Still special: Mourinho has made Chelsea believe the title is theirs
Jose Mourinho has made his Chelsea side think their name is on the title, the Blues revealed today.
Mourinho's men are unbeaten after six games in all competition and four clear of their major rivals despite Frank Lampard's late equaliser for Manchester City on Sunday.
Chelsea, who won the League Cup twice in Mourinho's first spell, kick off their bid to land the season's first trophy against Bolton tomorrow.
But the real targets for the Stamford Bridge side are far greater than the Capital One Cup.
And assistant boss Steve Holland admitted Mourinho has made his men confident of a glory-strewn season.
"Last year we hoped we'd win the title," said Holland. "This year we believe.
"Jose has always pushed to the maximum, every day of his life and I can't remember going into any game where he hasn't believed we were capable of getting a result.
"But this year there is a greater belief than last year. We feel the squad we've got, the depth and balance in the squad, means we're better in all areas.
"Over the last few seasons, City have been the team to beat, so powerful. In the year before Jose came back, we played them five times, including two games in the USA, and didn't win any of them.
"Since then, we've beaten them twice and were within five minutes of doing so again.
"Physically, mentally and tactically the team has progressed. We feel we're ready."
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Mourinho is set to rotate his squad, with potential first starts of the season for Petr Cech, French defender Kurt Zouma, John Obi Mikel, Mohamed Salah and Loic Remy.
But Holland dismissed the gripes from City boss Manuel Pellegrini over his side's Etihad attitude, pointing to his own killer stats.
"In the Premier League we've scored 16 goals in five matches," he added. "Without being petty, Manchester City have scored eight in five.
"Jose has always been very clever tactically against the bigger clubs. Last year proved that. I'm sure he'll continue down that line.
"I don't think there's any need to respond beyond that. We'll just continue with our work and try to win as many football matches as possible."
Source: Mirror UK
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