Jose Mourinho (in pic) left his players in little doubt that he expected them to show no mercy in the pursuit of what would be only their second league title since his first spell in charge ended six years ago.
The win against Hull City on Sunday saw Chelsea threaten to do just that as they romped to a 2-0 lead inside 25 minutes, producing just the kind of football owner Roman Abramovich has long been seeking. However, their second-half display bore more resemblance to Mourinho’s first stint as Chelsea manager, when wins by one or two goals and a clean sheet became the norm.
It is becoming increasingly clear that is no longer acceptable for Abramovich or Mourinho, who transformed his reputation for cautious football during his goal-laden three years at Real Madrid. Having seen Manchester United and City both score four times in their Premier league openers, the Portuguese insisted that Chelsea’s title rivals would not hesitate to put his own players to the sword if they had the chance.
He said: “We want to win matches. But what I like is that when you have the chance to destroy teams, to beat them by three, four, or five, we have to do it. If someone has the chance to do it to you, they will not forgive you, they will give you nothing. If someone feels that they can do it to us, they will do it.” If the record 8-0 win against Aston Villa last season is anything to go by, Chelsea will never have a better chance to show Mourinho that they can “destroy” an opponent than at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Those with most to prove to their new manager this evening appear to be the trio of attackers behind the main striker, who Mourinho accused of disappearing in the second half against Hull. Echoing the kind of statements that got the best out of Joe Cole during his first spell in charge, Mourinho warned Eden Hazard in particular not to “waste” his talent.
He said of the £32IJmillion man he has nicknamed ‘Eddie’: “I want more responsibility and more ambition. When you are a normal player, you have to be happy if you perform OK, when you have actions during the game that show quality. “But when you are a top talent, you can’t waste that talent. He has the conditions to be a top player. This is what I want. Whether I can get it, I don’t know but he is working very, very hard.”