Chelsea vs Crystal Palace: Champions’ critics ‘are like dogs that bark at a caravan,' says Jose Mourinho

Chelsea 1 Crystal Palace 0

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Jose Mourinho revelled in his third Premier League title as Chelsea manager yesterday, telling those who questioned his team that they were like dogs futilely barking at a passing caravan.

That was the old Portuguese expression Mourinho used as he described how Chelsea’s performance in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace that confirmed their title underlined all the qualities that made them this season’s comfortable champions.

“We did everything the team needs to do,” Mourinho said. “That’s why we’re champions. That’s why we deserve it. Everybody knows that. The people who have a big face to say we don’t deserve it are the ones who – as we say in my country – are like the dogs who bark as the caravan goes by.”

Chelsea have faced some recent criticism – more on grounds of style than substance – but Mourinho said they had not always received sufficient credit.

“During the season we had some crucial moments that we coped with in a fantastic way,” he said. “On 1 January, when we were equal points with Man City after a heavy defeat against Tottenham, instead of being a turning point was our last defeat. From that moment, not one single defeat. Without Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic, Loïc Rémy, Ramires, but the team was always there. I repeat: I think everybody knows that we deserve it. But some don’t say it. They know.”

Mourinho, who won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2004-05 and 2005-06, said that his decision to risk his popularity at Stamford Bridge by returning had been vindicated. “In my country, they say don’t go back somewhere you were happy before because you risk that,” he said. “So I took that risk.”

He added: “Different moments, different teams, different Premierships. The first one [2004-05] was difficult because it was the first one for Chelsea in the new Premier League. This one is completely different. Chelsea, the opponents, the league are all different.

“So many of them [the players] win it for the first time, which is something they have to learn to do. I’m so happy for them, and so proud because everything we did since day one, now we feel we got what we deserved.”

Amid all the celebration the triumphant manager still found room for a dig at his great rival Pep Guardiola, in a veiled reference to the relative ease of winning the title in different countries.

“For me, maybe it is a special feeling because I’m not the smartest guy to choose countries and clubs,” Mourinho said, with the first answer of his press conference. “I could choose another club in another country where it’s easier to be champions, but I chose the most difficult league in Europe.”

The implication was that it is not hard to win the Bundesliga as Bayern Munich coach and, to reinforce the point, Mourinho returned to the topic with his final answer of the press conference. “I was champion in every club I coached: Porto, Inter, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Chelsea again,” he said. “Every title was important for different reasons. But maybe in the future I have to be smarter and choose another country, another club where everybody is champions, even where the kit man is champion coaching in some countries.”

There was also a jibe from John Terry – after his fourth Premier League title with Chelsea – at Rafael Benitez, the club’s interim manager in the 2012-13 season, who did not pick Terry as much as the captain would have liked. “One person said I couldn’t play twice in a week,” Terry said. “He knows who he is. I’m still here, still fighting.”