José Mourinho celebrated his first league title since returning to Chelsea by making clear he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge for many years and using an old Portuguese saying to explain why he would not be swayed by “the dogs” who criticise his team’s style.
Mourinho said he would remain in his job “for as long as Mr Abramovich wants me” after Eden Hazard’s goal gave his team a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace to confirm the title, before mounting a robust defence to the suggestion that Chelsea have not played with enough adventure since the turn of the year.
“We’ve shown everything since day one,” Mourinho said. “Everything football demands from a team we have had.
“We had fantastic attacking football, fantastic domination, high percentages of ball possession, low percentages when we let the opposition have the ball strategically and times when we have defended amazingly well.
“We did everything the team needs to do. That’s why we’re champions. That’s why we deserve it. Everybody knows that. The people who have a big face to say we don’t deserve it are the ones who, in my country, we have a saying for: the dogs bark and the caravan goes by.”
That saying – os cães ladram mas a caravana passa – comes after what Mourinho perceives as undue criticism about his team’s style of play. “It’s easy to be a pundit,” Mourinho said. “As a pundit you win every game. You don’t lose matches – fantastic job really. Maybe in 10 years’ time, it’s my job. Then I win every game.
“Now, as a manager, I lose sometimes and it’s a much more difficult job. But that the players are feeling now is fantastic. They deserve it.
“We have been convinced about it for a long time. My experience, my maturity, was always present in the control of the emotions and the situation and during the season we had some crucial moments that we coped with in a fantastic way.
“On 1 January we were equal points with Man City after a heavy defeat against Tottenham and instead of that being a turning point that was actually our last defeat.
“From that moment not one single defeat. So, I repeat, I think everybody knows that we deserve it. It’s just that some don’t say it. But they know.”
Mourinho’s first reaction at the final whistle was to find his family in the stand and the manager admitted it has been a difficult week for him with his father falling ill and being taken to hospital in Portugal. “When the game finished at Leicester I immediately got a private plane to go to Portugal and I was there with him at the most difficult moment, which was the surgery. After that everything is under control. He’s strong, getting better and better. I’m much more relaxed.”
Mourinho paid tribute to Abramovich – “He is the man who won every title at Chelsea; if he has replicas, he needs a big house” – and, true to form, he also praised his own work. “For me it’s a special feeling because I’m maybe not the smartest guy when it comes to choosing countries and clubs. I could have chosen another club in another country where it’s easier to be champions but I chose the most difficult league in Europe and club where I was happy before. In my country they say not to go back somewhere you were happy before because you risk that. So I took that risk. I’m so happy to win another Premier League title.”