I had to smile when I saw that Jose Mourinho was ruling out Chelsea going for four major trophies this season.
It’s a classic piece of psychology to take the pressure off his side at a busy stage in the domestic season and before they turn their attentions to the Champions League again in the New Year.
I like the way in which Mourinho always tends to play pretty strong sides, even when he’s resting the odd one or two, and you can bet they will be fully focused on taking three points when they travel to Stoke in the Premier League tonight.
With the squad Chelsea have got, they can afford to play strong teams match in and match out and, if any manager in the world was going to chase four major trophies then it would be Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea are through to the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup, they have a decent draw at home to Watford in the FA Cup third round, they are facing Paris St Germain in the Champions League and, of course, they are top of the domestic pile.
At this moment in time, you wouldn’t bet against them winning all four and Mourinho will be aware that people will draw the same conclusion, so that’s probably why he’s spoken out and said it’s not possible.
It immediately takes the pressure off, so playing it down is the sensible thing to do.
If he said anything else, then all the hype would be about Chelsea chasing four trophies.
