Jose
Mourinho’s achievements at Chelsea shouldn’t be underestimated and are down
to shrewd transfer dealings, say the
Sky Sports pundits.
The Blues boss has guided his side to their first Premier League title in
five years, and his third in charge of the club after returning last season.
Mourinho has brought in several players who have been key figures in
Chelsea’s title push, and Jamie Carragher told Super Sunday that wise
recruitment has set his side apart.
“People who don’t like Mourinho have always thrown at him that, wherever he
goes, he always has huge amounts of money to spend,” he said.
“But I think it’s been shown in the past – there have been plenty of
managers who have gone to big clubs, spent big money, couldn’t handle being
at a big club and failed.
“Here, the other teams he’s come up against for the title – United, City,
Arsenal, Liverpool – have all spent more money in the last two years than
this Chelsea team.
“He wasn’t coming into a Chelsea team that were champions so you could say
‘he doesn’t need to spend as much, he’s got the best team’ – he’s joined a
Chelsea team that’s gone five years without winning the league.
“We shouldn’t underestimate how big a job he’s done here. We associate
Chelsea with winning titles, but that was in Mourinho’s early days.
“To come in now and compete with City and United, who both had better teams
when he first came in, and to spend less money than them, it’s a monumental
achievement. It just shows what a top manager he is.”
Mourinho also made some high-profile sales since taking over, most notably
the transfers of Juan Mata to Manchester United and David Luiz to Paris
Saint-Germain.
Thierry Henry also hailed the impact made by the 52-year-old, saying he has
quickly identified what he needs while making his mark on the squad at
Stamford Bridge.
“With Financial Fair Play you can’t do what you used to do – so for the
likes of Chelsea it’s more difficult to spend,” he said.
“But there is something Mourinho had to do when he arrived – he wanted to
get rid of some players here that were not ‘his’ players.
“He got rid of Juan Mata – people argued with that – David Luiz, Samuel
Eto’o and Fernando Torres left. Sometimes it’s not about money and what you
do with it, it’s who you are buying.
“He went out there to buy the players Chelsea were missing, whether they
were big money or not. Nemanja Matic, for me, was as important as Fabregas.
“You have to give him credit because he had to make sure he could readjust
that Chelsea side that he took on board, to make it his Chelsea side.
“It took him two years, but he won the double.”
Eidur Gudjohnsen won two league titles with Chelsea during Mourinho's first
reign at Stamford Bridge, and the former Blues striker hailed the coach's
determination, while saying he now has to motivate his players to defend
their title.
"It’s an incredible desire – almost addiction – to win," he said. "He’s
obsessed with the game, he’s always one step ahead of the rest and his
record shows it.
"The biggest task is to retain it. The Premier League is probably the most
difficult to win, first of all, and you need that energy to go again."
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