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He produced a miracle in turning Porto's humble water into vintage wine last
season, yet the cynics are already suggesting Jose Mourinho has bitten off
more than he can chew as he squares up to Arsenal in his first season as
Chelsea manager.
It would be foolish to describe the Premiership title race as a two horse race
in the first week of October, yet such is the commanding nature of Arsenal's
rampant form that it is hard to see them dropping enough points to allow the
likes of Liverpool or even Manchester United back into the battle.
With Chelsea standing a mere two points behind the Gunners, they have a right
to be satisfied with their start, yet they are getting few of the lavish
headlines bestowed on their London rivals. As Arsene Wenger's men have notched
up 26 goals in their eight league fixtures, the Blues have picked up their 20
points by firing a slender eight goals.
'Wait till Arsenal play Manchester United on October 24 before you say they
are unbeatable,' is the repost of Mourinho of a side whose run without defeat
has now stretched to a remarkable 48. 'Once they lose a game, people may
believe they have a chance against them. At the moment, they go into games
against Arsenal with fear.'
While the style of victory achieved by the top two could not be more
contrasting, Chelsea winger Damien Duff insists the chasm between them is not
as vast as it appears. Citing last season's Champions League triumph achieved
by the Stamford Bridge club at fortress at Highbury, the Irishman is convinced
the arrival of Mourinho has given Chelsea the extra edge they need to overhaul
Wenger's men.
'Going to Arsenal and knocking them out of the Champions League last season
may just be a big result for us,' begins Duff. 'We had not beaten them in 20
games or so and it was becoming something of a problem for us. That's out of
the way now and people won't be talking about our bad record against Arsenal
the next time we play them.
'We won nothing last season and the ambition of this club is to challenge for
both the Premiership title and Champions League this season. That is a
realistic target even though Arsenal are looking awesome at the moment.
'They are ripping teams apart and beating them by three or four goals every
week and the challenge for the rest of us is to catch them. Also, you can
never right off Manchester United. I expect them to be challenging for the
title right till the end.'
Getting an insight into the management style employed by the Champions League
winning coach of 2004 is no easy task. Adrian Mutu's outburst while he is a
away with Romania this week was a rare blip in Mourinho's ability to keep
voices of dissent among his players quiet and Duff, in particular, had cause
to feel frustrated earlier this season.
Left out of the side for the first few games, the flying winger questioned
whether he could force his way into Mourinho's plans, but even at that point
his impressions of the Portuguese coach who replaced Claudio Ranieri were
all positive.
'Training with Mr Mourinho has been great, I have to say that,' he confirms.
'This manager means business. Even from working with him on the training
ground, I can see why he rated as one of the best in the world. We watch videos
of every opponent for a few minutes before each game and he is spot on with
his observations. It has to be done in the modern game.
'His training sessions are all ball work and you won't find many footballers
complaining about that. We had to wait a long time to get the ball out last
season, but it's not been a problem this time.'
The Mourinho mantra is very different to that of his key rivals in the
Premiership. While Arsene Wenger charms the media with is silky tongue and
Alex Ferguson attempts to frighten them into submission, the new-boy to the
party holds fort at Chelsea's training ground with steely confidence.
Mourinho shows a degree of arrogant bravado in front of the cameras, yet it
appears to be watered down behind closed doors and his players seem to
delight in his ploy of piling all the pressure on himself and away from their
heavy shoulders.
'The boss is a fairly serious guy, but we are not in this for fun,' continues
Duff. 'This is a tough business and if we want to win the top trophies, we
have to have a professional approach. It's work and not play. That's his
attitude and it has to be ours as well.
'I'd say we have all improved as players after working with him for a couple
of months. The training sessions he puts on are interesting and he has got the
results so far. It was frustrating when I wasn't in the side, but we got off
to a good start to the season, so it was hard for him to change a winning
formation.'
Duff's inclusion for the recent games against Middlesbrough, Porto and
Liverpool suggests he is winning over a boss who felt his fitness was lacking
after an injury plagued season last time around and the man in charge may just
have left him out in a bid to sharpen up his appetite. 'I don't want people to
be happy sitting on the bench,' states Mourinho. 'Duff was out at the start,
but he worked hard and got himself back to a level where he was ready to play.
'I have picked the same six players for every game this season in Cech,
Ferreira, Terry, Makelele, Lampard and Drogba. This is my spine of the team
and the rest can change from time to time.
'When we get into the second half of the season, I will look to change all
parts of the side. At this stage, players can play three times a week no
problem, so why change things if they are going well? I am happy to have 20
points now if we continue like this, we will not be far behind Arsenal,
let me tell you.'
The confusion and chaos that undermined their challenge under Claudio Ranieri
last season has been banished as this looks set to be a more settled Chelsea
bandwagon. However, only winning will do for Jose Mourinho and whether they
are a match for a rampant Arsenal remains to be seen.
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