Mourinho words of caution fail to convince

For a man with Jose Mourinho’s sensational CV, it was a surprising admission to make — particularly before such a big match.

“If we finish second, it’s fantastic,” the Chelsea manager said ahead of his side’s title showdown at Manchester City tonight. “If we finish second doing the formation work, it’s an acceleration of our process. It’s good.”

For his part, there can be little disputing it fits a theme for the Portuguese this season, even if he has not previously stated it as explicitly as that. On the eve of last Wednesday’s match against West Ham, Mourinho reiterated that his side were unlikely to win the title.