Jose Mourinho says Chelsea can win the Premier League this season and has taken a swipe at the quality of defending champs Manchester United. Mourinho led Chelsea to a first championship in 50 years in 2005, his first season in charge, after proclaiming the Blues would win the title, but nine years on he would say only that his current squad could triumph.
"We can this season, of course we can, we want to think we can, but it's a different process," Mourinho said.
"They don't need that added pressure. I don't think they need outside pressure to say that they have the conditions to do it."
United won last season's title at a canter and although he believes the competition is collectively stronger, Mourinho does not think individual teams are as good as in the past.
He said: "Sometimes you win because you are tremendous and other times you win because you are the best. But you can be the best without being tremendous.
"Do you think Man United last year won the Premier League because they were an unbelievable team? I don't think so.
"The other contenders, they didn't have a very good season.
"The same thing the season before, when Man City won the title in the last second of the competition.
"Were they an extraordinary team? I don't think they were.
"I think other teams made so many mistakes that Man City finally won the competition.
"You had in past years a fantastic Arsenal that won almost every game and was champion without a single defeat, you had Chelsea which has the record of points in the Premier League. You have the Man United that won the title after our double that had an unbelievable season too.
"The champions, in other seasons, were magnificent. Especially in the last two seasons, I felt not.
"I felt the champions were the champions as a consequence of many things, not just because they were phenomenal, because in my opinion they weren't phenomenal."
