Chelsea 2 - Tottenham 0: Jose Mourinho's 'special' tactics bring home Capital One Cup

Type "special" and "definition" into the ubiquitous search engine and it offers up not one answer but a pair of alternatives.

The most common usage, Special (1), is the Chelsea we were used to during Jose Mourinho's first trophy-laden spell in charge at Stamford Bridge. "Better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual," runs the explanation. As good a description of that team as any.

Yesterday, though, marked a transition into the realms of the secondary definition. It was a meaning of "special" which the Blues boss employed to unexpected, devastating and untouchable effect, essentially winning his side the final against Tottenham in the process.

"Belonging specifically to a particular person or place," Google goes on to say under the heading Special (2). It also offers "distinctive, individual, certain and peculiar" among the list of possible synonyms. All of those qualities applied yesterday to Mourinho's initial team-selection as Mauricio Pochettino was out-thought and Tottenham consequently out-played with specially-tailored tactics that worked perfectly from first whistle to last.

Most people recognise that Mourinho is generally as distinctive and individual as he is certain. But peculiar? Put it this way, there were more than a few people left scratching their heads when Chelsea handed in a team-sheet containing no fewer than four players whose preferred position is centre-back.

Branislav Ivanovic is used to accepting a regular enough place as a right-back, but Kurt Zouma, Gary Cahill and John Terry in the same line-up? How was that going to work? The solution, it transpired, was a 4-1-4-1 system that caught Tottenham on the hop, stifled their most influential players and enabled Chelsea to canter to a comfortable victory without ever getting out of third gear.

The brilliance of the tactic was that it did not even need exemplary performances from Chelsea's players for it to work.

In truth, Kurt Zouma's was little more than adequate as a holding midfielder. But his 6ft3in frame filled up the space just in front of the back two which both Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen like to exploit. Moreover, when the right-footed Nacer Chadli and left-footed Andros Townsend both looked to cut inside, his sizeable presence was an evident deterrent.

Tottenham quickly began to rely solely on any loose scraps they could get - and that may still have been enough for an early lead but for the woodwork.

When Cesc Fabregas halted Kane unceremoniously as the England under-21 international threated to weave his way past him and into the penalty area, it gave Eriksen a set-piece sight of goal. Sadly for the north Londoners, his shot could only cannon back off the crossbar. It was to be the last time that Chelsea's supremacy looked in any way threatened.

Nevertheless, the game remained balanced until the stroke of half-time, when Willian's free-kick flicked off Danny Rose, hit Dier's chest and bounced invitingly into the path of Terry. The former England captain needed no second invitation to force the ball over the line.

It was precisely the worst time to concede a goal, but even in the half-time interval Pochettino was clearly at a loss to conjure something equally special in return.

Instead, Chelsea continued to press their supremacy, with Fabregas's overhead kick testing Hugo Lloris on his goal-line just four minutes after the re-start.