Chelsea clinched their 4th BPL title since the Russian revolution embarked upon us in the summer of 2003. Mourinho after narrowly missing out on the title in his first season upon his return to the West London club, showed his class in the second as Chelsea turned on the style and won the league with four games to spare.
Chelsea never really looked like slipping as the West London club stayed on top since the first gameweek breaking a record of most days spent on top of the league (273) previously held by Manchester United (1993/94 – 262 days).
Mourinho set out his vision during his press conference upon returning as Chelsea manager which still echoes loud and clear:
“If we don’t do it (win the title in 2013-14), but show evolution in the season, show we are moving in the right direction, I think we will be champions in the second season and it is not a drama”.
The club was already moving towards financial stability with every passing year but winning on the pitch is equally (if not more) important as winning off it. Chelsea prior to Mourinho was struggling to maintain consistency domestically having not won the title since Carlo Ancelotti’s double winning side in 2010.
When Roman decided to bring back Jose the primary objective was to gain domestic supremacy. The squad that Mourinho inherited was an aging and many players were past their prime and a mass exodus was required. Jose Mourinho plunged into the transfer market and started filling places that needed filling. Signing of Nemanja Matic in January 2014 was an example of Jose knowing what he is doing. He signed a player that the club let go to Benfica in a swap deal for David Luiz only to return three years later for £21 million. A risk only someone like Mourinho would take. Had the Matic transfer backfired the English media would have been running for Jose’s head. It turned out to be a masterclass from Mourinho though, as the Serbian established himself as one of the finest defensive midfielders in Europe.
In the summer of 2014, Chelsea again owned the transfer market with the Likes of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa for a combined fee of £59 million. Chelsea managed to cash in on David Luiz and received (a world record transfer fee) £50m for the Brazilian, highest for a defender in history.
Over the past two seasons Chelsea’s net spend has been £54 million, compared to £168 million for Manchester United, £115 million for Manchester City and £103 million for Arsenal. It is quite a remarkable achievement considering the exodus that took place at the club. It really is a commendable effort from the likes of Marina Granovskaia (club director) and Jose Mourinho. Chelsea are no longer a club thriving on Russian Rubles to achieve success but a club playing smartly in the transfer market and abiding by the Financial Fair Play regulations imposed by UEFA.
The youth development and the loan program at Chelsea has been beneficial for Chelsea as the club recalled Thibaut Courtois, who had already established himself as a top keeper from his loan spell at Atletico Madrid. Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne made way for players like Willian and Remy as Chelsea cashed on the two among others. Still around 30 players are on loan at different clubs in Europe, a testimony to a strong youth setup being established at Chelsea football club, a model for the rest of the clubs to follow.
On field Chelsea have been ruthless and Mourinho’s tactics have been spot on. Mourinho hasn’t lost a home game in the league this season. Chelsea against the big 4 has been ruthless beating Arsenal 3 times out of four over the past two seasons and getting the better of Manchester City on a couple of occasions.
Mourinho barely loses to his title rivals and this is what sets him apart. Out of 40 league games against Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal over the two spells at Chelsea, Mourinho has lost just three times.
This season Jose has built his team around the Belgian prodigy Eden Hazard and he didn’t disappoint as the Chelsea number 10 played a vital role in bringing the title to Stamford Bridge, winning the PFA player of the year award in the process
Chelsea hasn’t been devoid of criticism though, often dubbed boring by opposition fans and other managers have questioned Chelsea’s tactics and often the club’s counter attacking football especially in away games has often been dubbed as ‘Parking the Bus’. Football at the end of the day is all about winning and Chelsea have done that remarkably well.
Chelsea have been a shining example for other clubs and a model for other clubs to follow in England in recent years. Chelsea have gained financial success and at the same time remained competitive on the field. 4 League titles, 4 FA Cups, 3 League cups, 1 Champions League and 1 Europa League title in the last 11 years is the testimony to that. Chelsea have won a total of 15 trophies which is more than the trophies won by Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham put together (14).
Chelsea play winning football, often flamboyant but mostly effective. Chelsea during the first half of the 2014/15 season played attractive football but when grinding out results was the need of the hour the team without Diego Costa, Chelsea’s main striker for the best part of the second half got the results that were required of them.
It’s all about the strong mentality of the group. What Mourinho is good at is his ability to get the best out of his players. It’s the same John Terry who was benched by the then interim manager Rafa Benitez on account of not being fit enough to play twice a week. Ever since Jose’s return Terry has been the best defender in England playing every minute of the current campaign.
The players give their all for Mourinho, be it Didier Drogba or Marco Materazzi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Inter. As Ibrahimovic once remarked:
“This guy gives everything for the team, so I want to give everything for him. People were willing to kill for him”
There is still a lot to improve for Chelsea, especially in Europe as Chelsea struggle to break down teams in two legged affairs. The good thing is that Chelsea can still break the bank in the summer once again and still comply with the FFP regulations.
Domestically, Chelsea look set to maintain the supremacy for the coming years, with United going through a transition, an aging City squad and Arsenal’s lack of spending means that Chelsea are in the driving seat as far as the English league is concerned.
Mourinho, however, is not one of those to take things easy and with the talks of extending his stay at Stamford Bridge things are looking bright for Chelsea.
