Jose Mourinho 'Wanted to Kill' Chelsea Coach for Reaction to Liverpool Win

Jose Mourinho has revealed how he kept Manchester City's loss against Liverpool quiet from his Chelsea players ahead of the Capital One Cup final, a secret nearly ruined by assistant first-team coach Silvino Louro.

Speaking after landing the first trophy of his second spell in charge of the Blues, Mourinho revealed he "wanted to kill" his long-time associate for his reaction to City losing further ground in the Premier League, reported by Sam Cunningham of the Daily Mail:

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I prepared the players for an impossible mission, which was not knowing the City result. Forget City. I knew that was an impossible mission, but I didn’t want the television on in the hotel or on the bus. I told them I didn’t want any kind of manifestation or disappointment if City scored in the last minute, or Liverpool won.

I wanted complete silence. We were successful on that. But one member of my staff, Silvinho, jumped up in the bus. I wanted to kill the guy. He broke the rule.

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While Mourinho didn't reveal whether or not his players took notice—the celebration may have been hard to escape—it certainly didn't affect his squad at Wembley. Chelsea were under the cosh until John Terry's deflected strike gave them the lead against Tottenham just before the break, but controlled the match after the interval.

Diego Costa also benefited from Kyle Walker helping to divert the ball beyond Hugo Lloris, a goal which ended Spurs' hopes of repeating their 2008 final success over their London rivals. City's 2-1 loss at Anfield earlier in the day—which leaves Chelsea five points clear with a game in hand—marked a memorable Sunday for the Stamford Bridge club.

Former Spurs striker Gary Lineker offered his thoughts:

It was a day in which Mourinho's tactical risks paid off. Kurt Zouma stepped into midfield for the suspended Nemanja Matic, ahead of Gary Cahill in central defence, the player he continues to compete with for a spot alongside Terry. The Frenchman used his size and pace brilliantly to mop up in front of Chelsea's back four, monitoring the halfway line and rushing the likes of Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb out of possession.

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In doing this, Zouma has now shown versatility which makes him extremely important to the squad. He is destined to be a world-class centre-back, but Mourinho no longer has to rely on John Obi Mikel for cover in the middle. What this does for the Nigerian's career remains to be seen—he has struggled on the periphery for years—but Zouma's stock is rising with each passing week.

The youngster may well receive plenty of playing time as the Premier League season draws to a close. If City stay perfect, Chelsea can afford two losses along their final 12 games. Considering they have lost just two in their first 26, it would perhaps save time to don the trophy with royal-blues ribbons already.

Louro's reaction may have spooked Mourinho at a time of focus—few managers hold their concentration like him—but the former Benfica goalkeeper's expression is one the club can get used to. If Chelsea's players weren't jumping up and down on the bus prior to Sunday's cup final, they certainly were afterwards.