How Mourinho Secured the Premier League Title (Part I)

Chelsea were the only side that remained consistent through the 2014-2015 Premier League season.

The Blues defeated Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday with Eden Hazard’s goal. The Belgian winger failed to convert a penalty in the 45th minute of the game but he scored from the rebound. Since Palace weren’t able to produce an equalizer, Chelsea grabbed the points that secured them the title by reaching a sixteen-point lead ahead city rivals Arsenal who had five matches to go, according to mobile betting news.

Consistency beats spectacle

To play beautiful football is one thing and to win the league is another. Sometimes the two constellates but you don’t win a title by dominating possession and scoring backheel goals. You can win certain games with them but consistency delivers the title. From the top teams of the Premier League Chelsea were clearly the most consistent side in the 2014-2015 season and that provided them the title naturally.

• Mourinho is terrific
• Chelsea were unchallenged
• Terry levelled Keane

To conquer the Premier League, you have to win above 60 percent of your games and you should not lost most of the remaining 40 percent either, according to the statistics of online sportsbooks in the UK. This is not enough for the title in itself, but if your matches against your biggest rivals resulted in wins or draws in addition to your winning percentage, you can put the champagne on ice. Mourinho did just that, the third times in his fourth full season as the manager of Chelsea.

Lack of contest

Jose Mourinho’s reactive football delivered the title easily in a season, when no top sides were able to maintain their form. Arsenal had a wonderful series that ended recently, a run reminiscent of the invincible campaign. Nevertheless, they blew it all away at the start of the Premier League season, managing only two wins in the first two months and getting eleven points of possible 24.

Then there were Manchester City. The Sky Blues were engaged in a desperate fight with Chelsea by Christmas, but after that they completely lost their thing winning only five of their next fourteen games and almost slipping from top four. With three wins they consolidated their position however, and now Liverpool have a shot at catching the other team from Manchester instead, who in recent weeks were going in exactly the opposite way.

It looked like the team started to respond to Louis van Gaal’s footballing philosophy the best possible way in February, starting a series of win that lasted for six matches. They swapped their convincing run though for three defeats in a row against Chelsea, Everton and West Bromwich Albion, teams capable of applying reactive football in the most effective way in the Premier League. Thus Man United is in Liverpool’s cross-hairs now, but this will be a longshot as the Red Devils are four points ahead with three games remaining.

Liverpool fought for the title last season, losing it because of Chelsea’s reactive football actually. Yet this year they have been in contention for Premier League qualification only, after Brendan Rodgers lost his attacking duo through the departure of Luis Suarez and the injuries of Daniel Sturridge. Rodgers had to come up with something different, but they were far from the convincing display they showed last spring, and gambling news reported that now banners are flying demanding the Northern Irishman to leave Anfield.

Mourinho’s record is huge

So, nothing really special was required from Rodgers’ former mentor, the Special One, in a season that unfolded in a hectic way with all of the teams looking for their form in the biggest part of the year. Yet Mourinho still maintained his excellent home league record remaining unbeaten in seventeen games before wrapping up the title. The Portuguese has only one home league defeat in 96 matches with Chelsea, the one failure coming twelve months ago when Sunderland defeated them at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho’s games per trophy statistics are even more impressive as he won a trophy in every 34 matches with his teams throughout his career so far. Regarding trophies, especially league titles, he is simply terrific at Chelsea having won the championship in three of his four full seasons. Within the team John Terry has the most titles with four, and he won all of them as team captain thus levelling Roy Keane’s record for the player with the most Premier League titles as team captain.

In the next part we take a closer look on how the campaign unfolded for Chelsea and on Mourinho’s approach that featured a significant change halfway into the season. We will include an early forecast for the 2015-2016 Premier League season as well based on online betting patterns and the analysis of the present and projected situation at top teams.