Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has defended his decision to substitute John Terry at half-time during yesterdays 3-0 defeat to Manchester City. The Portuguese has insisted the move was a tactical one.

The Chelsea captain made way for Kurt Zouma at half time, whilst his team were just 1-0 down. Mourinho has never substituted Terry before in the league, so the move came as a big shock to all.

The 3-0 loss leaves Chelsea with just one point from their opening two Premier League games, meaning they find themselves 5 points behind both Manchester clubs. However, Mourinho claims his decision to remove Terry from the game was simply to even out City’s pace.

“It was just a decision.” Mourinho told Sky Sports.

“I know that Zouma is the fastest defender we have in the squad. In that moment, Manchester City were going to play counter-attacking. I knew they were going to play long balls to Sergio Aguero. Zouma is a different player to John Terry and Gary Cahill.”

“It was proven completely right because Zouma was completely in control.”

“He [Terry] is a player who has my total trust, there is no doubt about it.” Mourinho added.

“If somebody has the free mind and the right to have these kinds of decisions as a manager, I am the one because I am the one who gave him the chance to be what he is; a fantastic player and fantastic captain.”

“I left him out because tactically I had to make a change and when you make changes, sometimes you are right and sometimes you are wrong. I think I was proven right because we controlled the type of the game and the counter-attack totally.”

“John is Chelsea captain for sure and he is a player with my entire confidence for sure.”

[All quotes via Sky Sports]