This is a man that has won everything there is to win, Mourinho has won Premier League titles, Champions League and domestic titles in Spain and Italy. So it may surprise many, on how highly ‘the special one’ holds the Capital One Cup. During his years at Chelsea he has never shied away from his intentions of winning every trophy possible.
In his first spell in London, the Capital One Cup (previously known as the Carling Cup) was the first trophy Jose Mourinho lifted with the Blues. Chelsea defeated Liverpool in the Millennium Stadium, goals came from Didier Drogba, Mateja Kezman and a Steven Gerrard own goal.
Over the years, the League Cup has been something the top teams choose not to prioritise. Against lower league opposition, top teams are known to field weakened teams and hand first team chances to youth team players. This is something Mourinho did not agree with as he wanted to win all that there was to win. With it being the first trophy for Chelsea, it would go down in the history of the club. Since the 2005 final, Chelsea have reached two finals. Playing against both North London sides, Arsenal and Tottenham. Chelsea managed to beat Arsenal in 2007 to secure another League Cup trophy.
The importance of that trophy showed, in an interview between former Chelsea star Joe Cole and ChelseaTV. The English midfielder played in the final against Liverpool, he had this to say on the victory: “it was like holding the Premier League, Champions League and the Oscars in one!” The line from Joe Cole really stressed the importance of winning the trophy at that moment in time. The spirit of winning the first League Cup looks to have followed Mourinho into his second spell at Chelsea. Speaking on Goals on Sunday, Mourinho stated: “A final, is a final.”
During the year of Jose Mourinho’s return at Chelsea, he led Chelsea to the quarter final where they lost to Sunderland, who were eventual runners up to Manchester City. In 2015 Mourinho has now led Chelsea to the final of the Capital One Cup. The Blue’s defeated Liverpool over two legs to set up a final against London rivals, Tottenham.
Throughout the rounds of this year’s Capital One Cup, Chelsea have faced lower league opposition in the forms of Bolton, League two side Shrewsbury and Championship high flyers Derby County. Despite the lower league opposition, Mourinho has showed the strength in depth Chelsea boast by naming strong starting eleven’s in each round. Kurt Zouma and Oscar scoring the goals against Bolton, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard and Schurrle have also all scored on route to Wembley.
Some fans may not agree with fielding such strong teams for extra games. Many believe it can hinder the team’s tittle challenge with the extra games. However for me it is a breath of fresh air on the top clubs in the Premier League. As previously mentioned, the Capital One Cup can often be over looked and not shown the respect it deserves. I feel Mourinho’s spirit and drive towards the cup can be infectious on the players. I believe other Premier League managers should learn from that also, it is still a great chance to achieve silverware, for Premier League sides out of the top four it is a passage into European football.
Continuing further into Mourinho’s interview on Goals on Sunday, the comparisons between the side of 2004-05 and his current squad began. Mourinho refused to compare the side, because the current squad are yet to win any trophies. In contrast though, he did speak about how the winning the then Carling Cup started the beginning of Chelsea. The side of 2004-05 then went on to win the Premier League, Community Shield, FA Cup over the next few years. In his first spell at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho built a squad for the next decade, with Petr Cech and John Terry the only remaining players. He was handed the same task on his return by Roman Abramovich. For players such as Eden Hazard, Oscar and Zouma whom are going to make up the future of Stamford Bridge, winning the League Cup will be a great opportunity for them to experience and will aid installing a trophy winning mentality. To offer players their first taste of silverware will give them the boost they need to push on in the future and strive towards more success under Jose Mourinho.
I believe Chelsea face a very tough task in the Capital One Cup final, against Tottenham who embarrassed the blues at White Hart Lane. However Chelsea did dominate the game between the two sides at Stamford Bridge. If Chelsea were to be without Nemanja Matic, it would be their task considerably harder. Never the less I am confident in Chelsea’s and Jose’s ability to perform on the biggest stage of them.
