Unfriendly fire fuels Chelsea’s title tilt
Mourinho's counterparts at Manchester United and Arsenal tried to destabilise Chelsea's title aspirations with a volley of pre-Christmas comments.
But the Chelsea chief insists they had precisely the opposite effect.
He claimed the remarks only served to heighten Chelsea's motivation during their crucial festive fixtures.
Ferguson claimed that Chelsea would struggle to claim points in the north, but Mourinho's side answered that jibe by achieving a notable victory over Liverpool at Anfield.
Chelsea went unbeaten through their four festive period games without conceding a goal.
Mourinho said: "The big secret was the pressure that some tried to put on us and the way that the team wanted to show we are not worried by that pressure, and we are ready to cope with it.
"Everyone was thinking of a 'blip' or at least that we would lose some points, but we didn't. We just won four consecutive matches.
"The four games in 10 days are always dangerous. We showed game after game that we are strong mentally and I think that our direct opponents were not expecting that.
"As we showed we were strong enough, I think they lost a bit of their confidence and motivation.
"But as I said to the players, when you are top of the league, you can make a mistake.
"Because you can make a mistake, you have no pressure. And if you have no pressure, normally you don't make mistakes. So we had a good chance to play cool.
"The Liverpool and Portsmouth games were good examples of that, just waiting for the right moment to score.
"The players were magnificent to play two away games with just 24 hours' rest and to spend New Year's Eve in the hotel, just speaking on the phone with their families."
Mourinho's assistant Steve Clarke added: "We are enjoying it when other teams talk about us.
"They would not be doing that if we were not in contention. We enjoy being out in front."
"All we can do is keep on winning and when other clubs speak about us, it is good because it means we are top of the league."
The mathematics are becoming clearer every week and everyone at Stamford Bridge is well aware of them.
Wenger has told his troops that they must win 14 out of the final 15 games to stand any hope of winning the title.
For Chelsea, the sums are far more simple and achievable just 12 wins out of 15 will ensure the title will be heading to Stamford Bridge for the first time in 50 years.
It is a target that Mourinho insists is rammed home to his squad every day.
Mourinho added: "We have a big target to achieve and we think of this target every day, not once a month. "We think what we want and we want to win the league. Now we know that we are 10 points ahead with 15 matches to go. We know that if we can win a certain amount of matches we are champions that is an extra motivation.
"So I think we are ready to make even more sacrifices to achieve it.
"The only thing the players want is to be champions. They know the contribution is great from everyone. So they are not jealous.
"I would say in some difficult groups, it could be a problem when people just spoke about Robben, Lampard and Terry, and other players were forgotten.
"But they know that I don't forget, that they are the same for me, and that without one of them, we couldn't do what we are doing.
"The spirit is fantastic and we just want to win the championship. Personal things will come as a consequence but nobody here is looking to be the player or manager of the year."
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