Jose enjoys natural high

Chelsea 2 Fulham 0

In fact, he had a rather distinctive description of it.

“To win is the real doping. The fair doping is a victory. The day after, you wake up early and it’s easy; very, very easy to go to training. So we needed a victory to relax a little bit and we go from there.”

There was certainly a different vibe after the 2-0 win over Fulham, the pressure of the previous week and three consecutive games without a win finally lifted; a fair few questions answered.

The only thing is, that very victory gave rise to another question which looks set to linger for some time: what exactly is happening with Juan Mata? Just a day after Mourinho stated it was up to the Spaniard to dislodge Oscar in order to get into the starting 11, he left him out of the entire squad. At the least, the Chelsea manager had the perfect response, given that Oscar scored the key goal in the 52nd minute that finally set the side on their way with a close-range finish. It was just as well, because Mourinho did not elaborate on the Mata situation further after his immediate post-game comments that the player needs to adjust and prove him wrong.

Gary Cahill believes such decisions healthily keep the team on edge.

“Obviously with the manager, if you slip up, you will be out of the side. It’s as simple as that. He has his own reasons for things and there is great competition.”

Of course, Mourinho has the record to ensure his decisions are usually given the benefit of the doubt — even if he believes it brings more criticism.

“That is my fault. When you win once in 10 years people don’t expect a lot of you. When you win in 10 consecutive years people expect a lot. I am guilty of that and accept the critics.”

The truth is that Chelsea also deserve some criticism for this match, despite the eventual victory. This was an awfully laboured display, pointedly lacking the kind of spark that Mata provides, and exacerbated by Fulham’s miserly approach. Mourinho puts some of that down to the change in approach — but feels a win itself will help.

“To change the philosophy of the coaching in terms of the work we do on the pitch is difficult as you start a tactical system and a way to think.

“There is more confidence [after a win]. They will be more open for tactical work and analysing the situation.”

Part of the situation, however, is undeniably Chelsea’s ongoing issue up front. That was put into context by the fact that a player who hadn’t scored for the club since January 2007 and had previously never struck in the Premier League at all now has as many goals this season as all of their strikers combined. In the 84th minute, John Obi Mikel scored from close range to seal a win and end a long drought. Otherwise, Samuel Eto’o appeared frustrated that he did not finish the effort which led to Oscar’s goal, while substitute Fernando Torres had a header superbly palmed away by David Stockdale.

Mourinho is not concerned, re-iterating that Eto’o “is lacking sharpness but that is normal” after his time in Russia, and stating that Torres just needs “a little bit of luck” but is returning to his best.

“[At] Liverpool [his play] was more running into spaces and the way here is more ball at his feet and technically with small spaces to play. Fernando is not naturally a skilful creative player so there can be some contradictions in this, but he is a good player. But he is a good player, a good professional and it was a good surprise for me the way he works — he works very hard and I believe in Fernando.”

Mourinho also believes his team haven’t shown their true selves yet.

“Of course we will get better, if we believe in our work and our players. We believe we can only improve and have a big space of improvement.”

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech 8; Ivanovic 7, Cahill 7, Terry 7, Cole 7; Mikel 6, Ramires 6; Schurrle 5 (Lampard 80, 6), Oscar 6, Hazard 6 (De Bruyne 85, 6); Eto’o 6 (Torres 64, 7).

FULHAM (4-4-1-1): Stockdale 6; Riether 6, Hangeland 6, Amorebieta 6, Richardson 6; Kacaniklic 5 (Tu Na Bangna 72, 5), Sidwell 5, Parker 5, Duff 6 (Taarabt 64, 5); Kasami 5 (Rodallega 85, 5), Bent 5.

Referee: Andre Marriner.