Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho celebrates extraordinary record of 100 wins and
329 points in just 142 Premier League games with 3-1 Manchester United win
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| Jose Mourinho |
It is an illustration of Jose Mourinho’s status as the No 1 celebrity among
the managerial fraternity that his mere appearance in the technical area
yesterday was treated as an act of provocation by the Manchester
United fans.
Mourinho smiled and waved initially but, after being loudly informed that “you
wanted the job”, the Portuguese stopped interacting and simply allowed his
players to provide an eloquent riposte.
Beyond the storm clouds that are gathering above Old Trafford, the work of
Jose Mourinho at Chelsea
has become of far greater relevance to the title race. We probably should
not be surprised – this was his 100th win as a Premier
League manager – but the transformation from the past two seasons is
still fairly startling. Chelsea finished 15 and 14 points adrift of Sir Alex
Ferguson’s United in 2011-12 and then 2012-13.
This morning, eight months on from Ferguson’s retirement and Mourinho’s
return, the distance from Chelsea to United is 12 points.
Mourinho remains adamant that the title is Manuel Pellegrini’s to lose but
Chelsea have now beaten Manchester
City, Liverpool
and United at home. They also still have Arsenal
and Tottenham
Hotspur to come to Stamford Bridge.
With United actually holding their own yesterday in midfield, this 3-1 win was most attributable to towering performances at opposite ends of the Stamford Bridge pitch from John Terry and Samuel Eto’o.
He described his two veterans yesterday as “special” and “fantastic” but their revivals are also prime examples of Mourinho's meticulous tactical preparation and astute man-management. There will have been particular pleasure at how Eto’o so vindicated the surprise decision to start him ahead of Fernando Torres. With Torres later sustaining a lateral knee ligament injury and facing “weeks” on the sidelines, the continuation of Chelsea’s challenge will depend heavily on Eto’o building on this performance.
With United actually holding their own yesterday in midfield, this 3-1 win was most attributable to towering performances at opposite ends of the Stamford Bridge pitch from John Terry and Samuel Eto’o.
He described his two veterans yesterday as “special” and “fantastic” but their revivals are also prime examples of Mourinho's meticulous tactical preparation and astute man-management. There will have been particular pleasure at how Eto’o so vindicated the surprise decision to start him ahead of Fernando Torres. With Torres later sustaining a lateral knee ligament injury and facing “weeks” on the sidelines, the continuation of Chelsea’s challenge will depend heavily on Eto’o building on this performance.
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