Chelsea vs Southampton: Jose Mourinho counts on league title No 8 to cheer himself up

The Blues are targeting a trophy double this season having already secured the Capital One Cup

Jose Mourinho (GETTY IMAGES)

In the long dark hours of the night few football managers find peace after a defeat. Some take sleeping tablets, some watch the match video over and over, some lie in bed, pondering their mistakes. Harry Redknapp has claimed he gets up and mows the lawn.

So what did Jose Mourinho do on Wednesday night? Maybe he counted his triumphs, because in response to Chelsea’s Champions League exit to Paris St Germain he has come out swinging. Having taken down Graeme Souness with a withering line about envy on Friday, today he banged his own drum.

It is widely suspected Mourinho’s ‘unfinished business’ with Chelsea, the reason he returned, is his failure to win the the Champions League with them. That the club did so under Roberto Di Matteo sharpens the pain. Success, moreover, would make Mourinho the first man to win the trophy with three clubs after succeeding with Porto in 2004 and Internazionale in 2010. It would be a remarkable achievement and confirmation that he is, indeed, the special one.

However, in the club’s Cobham retreat, he insisted “it is wrong to assume that”. Mourinho added: “People are too worried about me. They don’t know what my happiness is. My happiness, first of all, is when I compare myself with the others, I see just a few that are with me in terms of success. The others I see a huge distance [behind].

“This is not a fight with them and I have lots of respect for all of them. But in the Premier League, who is European champion? Me and [Louis] van Gaal. In the Premier League, how many has won it twice or more? Mr [Arsene] Wenger and myself. How many has won every competition in this country? You go to Europe, how many won seven league titles? How many has won two Champions Leagues? [Carlo] Ancelotti has won three and Pep [Guardiola] has two. I am not content with that, but you are too worried about me. What makes me feel special is that I am above all of this.”

The memories of football managers can be imprecise at times but with regard to current club managers Mourinho’s facts - aside from not noting Van Gaal has also won seven domestic league titles, were correct. He had studied them.

Mourinho went on to point out the last time he went out at the last 16 stage with Chelsea, to Barcelona in 2006, “we were champions that season. It was a fantastic season for us”.

A repeat seems likely, and with Europe off the table the Premier League crown, which would be Chelsea’s first for five years, is prized even more. “I think it’s the main target for everyone,” he said, “all the big teams at the beginning of the season. It is more and more difficult.”

It is less difficult for Chelsea now, with daylight between themselves and their pursuers. “Eleven matches: We need nine victories,” said Mourinho, speaking before City’s defeat at Turf Moor. Holding up nine fingers, then counting down, he said: “At the moment we have enough fingers. One month ago, not enough fingers. There will be a moment where we need five victories… we need four victories… this is a good way to do it. Don’t think about Man City, don’t think about Arsenal, just think about us.”

Sunday’s visit to Stamford Bridge of Southampton, fading slightly but still performing much better than anticipated, offers the chance of reducing the victory target by one. Mourinho is not making any assumptions. “Since the beginning [of the season], I was thinking that they are a very good team. Can they finish fourth? That’s a different story. I don’t know. But they are dangerous.”

But, he was confident, he added, there would not be a repeat of last season’s late slip-ups against mid and lower table teams. “We are winning lots of these kinds of matches. We won at Palace, we won at Villa, we won at West Ham, we won at Stoke. We won lots of these difficult matches. We can cope with them.”