Being his first season, there wasn’t much pressure on Mourinho last season to finish the league as winners.
But he did a pretty decent job in finishing 3rd in the league, just a few points shy of the front runners.
He had delivered on his promise as expected that the club will not be finishing the season 20 points below the winners like in the previous seasons.
The situations and expectations have changed a lot over the past season.
His excuse of the team being ‘ little horses’ playing against ‘ stallions’ is no longer a valid reason. He himself stated that Chelsea will be contenders for next season.
With a gross transfer spending of £85 million, nothing less than some serious silverware is expected from him.
Some of his reasons last season for not being contenders to win the premier league is that his squad is not as good as that of Manchester City and that his striking options were not good to hold any real threat to the title.
But now with the signings of the goal machine from La Liga and some in form world class players like Cesc Fabregas, Filipe Luis and the return of Drogba and Van Ginkel to the team coupled with fresh talents like Kurt Zouma, Nathan Ake, Andreas Christensen, Patrick, and plenty more showing much hope in the preseason friendlies, it is ever more crucial for him to achieve success at the club.
During his debut season at Stamford Bridge in his first spell as manager, he won the English Premier League with a squad containing players like Lampard, Terry, Drogba, Cech, Claude Makélélé and Essien among others who were at the peak of their careers.
Out of these only Terry, Drogba and Cech exist, but theirs career charts are arguably going downhill.
They have been replaced by Matic, Costa, Fabgregas, Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Filipe Luis and other talented players.
The young breed is definitely world class players, but to replicate his previous success is just not about talent.
There has to be commitment to the team and that is what Mourinho looks for most in a player.
The team should have a deep sense of understanding between them.
To add more pressure on Mourinho, there is the omnipresent feel of Abramovich and his ambition on everything about Chelsea.
Now that is something that will weigh heavy on his shoulders.
The volatility of the owner’s decisions when it comes to sacking of managers doesn’t help either.
While the Champions league and FA cups are priorities, nothing else can bring the air of success in the trophy room like an EPL trophy in the stands.
After his arrival last season, he did a lot of restructuring at every department of the first team.
In defence he brought back Terry, who was having lesser games in the previous season.
Sold David Luiz and Ashley Cole and brought in Filipe Luis.
In midfield the arrival of Cesc Fabregas strengthened the team and the sail of two time player of the year Mata, because of him not being pivotal in his plans, raised many eyebrows.
In attack he brought in Costa and Drogba while selling the young Lukaku.
All these factors have donated towards increasing expectations on him delivering on a premier league title for the club.
The fans and owner won’t be happy without the premier league or champions league to brag about.
