Mourinho praises Willian, Zouma, and ... the referee(?!) ... after Chelsea's win against Watford

With a match replay not set to air for a few more hours, we cannot readily corroborate Jose's post-match words, though based on the radio commentary and a few highlights, I'm guessing I will not disagree with the manager.

"I was worried at half time, the game was always under control but we weren't strong enough to score in terms of our attacking dynamic to score, and in these matches when you don't score you always have that risk. They didn't build enough to score a goal but in football you can score a goal in an isolated action; a set-piece or a mistake by a defender."

"I was worried in the first half because our dynamic wasn't good enough. We had the game under control, we used the ball well, Cahill and Zouma had no problems but it was important for us to make changes to try to change the game.  If there could have been extra time I wouldn't have made two changes so early but because it was just 90 minutes I was able to make those changes and, to be fair, Willian and Diego were fundamental."

Willian (sorry, "Will-I-An") opened the scoring just 12 minutes after coming on, blasting into the back of the net from 20 yards to score a goal from outside the box: a rare commodity at Stamford Bridge these days.  Lack of goals -- not that he was ever that prolific even at Shakhtar -- has been a major criticism of the 26-year-old, but Jose's quick to point out immense contributions Willian usually makes elsewhere.

"Willian is the kind of player that without scoring goals he gives so much to the team. He creates, he always has a good dynamic. When the team lose the ball he's probably the first defender because he reacts in a very effective way, he presses immediately and recovers balls. Willian always gives us a performance."

Jose reserved similar glowing praise for a young man who doesn't play anywhere near as often as Willian, but has been improving by leaps and bounds in the handful of chances he's gotten.

"Zouma had another good game. He had matches with mistakes in pre-season, against Werder Bremen and in Hungary, but his development has been fantastic. His physical condition is outstanding but the way he sees the game, reads the game, analyses the game and makes decisions is very good."

Lastly, after yet another potentially controversial penalty box incident, Mourinho ate some humble pie and apologised to referee Kevin Friend.

"Today we had a big penalty in our favour but I've spoken to the referee and I want to apologise for my earlier comments to TV, because what he did was great refereeing. He saw it was a penalty, he was going to give a penalty but he saw the ball was going to Remy so he waited a couple of seconds. He told me if Remy didn't control the ball or if the ball went over the bar, it would have been a penalty. I was complaining but it was good refereeing by Kevin."

Does this mean everybody's friends again?