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LONDON. — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes that there is more to come from Andre Schurrle after the Germany international’s hat-trick sent his side four points clear at the Barclays English Premier League soccer summit. Schurrle has struggled to establish himself in Mourinho’s starting line-up and his appearance in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Fulham was only his eighth league start since his £18 million move from Bayer Leverkusen last June.
But he strengthened his claim for more regular action with a second-half treble at Craven Cottage — his first goals since early December.
Schurrle produced three excellent finishes within 17 minutes and Mourinho believes that the fleet-footed forward is now coming to terms with life in the Premier League.
“It’s something I expect from Schurrle. He’s in a learning process in relation to the Premier League,” Mourinho said. “He needs to understand what the Premier League is, to experiment.
“The referees are good, don’t give many faults, the defenders are aggressive, the teams are fighting teams. He is in a learning process.
“It’s difficult for him to play 90 minutes for us, doing things he’s never done in his life, but what I expect from him is cold blood.
“In front of goal, he’s not the kind of guy where the goal becomes very small. He normally scores. He sees the keeper’s reaction, he can score with right or left, he’s a good finisher. This is what I expect from him.”
Mourinho admitted that he had been disappointed by his side’s first-half display and revealed that he had left his team in silence during the half-time break.
“It was silent,” he said. “Like that. Normally I give them two or three minutes for them to advise (each other), to clean or change boots or shirts. After that they know I’ll start talking.
“They were there, ready for me, but I was not ready for them. I decided not to speak because, if I started to speak about the first half, I’d need more than the 10 minutes of half-time. – AFP.
Online Reporter