Chelsea whether they were in good form or bad form. One last note basically sums up Jokanovic’s confidence, though:
Jose Mourinho is a great manager, one of the best in the world, and probably he drives a nicer car than mine, but I’m going to try and catch him in this game.
