Chelsea was quite close to success. They were finishing in second or third, they were reaching
the Champions League semi-final. Even in the years before, they had a beautiful tradition
of winning domestic cups and getting to Wembley and bringing the cup home. Lots of good players
and of course, a new period for the club. The owner, the CEO, the structure, I think
I came into a moment and that was the job. The job was to win it. The job was to bring
Chelsea to that dimension. A big club can't not have a trophy room. Chelsea, at that moment,
needed to win the Premier League and I think the way we did it was very strong. We won
it twice in a row - bump, bump. Then, in the third season, we finished second and won two
domestic cups. Also, we were very, very close to a Champions League victory. It was a big
impact and I think it lasted for years because Chelsea stayed at that level, they won again,
kept winning cups, finally the Champions League. I think that step was the job. We came for
that job and then obviously, you think you're going to stay for more years. I'm going to
work with a different profile but that was the job. I felt like that was the job and
I think that job was very adapted to my profile and my mentality which was to go to win.
I was following the Premier League, because since the quarter-finals, we were in the same
basket as Chelsea, I was also preparing myself to play them and we were with them in the
semi-final. The day after I qualified for the final, I came to Stamford Bridge for the
Chelsea - Monaco game, to analyse them and to probably prepare for them as my opponent.
I was really aware of the potential of the team. A team, at that time, I could spilt
in players that I really love and I think they have the ability to reach the next level
with Chelsea and some of the others, probably not so much. When I joined, there were already
decisions made - fantastic decisions, which is easier for me now to say: "Petr Cech, come
with me. Arjen Robben, come with me." They came to Chelsea at the same time with me,
but they were decisions made before I arrived. We go to pre-season, in pre-season it was
like a confrontation of my ideas and the way I analyse my players, even in friendlies.
Then I thought it was very important to play like Ricardo Carvalho, which was proven that
for many years, he was top. And that structure of Petr (Cech), Ricardo (Carvalho) and (John)
Terry was like a steel triangle that was fundamental for that team and then Didier (Drogba) was
the kind of player that I analysed a lot because we played against Marseille in the Champions
League and I thought that profile of player is really the profile of the Premier League
and again, was a fantastic decision. In relation to that, we go back to our history as coaches
and we always have great decisions and also not so good decisions.
It was important to
win against a direct rival. In the context of 38 matches, you cannot lose many points,
especially at home against a direct rivals if you want to win the title. I thought it
was very important because there was not a contradiction between our words to the players,
our ambitions and the result of the match. If you say this season is to be champion,
and then you lose the first match 3-0 at home to a direct rival, you give one step back.
So, it was one step forward and it was a big relation between that match and what we tried
to give to the team in pre-season which was mental strength, being compact, tactical discipline
and then be really ambitious on that approach. Sometimes I called it the 'All-In Approach'
- you have to put everything in that game, in every minute of the game, every second
of the game, is all in, it is your quality, your power, your physical power, it's your
aggression, it is your emotional control. You have to put everything all in and in that
game, was one of those matches where I feel the game is 90 minutes but could be 900 minutes,
they wouldn't score and we would always win the match.
Always the most important thing
is to reach the objective. To reach the target and the target was to win the Premier League.
So then, how you did it, is it important? Yes, it is important. We were defensively
phenomenal. We were almost unbeatable and not just the word unbeatable, because that
can sometimes take you in a direction you where nobody can beat you. We beat everybody,
scoring a lot of goals, playing absolutely fantastic, dominant football because we were
really dominant but then, when we were in front, we had that ability, we had that capacity
to kill teams in transition. In the first season.
I remember we were top of the league
since September. In September, the media and everybody was saying "Ah, they will collapse
before Christmas." And then they were saying we would collapse at Christmas, and then we
would collapse in Easter and then we never collapsed. The reality is that the team had
that kind of positive atmosphere. Also, the players' profile was fantastic. The relationship
between them was really good and I think everybody was really committed since the beginning and
I think the second season was even easier than the first one because the second, we
were even more dominant.
It was so nice and easy. I cannot even chose a moment where I
thought that is was our Premier League - I think I thought that since the beginning.
We were so strong. The team was so dominant. The team knows the moments of the game, the
team knows when to be more defensive. The team knows when to control the game by having
more possession. The team knows the crucial moments to kill opponents in transition. We
could keep a clean sheet so easily. When we were in front, we had immediately that feeling
of having the game in the pocket. In opponents, there was also a feeling of fear. They wanted
to defend in a low-block, but they know any cross with people like Drogba was difficult.
And then they know that when I need a second one, I have a goalscorer like (Hernan) Crespo
to come and play together with Drogba and they know if there is lots of set-pieces,
we go there with the giants, with Terry and with everybody we score. They know if the
block is too low, that (Frank) Lampard gets the ball and from, 20-30 metres, in five shots
he scores four goals. The team was really, really strong.
Our record at Stamford Bridge
was something incredible. I think every Chelsea fan goes to Stamford Bridge and knows we are
going to win. We had a match against Tottenham in the cup that we are losing at half-time
and we drew 3-3. Then we go to White Hart Lane and we win, and we go onto qualify for
the final and we win that final. It was that feeling that it was impossible. We were losing
one game against Arsenal at home, 1-0 and then, minute 90, (Michael) Essien from 30
metres put the ball into the top corner. So, the team was really strong.
Sometimes, I don't know
if it is a good thing or a bad thing, but that is my way, if I go to a club, it is my
sense of duty - I feel that it is my duty to give the people what the people want, what
the people are waiting for. The only way to do it, it's not just by being a good professional,
it is by being one of them. What I did with Chelsea was exactly what I did in Porto before.
You go there and you are one of them and I think that is exactly the word. It is a sense
of duty - you have a duty to these people. Not just to the club, or yourself or the owner,
or to the players, or to the people. I try to give everything. Then, when you leave,
of course it is never an easy moment. But, you know, the next day the sun will rise again...
unless you are in London and then you have to wait a couple of weeks.