José Mourinho's end-of-term report will back Chelsea's experienced trio

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/09/jose-mourinho-report-chelsea-terry-lampard-cole

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José Mourinho is to submit a written report reviewing his first campaign back in English football on Monday and will state his case for the retention of the team's experienced core of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole beyond the expiry of their contracts.

The Portuguese, who has been working on the report over the past few weeks, will also detail the tweaks he would like made to his squad in the close season and will argue for Thibaut Courtois to return to his parent club after three years on loan at Atlético Madrid. Mourinho expects to meet the club's hierarchy this month to discuss his suggestions as the Londoners seek to strengthen before another title challenge next season.

The three players are out of contract at Stamford Bridge on 30 June and Terry and Lampard are expected to miss Sunday's final-day visit to relegated Cardiff City through injury and illness respectively. Mourinho has said regularly this season that he wants the trio to be retained. "But it's difficult for me to speak in this moment about it," he said. "Clearly Chelsea had a fantastic team that lasted for 10 years. Some of these boys are still here but not many of them. And Chelsea are building their future.

"You could see this season these people were important to give some stability, some experience to the team, but obviously they're not the players for the next 10 years. Those have to be the Hazards, Oscars, Nemanja Matic … these young guys. I've been [compiling] this report for a long time. It's not something I've just turned to but I'll give it on Monday. I don't 'have' to, but I will. And after that we meet, we discuss and we address these cases."

The immediate futures of the young Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, who has spent the campaign at Everton and may not feature in Mourinho's plans for next season, and Courtois will also be addressed. "Lukaku had a successful loan," said the manager. "By that I mean sometimes the players go on loan and we cannot find a positive reason for that loan at the end of the season. But Lukaku played all the time, had minutes of experience in the Premier League in a good team with a good coach, scoring his goals. So he's a successful case of loans and those are the ones we have to analyse. But I haven't discussed [his future] with the player or with my own club yet.

"On Courtois I've made a decision but I'm not the club. I'm the manager. I will inform the club about my opinion, not just with a simple comment made in a corridor … I like to do things in a proper way, to be committed with my opinions, so I will do it in writing. That's the proper way to do it officially.

"So my final report will have, in detail, this kind of case which you can compare with Lukaku. Courtois's was also a successful loan, a long loan in this case. I have my opinion very clearly. My job is to analyse things, to have opinions and make my decisions. After that the club is the club. Obviously I have to work for and with the club and respect the club's decisions. I have made clear my opinions."

The manager confirmed his intention to sign a striker this summer – "we have three at the moment, so normally one is leaving, normally one is coming" – as Chelsea hope to glean silverware next year after a trophyless season, albeit of progression. "I don't have 'security' here," added Mourinho when asked why he will be afforded time other recent Chelsea managers have been denied. "Nobody has that security. David [Moyes] signed a six-year contract at Manchester United and everyone was convinced he had stability, myself included, but at the end of the day he doesn't get to the end of his first season. So there must be something really special between manager and club, or the manager must be something really special to be there for five, 10 years. It must be a special situation.

"The Chelsea job is different than in previous years. Clearly. The team that won the trophies at Chelsea was a team with a certain structure, not just tactically but from a personality point-of-view, and that team is over. It doesn't exist any more. Chelsea needs to build another team with some similarities to that one. Not with the same profile of players, but similarities with qualify, personality, in a certain tactical approach. We're in a transition."