Scudamore unfazed by Wenger-Mourinho snub

  

Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger can continue ignoring each other, Richard Scudamore said.

Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore has no concerns over Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger ignoring each other, if their handshake would be meaningless anyway.

The two rival managers were unwilling to shake hands after Arsenal's 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.

But Scudamore will not intervene, despite suggestions the snub was a bad look for the league.

"What would be worse is a meaningless handshake where it meant nothing," he said.

"The authenticity is far more important. Shake hands if you mean it, shake hands if you want to shake hands. If there is some enmity between you, that is for the individuals to decide, not me. It is rivalry, it is competitiveness, and people understand it goes back a long way.

"It should not be beyond anybody to shake hands and that is why we have a line-up at the beginning and the players do it.

"There is an element of respect about that but you are not going to get me intervening in what goes on between two managers."

Managers' touchline conduct is the subject of new guidelines for the upcoming season, although nothing is new in terms of what will be punished.

"It was a clarification," Scudamore said.

"The managers were told that a graduated system is in place, and it is quite simply a quiet word from the fourth official, a slightly more formal word and, if it gets out of hand, the referee will come over to have a more demonstrable word. If that doesn't sort it, then the ultimate sanction is removal to the stands.

"It is nothing bigger than that and wasn't in response to a particular incident. It was about bringing clarity to the technical area that perhaps didn't exist before."

Mourinho defends Falcao start as Costa fitness doubts remain

Radamel Falcao is showing signs of progress ahead of the new Premier League season, according to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

Jose Mourinho has defended Radamel Falcao's low-key start to his Chelsea career and re-iterated that he is unsure whether fellow striker Diego Costa will be fit to face Swansea City on Saturday.

Chelsea boss Mourinho lured Falcao to Stamford Bridge on loan from Monaco despite a poor return of just four Premier League goals during an unhappy spell with Manchester United last season.

Falcao made little impact after coming off the bench in Sunday's 1-0 loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield and was again ineffective in Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to Fiorentina in the International Champions Cup.

With Costa struggling with a hamstring problem, Falcao may be selected to lead the line when Chelsea start the defence of the Premier League title against Swansea, and Mourinho is happy with the Colombian's progress following his late return to pre-season due to his participation at the Copa America.

"He [Falcao] is very good, he's very good for the situation," Mourinho said. "He played at the Americas Cup [Copa America], then had his holidays, he has had one week of training sessions, not the three weeks the others have had.

"He has had minutes in the different matches. I took him off in his best moment when he was in his best moment in the game. I'm happy with his evolution, very happy to be fair."

On Costa, Mourinho added: "I don't know whether he will be fit to play on Saturday. I don't risk to say yes, I also don't risk to say no.

"I don't know is the truth. Friday is the day before the game, I will tell you probably I don't know. It was a surprise for me that he couldn't play at the weekend."

Mourinho also stated that Eden Hazard was limping but allayed any injury fears and confirmed Victor Moses is fine despite taking a knock during the Fiorentina match.