Mourinho’s survivors confound the critics

JOSE MOURINHO believes his sickness-ravaged side have made a significant statement of intent to the doubters as they continue their relentless march towards the championship.

The Portuguese coach claims Chelsea have proved hopelessly wrong the critics who believed they would crumble under the weight of a tough holiday programme.

But Mourinho insisted after their 1-0 win over Liverpool that they - as well as himself - have stood up to the pressure and emerged as even stronger title candidates.

Four successive wins with no goals conceded and just four points dropped from the last 42 is an astonishing haul for Chelsea.

“We have survived a crucial period and now we have just Middlesbrough at home on Tuesday to go in this tough spell,” said Mourinho.

“We approached Christmas knowing there were four difficult matches, two of them away at Portsmouth and Liverpool.

“A lot of people felt that Chelsea could drop four or five points over this period and it has been important to show what we are and that we are there at the top for a reason.

“Chelsea last season were doing well but lost consecutive matches in this period and disappeared from the fight.

“Maybe a lot of people were saying it could happen again. So this has been our answer and it will give us even more confidence and self-belief and it shows to Manchester United and Arsenal that they have to fight and play well but it will be difficult for them to catch us.”

And Mourinho admits he is entering a whole new experience for himself as a coach.

“At this time in the Portuguese league I was normally 10 points ahead and winning matches easily; this is a different life and every opponent is difficult,” said the former Porto boss.

Mourinho said of the victory at Anfield: “The players deserved their luck because of the way they fought and worked. It was difficult to play our possession football because Liverpool knew how to stop us.

“It was a game for fighting men, for big characters. Both teams had played two games very close together but both had spirit and the desire to win.

“I think both clubs deserve a lot of respect from people who love football; they showed they were top professionals. But I was proud of my players. If you do not have a strong spirit, and you must have that if you have big targets to achieve, you don’t win matches.