Thursday 24 July 2014 09:27, UK
Jose Mourinho is plotting a return to winning ways at Chelsea and a decade of dominance at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese tactician enjoyed a trophy-laden spell in west London between 2004 and 2007, which included two Premier League titles, but ended his first season back in England empty-handed last term.
Challenges were mounted for domestic and European honours, but Chelsea finished third in the league and crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the semi-final stage.
Mourinho’s character does not allow him to settle for second best and he has warned his rivals at home and abroad that plans are being drawn up to ensure that he is soon back on top, with squad strengthening this summer seeing Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis arrive in big-money deals.
This summer we’ve bought new players and we are trying to build for the next decade. And this season we think we are going to be stronger.
“If I didn’t think we would win the Premier League, I would go home and let somebody else take charge of the team,” Mourinho said in the Daily Mirror.
“At Chelsea, if we didn’t think we could win the league, or didn’t think we had the quality to do it, we wouldn’t be here working so hard.
“Last year we reached the semi-finals of the Champions League - and it was a transitional season.
“A team which has been a winning team for 10 seasons is changing step by step.
“We had a very young team at the time but, even so, we reached the semi-finals and were playing to win the competition.
“This summer, we’ve bought new players and we are trying to build for the next decade.
“And this season we think we are going to be stronger. The younger players are more experienced, they are stable and better adapted to fighting for titles.
“You look around, to Spain, Germany and elsewhere in England, teams are getting stronger, spending big amounts of money and trying to sign the best possible players.”
Mourinho added on the challenges facing Chelsea in the pursuit of the 2014/15 Premier League crown: “England is the only country where five or six teams can win the title.
“Football is about competitiveness every weekend and that only happens in the Premier League.
“When you have the two Manchester clubs, the three clubs from London plus Liverpool, that’s six top teams, where all of them can win the title.
“That’s why everybody loves the Premier League.”
