Jose Mourinho Casts Doubt on Liverpool, Wary of Tottenham and Manchester City

Jose Mourinho has suggested Liverpool lack the strength-in-depth needed to challenge for the Premier League title, but is wary of the threat posed by Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Portuguese boss spoke in typically frank style during a monthly Q&A session with Chelsea supporters in the club’s official magazine.

As reported by Laurie Whitwell of the Daily Mail, it is obvious who Mourinho believes will challenge his Stamford Bridge side for the domestic title:

"

I think [Manchester] City has the most incredible squad. I think [Manchester] United is United, and history makes them contenders, too.

Tottenham is the big spender of the summer and, because of that, they have a fantastic squad with two teams of equal players.

At Arsenal, the manager is building a team step by step – the club is stable and buying a player like Mesut Ozil makes a difference.

"

Mourinho proceeded to cast doubt over Brendan Rodgers’ squad, claiming the Merseyside club fail to boast strength throughout their ranks to match those destined for the top, per Whitwell’s report:

"Liverpool are probably the club with least resources because, while their team looks as strong as the others, their squad doesn’t look quite so strong," Mourinho said.

Rodgers’ team recently came unstuck in a 2-0 loss to Arsenal, a game the Gunners dominated and deservedly won. The Northern Irishman’s tactics—such as playing three in defence—highlights a side that is willing to take risks in a transitional time.

Liverpool’s lack of European football and exit from the Capital One Cup means this tinkering has to take place in the Premier League. Even so, Mourinho believes a lightened schedule could prove to be an advantage as the season rolls on, per Whitwell:

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At the same time, they don’t play in European competition, so they only play one match a week, so they are training, preparing and resting for the weekend match while the rest of us are playing in Europe.

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Liverpool's lack of depth was exposed by the 11th-hour withdrawal of Glen Johnson ahead of that Arsenal game, which forced Rodgers to play the inexperienced Jon Flanagan in the right wing-back role.

The Reds also had the inconsistent Aly Cissokho on the left, while any injury to goalkeeper Simon Mignolet would leave them in dire straits between the sticks.

These are issues that Mourinho clearly feels will eventually harm Liverpool, compared the the likes of City, who regularly have to leave top talents like Edin Dzeko, Jesus Navas and Stevan Jovetic on the bench.

Mourinho’s Chelsea side currently occupy second place in the Premier League and are one goal above Liverpool, per WhoScored. The West London side suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss to Newcastle in their last match, confirming the difficulty of putting a run of results together in the top flight.

The Blues boss also confirmed he loses his appetite after games, suffers from a lack of sleep and needs time to recover after each match, as reported in Whitwell's article.

After claiming he made 11 mistakes with his team selection at St. James’ Park, per Sky Sports, you can bet the 50-year-old’s sleeping habits have becoming increasingly restless over the past few days.

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