STAMFORD BRIDGE UNCOVERED: Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea have won the title
JOSE MOURINHO has become used to having the last laugh generally throughout his career, but seldom have the pearls of surprisingly high-pitch mirth been as carefree as they were in West Ham’s cramped press room after Chelsea maintained their five-point advantage over Manchester City with a hard-fought win against the Hammers.
Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea have won the Premier League title
All rolled into one, it was a guffaw of schoolboy delight. A chuckle at the vanity of modern footballers and a quiet snigger at the FA.
But mainly it was a laugh of relief. Jose Mourinho’s mood was suddenly so good, in fact, that it is as though he finally convinced himself that, for all the posturing and mind games still to go, Chelsea are definitely going to win the title.
Nemanja Matic failed to escape his two-match ban unscathed, having twisted his ankle in the post-match celebrations at Wembley following the Capital One Cup final win against Tottenham. But Chelsea did.
In his absence, another pot was locked away in the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet and the perfect return secured from an awkward-looking fixture at West Ham.
The reaction on Wednesday night showed that the prospect of a trip to Upton Park without Matic was what all the fuss had been about from the moment he had been shown his red card for reacting to Ashley Barnes’ horrendous lunge.
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While most fans focused on the disappointment of Matic missing the final, Mourinho’s immediate thoughts were already of that visit to the Hammers.
By appealing that a three match ban was too harsh a punishment rather than it being a wrongful dismissal in the first place, Mourinho automatically wrote off Matic’s Wembley chances.
The aim of scouring the FA’s disciplinary code to uncover that path much-less travelled was to give Matic the best chance possible of facing West Ham.
Mourinho’s moods can sometimes be read like a book
Consequently, Mourinho was dismayed when the FA decided that the shove on Barnes still merited a two-match ban, rather than the one-game which all at Stamford Bridge had expected.
So the fact that Matic’s celebration injury would have ruled him out on Wednesday night anyway meant that the FA’s heavy-handed punishment had not, in the end, made any difference. Mourinho 1 The FA 0, in his mind at least.
“I'm not kidding!” Mourinho corpsed. “He got an injury celebrating the cup! He twisted his ankle. He had shin pads on Sunday, but he didn't have tape on!”
Mourinho’s moods can sometimes be read like a book. Miserable as sin when things go against him, but on night’s like Wednesday, when his side had shown their title credentials, he simply cannot contain himself. And that is significant.
ACTION
Jose Mourinho celebrates Chelsea's victory with his skipper John Terry
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Having been privileged enough to spend time with the Portuguese on each of the last two of the club’s pre-season tours, the mood then was contrasting, too.
In the Far East, as the club chased the signature of Wayne Rooney in vain two years ago, he knew his squad was not quite there.
Their subsequent close contention for the title was more surprising to Mourinho than anybody, whose pre-season talk had been of ifs and buts. But his reticence had been well-judged.
Then in Austria last July, on the other hand, the old fire was there again. The rhetoric, the belief. In Diego Costa Mourinho knew he had the final piece of his jigsaw and you sensed then that once again the Special One felt Chelsea were truly special again and would be the season’s team to beat.
The fact that West Ham couldn’t manage it – having toppled Manchester City, Liverpool and very nearly Manchester United – rubber-stamped Mourinho’s view that in the games that really matter, his side are the without question the best in the this season’s Premier League.
Of course there will sulks and strops between now and May, as Mourinho cajoles and nudging his players – and the odd official, one suspects – along the right path.
But with two defeats and a draw in hand over City, he can now all but write off games against Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool and still keep Chelsea’s noses in front.
West Ham were Mourinho’s last big unknown. From here on in, that smile – and occasional laugh – can be a knowing one.
