REACTION:

The Chelsea manager has promised the world will see a more mellow José Mourinho this season and the first evidence may have been glimpsed at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
Having been forced to field a starting 11 that was just as much a surprise as his players' failure to convert a single penalty at the conclusion of the game, Mourinho refused outright to bemoan the continuation of an injury list that last campaign had him frequently referring to an 'unbelievable season'.

No Terry, no Makelele, no Drogba at Wembley for the Community Shield was serious spinal damage to the team even before a collection of further players missing is considered.

As he reflected on the shoot-out defeat that followed a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes, no medical bulletin was issued by Mourinho.

Instead he said: 'I am very happy with these boys who played and when I am asked about John Terry and Drogba, and you can add Ballack and Kalou and Makelele and all of these boys that were not here, I don't want to go in that direction because I want to respect the players I had here today.

'They did very well for me and I prefer to speak about them than speak about the players not involved in the game.

'What makes me happy is compared with the Man United of last season that was flying, today no Paul Scholes was the difference in their line-up. We were more than 50 per cent different - but we competed.

'I don't want to say we were better, I don't want to go down that road, but it is fair to say nobody was worse and that gives us confidence for the start of the season.

'To lose is to lose but to lose on penalties is different from losing in 90 minutes. When you lose in 90 minutes, normally the best team wins. You have to score more goals.

'Penalties are details. Important details in football because they decide trophies, or which team reaches the next stage of competitions, but just details.

'If I analyse the penalty details, I have to say Man United had an outstanding keeper on the penalties. We had three players who all played very well in the 90 minutes but couldn't score their penalties.

'If I give my opinion of the 90 minutes, I think Chelsea didn't deserve to lose because we controlled the game for 90 minutes in quite an easy way, no defensive problems.'

With a shortage of players so severe there were two goalkeepers selected among the seven subs, a mobile Joe Cole started in attack, flanked by Shaun Wright-Phillips and full debut goalscorer Florent Malouda. Mourinho explained why Claudio Pizarro had to wait until the 51^st minute to take the centre-forward's role.

'He cannot play 90 minutes. He was on holidays so he was not in the United States with us and he had a problem in the back in the last two or three days.

'I know he could not play more than this and I preferred to have him here in the second-half than in the first. Imagine we are losing in the second-half. I need a striker then.

'In the first-half we played without a striker and it is difficult to take the game to the opponent's half because you don't have a player to hold the ball and wait for support. But even without a striker, the three boys in attack, they gave us life, speed and elegance and the goal is a good example of that.

'In the second-half with Claudio, the team had a presence there, we hold the ball, the team was playing much more in the opponents' half and I am very happy with these boys.'

Mourinho may not have been discussing Chelsea's injured players but Alex Ferguson was, admitting his decision to push Patrice Evra into midfield and choose Mikael Silvestre at left-back was a plan to counter Drogba's muscle.

'They'll always miss Drogba, there is no question about that,' the Man United manager said. 'He is a very important player for them.

'Even if the two clubs had played their strongest teams today, I don't think it would have given you any information other than to say both are contenders for the Premier League title and possibly Arsenal and Liverpool will join in. But we knew that before.

'The game was not a great gauge as both teams were missing players. It was a very warm day but it will bring players onto the pace required for the first game. I don't think there was much between the sides.

'Our keeper showed his experience. He has studied particularly Lampard's penalty taking.'

With the start of the league season containing three games in the first eight days, Mourinho was asked if any of the absentees have a chance of participation.
'I hope with so many out, one or two can be back. People will talk about Drogba but I would be happy just to have Kalou back.

'I am not worried about the injured players. When they are back, they are back and I am ready to go to the fight, as I was today, with these boys. It is not a problem.'