Why Mourinho's Chelsea Will Be Premier League Favourites Next Season

From his first appointment as Chelsea manager in 2004 to his sudden exit in September 2007, Jose Mourinho never oversaw a Premier League loss at Stamford Bridge. The home form of his Blues side was one of the most important factors in ending the club’s 50-year title drought in 2005 and repeating as Premier League champions the following spring.

By comparison Chelsea lost twice at home last season en route to a third-place finish, and in 2011-12, they were defeated four times at Stamford Bridge as they came in a disappointing sixth.

The expected revitalization of their home form under Mourinho—reappointed earlier this month—is perhaps the most compelling reason why Chelsea should be considered title favourites going into next season. You can alreay get 4/1 odds that the London outfit will win all its home games in 2013-14, and the points they take at Stamford Bridge should serve to smooth over any transitional bumps they experience with Mourinho’s return.

The current Chelsea team, after all, is no longer a Mourinho team.

Of the 11 players named by the Portuguese for what proved to be his final match in his first go-around with Chelsea, only four are still at the club and one—Michael Essien—spent all of last season on loan at Real Madrid (Petr Cech, John Terry and Ashley Cole are the others). The starting lineup for last month’s Europa League final against Benfica, meanwhile, included only two Mourinho players: Cech and Frank Lampard.

That said, the current Chelsea project is an exciting one, and it will be fascinating to see how far Mourinho can take such a talented group.  

Eden Hazard, for one, is well on his way to becoming one of the more effective playmakers in European football, and both Oscar and Juan Mata—the two other members of the “Three Amigos”—can expect to be important players at the club for years to come.

Up front, the likes of Demba Ba and Romelu Lukaku (should they retain the Belgian) offer free-scoring striking options, and Lukaku, in particular, has the look of a young forward destined for a career full of goals.

Fernando Torres, who scored 22 goals in all competitions last season, is very much a third choice after the pair of them, and that’s if he even remains at the club through the summer.

Even in defense, where David Luiz has improved dramatically and Gary Cahill offers reliable service, there is little room for upgrade, although Mourinho has shown in the past he won’t flinch to bring in the sort of top-end talent that can win, and win immediately.

Chelsea have already been linked with the likes of Wayne Rooney, according to the Independent, and Wesley Sneijder, according to ESPNFC, and while both players are long shots, it’s highly unlikely Mourinho will go the whole summer without bringing in one or two big-name players.

Given the upward trajectory of the talent already in the team, Chelsea would have been Premier League contenders ahead of next season had they never even brought Mourinho back to the club. But the 50-year-old’s return to his old stomping ground should be what puts them over the top, especially if he can pick up where he left off with that home record.