As Jon Obi Mikel trotted out onto the Old Trafford pitch in
place of Oscar , 67 minutes into Chelsea ’s tense and physical
battle against Manchester United on Sunday and with only
Didier Drogba’s near-post header separating the teams, one
Jose Mourinho quote in particular sprang to mind.
It came from November 2010, when Diego Maradona visited
Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training complex. The story is
recounted in Diego Torres’ book ‘The Special One: The Dark
Side of Jose Mourinho’. Explaining the guiding principle of his
philosophy to the Argentina legend, Mourinho stated: “I score
and I win. And another thing – you score and you don’t know
if you win!”
On Sunday Chelsea scored and failed to win. Robin van Persie
saw to that in injury-time, just as conflicted club legend Frank
Lampard had done on the Blues’ previous visit to Manchester
a month earlier.
The consequences are an unbeaten start, seven wins from
nine matches and a four-point lead at the top of the Premier
League. But for two goals conceded and the sum total of just
under 11 unfortunate minutes, the win record would have
been perfect and the gap would have been eight.
Whether you consider this the cost of Mourinho’s pragmatism,
individual mistakes, dubious refereeing decisions, plain bad
luck or a combination of the above depends entirely on your
view of the man and the world in which he operates. It is
also, in all likelihood, a debate that will prove of little
consequence.
For unless Manchester City find it within themselves to play
with the focus and intensity of champions or an
unprecedented calamity strikes at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea
will still win this league comfortably. With two of the fixture
list’s most difficult away matches in the rear-view, it is even
within their reach to win it unbeaten – though it is also,
history tells us, highly unlikely.
But regardless of the nature and scale of the achievement,
there will always be some for whom the influence and
ideology of Mourinho presents an insurmountable barrier to
true adulation.
His first champion Chelsea team won more games, more
points, conceded fewer goals and fared better in the Europe
than Arsenal’s legendary ‘Invincibles’, yet glorious memories
of unbridled artistry at Highbury mean it is Arsene Wenger’s
greatest creation that is infinitely more celebrated.
Not that Mourinho, a defiant pragmatist, will care. “I am not a
fundamentalist in football,” he told Gary Neville during an
illuminating interview for the Telegraph earlier this month.
“People ask me: what is your model of play? I say: model of
what? Model of play against who? When? With which
players? Model of play what? I cannot answer to that. Am I
too stupid or too smart?”
An astonishing collection of winners’ medals over the past 12
years suggests the latter. Mourinho’s approach, underpinned
by an innate ability to avoid losing big matches, has served
him exceptionally well throughout his stellar career. Last
season Chelsea’s unbeaten record against their top-four
rivals led them to the brink of a Premier League title their
striking options gave them no right to win, and the new
campaign has begun in a similar vein.
At times last season it felt as though Mourinho was indulging
his most puritanical impulses in his attempts to re-mould the
team. Free-spirited Juan Mata was ostracised and sold while
Eden Hazard and Oscar were publicly castigated for
neglecting the defensive arts, even as defeats to Aston Villa,
Crystal Palace and Sunderland showcased Chelsea’s chronic
lack of inspiration going forward.
But time has proved that interpretation false. His new Chelsea
team is as ominously efficient as the old one, but possesses
fluid moving parts capable of drawing gasps of admiration
from even the most ardent away fan.
Cesc Fabregas is a player Arsenal supporters would kill to
see back in their colours, while Hazard, Oscar and Diego
Costa would be prized in almost any team in the world.
Together, some of their combination play has been
breathtaking, and it is no surprise that Roman Abramovich
has never looked happier in his Stamford Bridge executive
box.
There can be no mistaking pragmatism for negativity. If
Chelsea thrill, it is because Mourinho feels he finally has the
superiority, resources and team balance to do so. If any of
those advantages disappear over the course of the season -
as on Sunday at Old Trafford - expect the approach to
change. But don’t expect any shame-faced grimaces at
Stamford Bridge as long as John Terry lifts the Premier
League trophy in May.