Having seemingly declared by mid March of 2014 that his Chelsea side were ill-equipped to win the Premier League it was curious to see what Jose Mourinho would do to his playing staff to see his side fit to win the title for the 2014/15 campaign. What ensued of course was signings which worked brilliantly, and a title challenge that barely registered as a challenge, where the Blues strolled to the title, confirming the win with three weeks to go.
A relatively disappointing 3rd place finish in 2013/14, accompanied with an out-of-sorts Jose Mourinho left the masses scratching their heads – what was wrong with the once great Portuguese managerial master? – An ill-equipped squad, seemingly. In the summer the Blues quickly moved for Atletico’s Diego Costa, while then securing Cesc Fabregas, among others. But the aforementioned duo were of course key to the Blues Premier League victory this season, especially in the opening half of the season.
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Another pertinent point worth noting too, was Mourinho’s ‘second season syndrome’ – they’re often far more prosperous than his first at a club. This has been the case of Inter, Real Madrid and Porto. Even while his first stint at Chelsea didn’t see a trophy accumulation improvement in the second season, it wasn’t any worse. Mourinho had always stressed that the second season upon his return to Chelsea would be when we’d all see what his team was capable of and it didn’t take long for the summer signings to click into gear.
Costa scored seven goals in his first four Premier League appearances, while Cesc Fabregas’s pass against Burnley remains one of the stand-out moments of the season. Mourinho’s Blues hit top spot that Monday night after the first round of games and proved to be the Premier League’s dominant team from that stage onwards – picking up 36 points from the first 14 games.
The early part of the season defied the ‘boring Mourinho’ perceptions, largely due to Fabregas’ sumptuous playmaking abilities. That free-flowing opening period included magnificent performances in the process with Mourinho’s men hitting Everton for six, winning at Anfield against Liverpool and easing past Arsenal.
The following second half of the season never had the same verse as the opening same months, but the positive results, if not the performances, kept flowing. Injuries to Diego Costa were an integral cause of the relatively stagnant performances, where Mourinho looked to the defence more often.
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Chelsea enjoyed the most peculiar of unbeatable, yet un-impressive form: going 16 Premier League games unbeaten from New Year’s Day with Mourinho maintaining his unbeaten record against title rivals since his return to English football. John Terry soon came to the fore, ending the season as the outstanding defender of the season, while Eden Hazard was ever-impressive.
While there was Champions League disappointment with a round-of-16 exit at the hands of Paris St Germain, the domestic crown was wrapped up with three games to spare. It’s Chelsea’s first league title since 2009/10 and the fifth in the club’s 110-year history. Next season it is simply a case of trying to ward of the likely challengers of Manchester City, then perhaps Arsenal and Manchester United too. The last team to win back-to-back Premier League titles was of course Man United in 07-08/08-09 so a new and exciting challenge is set for Mourinho’s men next season.