The weekend dossier: Age is on the side of Jose Mourinho’s maturing side to usher in an era of Chelsea dominance

Chelsea’s progress became less of a cavalry charge, more hand-to-hand combat

Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic (Getty Images)

Good teams win championships, great ones win a string of them. Do Chelsea, who are likely to be crowned Premier League winners tomorrow, have the potential to move from the first category to the second?

Petr Cech thinks it possible. After the midweek win over Leicester City he said: “This is hopefully the start of a new era.” Noting only himself, John Terry and Didier Drogba remained from Mourinho’s first period at the club, Cech added: “You can say this is a new generation of Chelsea.”

Cech is now Chelsea’s understudy goalkeeper and expected to depart this summer. Drogba wants another season, and may get it, but is increasingly a bit-part player. Which leaves Terry, who seems to have gained a new lease of life at 34, not just from playing under Mourinho but also from his international retirement.

Aside from Terry, the only member of Mourinho’s regular starting XI in his 30s is Branislav Ivanovic, 31. Gary Cahill is 29, the next oldest is Cesc Fabregas at 27. Oscar and Eden Hazard are just 23 and 24 respectively and Thibaut Courtois 22.

Then there are the rookies in the wings. Besides the all-conquering youth and academy teams, with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Dominic Solanke, there are Nathan Ake and Kurt Zouma (both 20) and a welter of loaned-out youngsters such as Patrick Bamford, Nathaniel Chalobah, Tomas Kalas and Christian Atsu.

How many of these will reach the exacting standards of Chelsea’s first team is open to doubt. The loan list also includes plenty of players who were signed for their potential but have now probably been deemed surplus to requirements, such as Gaël Kakuta, Mohamed Salah and Lucas Piazon.

The ones that are given a chance will have to make a swift impact, for Mourinho appears less likely to put his faith in young players than Carlo Ancelotti or Andre Villas-Boas were. Such is the depth of talent, however, there is every likelihood that the current side will be strengthened by a clutch of tyros during the next few years. Given the lack of depth this season, which has led to Mourinho over-playing his core players, they are needed.

There will also be a marquee signing or two. Though there are no current weaknesses in the starting XI as obvious as the ones Mourinho plugged when signing Nemanja Matic, Fabregas and Diego Costa last year, the team is not yet as good as the one Mourinho built in his first spell.

That, though, is hardly surprising for this is a maturing side. Winning the title, observed Cech, will provide confidence. “You can be a great player, but in these moments when you play difficult games under pressure being a champion gives you another step, another dimension,” he said.

Last time Mourinho won two titles before relations between him and Roman Abramovich soured. Whilst the team continued to be successful, winning another championship under Ancelotti and the Champions League under Roberto Di Matteo, it would surely have achieved even more had Mourinho stayed. Second time around there seems less tension between manager and owner, which does not bode well for Chelsea’s rivals. Of those Manchester United can be expected to be genuine challengers next season while Arsenal’s form since Christmas suggests they, too, will be in the mix given a couple of judicious signings. As for Manchester City? Who knows? – but it would be rash to write them off.

City’s slump, the poor starts of United and Arsenal, and Liverpool’s inability to cope post-Suarez provide the only caveats to hailing this Chelsea team. Is it the other’s inadequacies that make the leaders look good? Since Chelsea are 13 points clear and well on course to achieve a points tally that would have won the title most Premier League seasons (only once, in a 38-team league, has 87 points not been enough, and 90 has always been) the answer has to be no.

Chelsea have been top all season, scored more goals than anyone but City, conceded less than anyone, lost just twice, and their players would dominate any team-of-the-season selection. They are the best, no dispute.

They are not popular champions, but they could have been. Had the season finished on 17 January Chelsea would have been acclaimed as one of the Premier League’s finest sides. They won 5-0 up away to Swansea playing scintillating football. The fourth goal was their 50th of the league season midway through the 22nd game.

However, the season is a gruelling one and as the campaign has worn on Chelsea’s progress has become less of a cavalry charge, more a case of hand-to-hand combat, fighting yard by yard for every point. The players, exhausted by Mourinho’s insistence on relying on a small cadre in every competition, battened down the hatches.

Mourinho himself, having proclaimed his desire to be “the happy one” back in August, reverted to type both in the way he set his teams up and with his boorish behaviour. Last Sunday’s goalless draw at the Emirates summed up why Chelsea will win the title, and why that will not be welcomed. They stifled an in-form Arsenal so comfortably TV viewers were dozing off on their sofas.

But no team which has the skills of Hazard, Fabregas and Oscar, plus Ivanovic tearing up the wing, lacks for entertainment and it is hard to escape the belief that the animosity towards them is in large part due to Mourinho’s propensity to pick fights with everyone. This has the effect of taking the pressure off his players, by drawing the spotlight onto him, and fostering a siege mentality, but it also means their achievement has been under-appreciated.

That might change now Mourinho’s second coming has delivered the title, easing a pressure he must have felt. Maybe, to borrow his enemy’s phrase, the team can now “play with the handbrake off” and he will adopt a more equable demeanour. Maybe.

FIVE-A-SIDES

1. Berahino turns a corner with charity foundation

Saido Berahino is either receiving better advice, has wised up, or has an image at odds with reality. Whatever the reason, his decision to follow the likes of Didier Drogba and establish a charitable foundation, with Berahino in particular supporting the excellent WaterAid, is welcome.

2. Talk is cheap on women’s game for Premier League

“No one is more committed to the women’s football than we are”, claims the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore. Really? So why not make a start by insisting all Premier League clubs operate – and properly fund from their millions – a women’s section?

3. Facey case shows other side of the money divide

Popular belief is that all footballers are rich, but only the elite are. The fact Delroy Facey thought Conference players would be persuaded to throw a match for £2,000 reveals much about the low salaries at the bottom of the game’s food chain.

4. Scottish Cup final forced to buy into bargain tickets

Still think West Ham’s sudden belief in cheap football is an outbreak of generosity? Hampden Park has a similar capacity to the Hammers’ new Olympic Stadium home. Faced with trying to fill it for a Scottish Cup final between Falkirk v Inverness the SFA has priced tickets at £5 to £30.

5. Finally, Oyston out – of the Football League board

Blackpool’s relegation, after one of the worst seasons any club’s fans have endured, will at least mean chairman Karl Oyston loses his place as Championship representative on the Football League board. His status has damaged the organisation’s credibility.

Twitter/@GlennMoore7