Cesc Is The Future-Mourinho

Jose Mourinho heralded Cesc
Fabregas as Chelsea's new playmaker in place
of the departed Frank Lampard and urged fans
to greet him and his squad before Chelsea's
first home friendly in eight years.
Chelsea meet Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge
and plan to parade their full senior squad on the
pitch before the sold-out match.
"Lampard is our history, but Fabregas is our
future, Mourinho told the club website, adding
that both he and his players believe the
Spaniard is the right man to play in central
midfield.
"Frank is the history of the club, history nobody
can forget," said Mourinho. "Fabregas is the
future. History is history, but the future is more
important at the moment."
"My opinion, and the opinion of my players, is
that Fabregas is the right player to occupy that
central position in midfield."
Chelsea beat Ferencvaros 2-1 in Budapest in a
friendly courtesy of goals from Ramires and
Fabregas, who impressed after his introduction
at the interval.
"They (Ferencvaros) fought for a result until the
last minute and that was good for us," said
Mourinho. "They competed and that was
important."
Fabregas' solo goal capped a fine display that
convinced many observers that he will be a
more than adequate successor to all-time
Chelsea top scorer Lampard.
Lampard, 36, left Chelsea in June to join MLS
outfit New York City. He is currently on loan
with English champions Manchester City.
In another website message, the club said
Mourinho requested that supporters going to
the sold-out match at Stamford Bridge arrive in
time to herald a parade of the entire first team
squad.
"It is the first time we have hosted a friendly at
our home since 2006 - and it promises to be a
memorable evening, with the sold-out crowd
given the opportunity to welcome each of the
players," said the club.
After signing midfielder Fabregas, striker Diego
Costa, left-back Filipe Luis and returning club
legend, striker Didier Drogba, along with recalled
loanees defender Kurt Zouma and goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea are tipped as
favourites to depose Manchester City as
Premier League champions.
The English Premiership starts on Saturday,
August 16 but Chelsea are not in action until
they visit promoted Burnley on Monday - a
fixture for which Mourinho is confident his team
will be perfectly prepared.
"It's been a difficult pre-season because we
started with seven players," said Mourinho.
"After that, step by step, players were arriving
after the World Cup and holidays."
"Finally, in this last week, we've had everybody
together, but obviously not everyone is
prepared. For example, (Branislav) Ivanovic has
been training for one month, (Andre) Schurrle
has trained for five days."
"So there is a big difference between players.
We have to play the first league match next
weekend and we will be ready for that."