Mourinho and Ferguson are both worried about one thing.
That's the Premier League title.
Both teams are far ahead in the league standings, but as the season comes to an end, both teams have exposed their shortcomings.
Last Sunday's "Sunday Mirror" revealed that Magic Bird will leave in the summer and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will pay him a liquidated penalty of 8.1 million pounds.
This figure is calculated based on the Chelsea coach's salary (5.2 million pounds) and bonuses (2.9 million pounds) last season, and Chelsea's losses will also include John Terry and Lampard, who may follow Mourinho.
Not only that, the "Sunday Mirror" continued to add insult to injury, and also brought out Rijkaard to stimulate the Magic Bird.
According to their "clues", Abramovich has listed Barcelona coach Rijkaard as the top candidate for the Madman substitute based on the advice of chief football consultant Van Veese. At the same time, PSV Eindhoven coach Koeman, who has just qualified for the Champions League, is also on Abramovich's candidate list.
Rumors of Terry and Lampard leaving the team are abuzz, and Mourinho's next clubs also include Real Madrid, Juventus and Inter Milan.
Although the game is not over yet, this luxurious blue battleship seems to be on the verge of falling apart.
Peter Pan Robben is also leaving the team, which has become the latest bad news in the Blues dressing room with constant rumors.
The Dutchman's contract still has two years, but his weekly salary is only 50,000 pounds. To this day, Chelsea executives have still not offered him a new contract.
Everyone agrees that this is a hint from Chelsea's senior management that they are trying to give up on Robben.
Rumors are rife within the Chelsea team and Manchester United is not having a good season either.
At this stage of the league, Manchester United's shortcomings of a shallow bench have been fully exposed.
Both teams are fighting on the third line, and the intensive schedule makes coaches and players frightened. If Ronaldinho or Rooney or another main player is injured, then Sir Alex will simply not be able to find a replacement on the bench.
This situation makes the competition between the two teams in the league even more exciting.
The red and blue are competing for supremacy in front, but Tottenham is following behind.
Tottenham, who had just won a narrow victory in the league, did not seem to show any desire for the league championship. On the contrary, in the cup competition, Tottenham's positivity was not comparable to other teams.
The effect of winning the League Cup is chain-linking, as evidenced by the FA Cup tie with Chelsea last time out.
Without Wang Xiaodong, the team could still lead the opponent 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Although they were eventually equalized by the Blues, isn't the team's performance a continuation of the League Cup championship?
This season Tottenham have completely overturned Arsenal's dominance in the league and League Cup, and turned the North London derby upside down; now they are challenging the Blue Ships, who have won two consecutive Premier League championships, and their victories and goals have made fans excited. This is full of confidence.
"After this FA Cup rematch, Tottenham will be the new overlord of London City!" a fan said excitedly during an interview.
Indeed, the constant London City derbies these days have made Bai Baihe fans full of confidence.
Rumors are flying around other teams, but Tottenham are solidly united.
According to the latest official news from Tottenham, the team is discussing re-signing a contract with Wang Xiaodong, who just helped the team win the League Cup. Both salary and goal rewards will be raised to a higher level.
The purpose is to keep this talented young Chinese player in the team.
Just when the whole of London was guessing which magical girl Wang Xiaodong’s mysterious girlfriend was, in the FA Cup quarter-final rematch on March 19, Wang Xiaodong once again wore Tottenham’s No. 4 robe, appearing on the pitch at White Hart Lane.
Since the team members of Southampton and Portsmouth got into a fight last season, Wang Xiaodong was disqualified from the FA Cup by the Football Association and was suspended for an additional five games.
If Wang Xiaodong continues to stay at Southampton, he may not even have the chance to appear in the FA Cup next season.
But who would have thought that not even a year later, Wang Xiaodong would reappear in the FA Cup as the main player of another team.
In this regard, the Football Association that made the penalty was also very surprised.
This season, Wang Xiaodong has fulfilled his obligations well and completed his suspension, but no one expected that Tottenham would remain unbeaten in the FA Cup for five rounds without Wang Xiaodong.
Especially in the last game against Chelsea, everyone thought that the Blues, who had just lost the League Cup, would take revenge at Stamford Bridge. However, they did not expect that the distraught Blues almost lost the game at home.
Now, the quarter-finals come to White Hart Lane, the home court of Wang Xiaodong and Tottenham.
If Chelsea wants to perform well, it's up to them.
In this game, Mourinho implemented partial rotation.
Essien and Terry were injured and rested, Makelele was on leave and Robben did not get a start.
Mourinho can only express regret for this. In his opinion, it is not that he does not want to put together Chelsea's strongest lineup, but that the team has been ill-fated this season.
Some insiders can see that although this is a strong reason for Mourinho, it is also a good excuse.
For Magic Bird, who may leave the team at the end of the season, three consecutive league championships is the goal he pursues.
As long as he finally wins the league championship this season, even if he leaves, his back will look cool.
As for the FA Cup, it is of no importance to the league or the Champions League.
Fifteen minutes after the game started, the Blues set up a bus in their own half.
The replay is not a second-leg match and there is no away goal.
If the game is still tied, then the game will enter overtime; if it is tied in overtime, a penalty shootout will be held.
For the Magic Bird, who always likes to calculate, if it really gets to that point, Chelsea's hope of promotion will be even greater.
In the 11th minute of the game, Lennon's pass from the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Ferreira, and Cech took the opportunity to confiscate the ball.
Two minutes later, Robbie Keane and Berbatov hit the wall again: the Bulgarian passed the ball with his heel, and Robbie Keane's 16-yard shot was blocked by a timely tackle from substitute Ashley Cole.
Then Malblanque passed a corner kick from the left, and Berbatov's header from 14 yards was confiscated by Cech again.
Even after arriving at White Hart Lane, even though the bus was destroyed by Tottenham, Mourinho still did not change his tactical thinking.
Controlling the ball for what?
Fighting for what?
Preventing counter-attacks is the way to go!
Defend first, then take the opportunity to give your opponent a fatal blow, and then defend until the end of the game.
This is the essence of winning in utilitarian football!
Just as Mourinho was giving advice from the sidelines, Tottenham's attack came back from the left.
This time, the inserted Great Saint Bell broke through a line, cut inside decisively, and then sent a through ball towards the baseline. Berba, who understood the situation, succeeded in countering offside, caught up with the ball and directly swung his leg to knock it across.
There are Robbie Keane and Lennon in the middle, outflanking each other to grab the spot. As long as they are touched by them, the ball may go in.
Helmet man Cech showed no fear at all. He took the lead in turning his body sideways and fell to the ground to block it.
But Berbatov's passing speed was too fast, and the ball passed under Cech's arm in an instant.
Wright-Phillips, who was following Robbie Keane, saw something was wrong and hurriedly stretched his foot. When the ball rolled in front of Robbie Keane's feet, it hit the arch of Philippis' foot and bounced into the net.
All Blues fans were stunned after seeing this.
Including Mourinho on the sidelines.
Wang Defa? ? ?
Did we score an own goal? ? ?
