Mourinho should beware lack of Christmas cheer

14 April 2012

If the lessons of history are anything to go by, Premiership points will be as hard to find as silver sixpences in a Christmas pudding when Chelsea attempt to take their five-point lead into the New Year.

Jose Mourinho may be unaware of the rich traditions of this festive period in England, so someone should tell him that Christmas cheer is normally served in Scrooge-like proportions at Stamford Bridge.

Even in 1954-55, when Ted Drake's Chelsea team were putting together a Championship-winning run, the Christmas programme almost derailed their ambitions.

In the end, 'Drake's Ducklings' won Chelsea's only League title but their total of 52 points - in the days when a win was worth only two points - remains the lowest for a Championshipwinning-team.

Exactly 50 years later, Mourinho's men are on course to celebrate the club's centenary by emulating the achievements of Drake and his team in Chelsea's Golden Jubilee year.

To date, Chelsea's exhilarating surge through their Premiership schedule has touched all the peaks and avoided all the troughs, unless you count October's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City which they quickly followed with a redeeming 4-0 win over Blackburn.

If Mourinho can ensure no lapse in concentration, Chelsea will almost certainly win the title for only the second time in their history and thus provide Roman Abramovich with some tangible reward for his awesome £200 million investment in players.

The hopes of Arsenal, Everton and Manchester United are all dependent on a Chelsea collapse which is difficult to envisage at the moment with players like Frank Lampard, Damien Duff, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Didier Drogba scoring goals for fun.

For Chelsea's main rivals, there is no longer room for error. Arsenal, for instance, can't afford to drop points against teams like West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Southampton - as they did in a disastrous autumn if they are to have any realistic hope of recapturing the lead.

Teams of Championship-winning potential develop an impetus as the season unfolds and this gives them the confidence to cope with unforeseen setbacks. Chelsea demonstrated this strength in recovering from their defeat at Maine Road. They now know they're good enough to win the title - and they know that the rest of us know it too.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and David Moyes are among the rest, all wondering whether Mourinho might trip over his own ego. It seems unlikely to me. He would be unwise, though, to underestimate the powers of recovery of clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United.

At Christmas seven years ago, in Wenger's first full season as manager at Highbury, Arsenal were 10 points behind leaders United and eight behind Chelsea. They overtook both in the second half of the season to win the title by a point.

Ferguson has had even more experience of staging a Championship assault in the second half of the season. On five occasions in the last 12 seasons, his team have trailed at Christmas but recovered to win the title.

That is why Mourinho knows this extended holiday programme - a ludicrous four matches in nine days for most clubs - - is a vital period in Chelsea's campaign.

"I know Chelsea's record at Christmas is bad but we have not discussed it," he said. "I do not go for statistics, I go for reality. The reality is it's difficult to play four matches in a few days but it's difficult for everyone, not just Chelsea."

But if his team go into the New Year with a healthy lead, they will be almost impossible to catch.

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Mourinho should beware lack of Christmas cheer

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