Chelsea Can Break Records but No Title for Jose Mourinho Will Be an Epic Failure
His team are on form, and so too it seems is Jose Mourinho ahead of Chelsea's trip to Newcastle United this weekend.
Speaking to the press on Friday, the Chelsea manager was asked by one brave journalist if he was feeling happy because he hadn't seemed his usual self after giving some short answers to questions.
"If I don't like the questions, if I feel the questions are not appropriate, I try to answer in a quick way to kill your mood," he responded to laughter from the gathered media at Chelsea's Cobham training ground.
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It was all light-hearted fare, but the message was a serious one: Mourinho was fed up with all the talk of records and those he can break this weekend. He was having none of it.
If Chelsea beat Newcastle at St James' Park on Saturday, it will take Mourinho to more than 400 points in the Premier League.
That would mean an average of 2.32 points from the 173 games he will have led Chelsea. It's impressive.
What's equally impressive is Chelsea's ongoing unbeaten run, which will stretch to 24 matches if they avoid defeat against Alan Pardew's side. They will break a club record in the process, one that was equalled with Wednesday's 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Mourinho was unimpressed by talk of that, though. His focus is on much bigger things.
"I don't care about it," he said.
"I'm not looking for records [against Newcastle], I'm looking for points. I'm looking for victories and points and, if possible, at the end of the season, titles. I'm not looking for records.
"[Winning titles] is a consequence of that, but as I was saying, I don't worry with that. I just want to win the next match, that's all. ...
"I wouldn't know [about the record] if you didn't tell me 20 times. I don't care about records.
"Which record? The record I want is to win the Premier League three times with this club. That's the record I want."
It makes for good copy and headlines, but Mourinho is right—Chelsea can break all the records they want this season, but if the campaign doesn't end with them holding silverware, it would have been for nothing.
It would be an epic failure.
Given everything he has built and the brand of football Mourinho's Chelsea are playing right now, the manager knows the biggest threat he needs to protect his players from is themselves.
Should Chelsea not win the Premier League this season, it will be down to them, not Manchester City or any of their other rivals.
It will be because talk of breaking records and dreams of unbeaten seasons would have got into their minds and left them resting on their laurels.
Indeed, thinking of records and their impact is too reflective. The only importance they hold is when looking back at what a team has achieved—they have no place in the present.
Their only purpose is to make a club or player feel proud of themselves, and Chelsea have nothing to stir such feelings right now.
Win something first, then feel happy. Until that trophy is resting in the cabinet, what is there to celebrate?
Too many teams have made that mistake.
That's Mourinho's message.
Manuel Pellegrini's City have found a new gear since their dramatic win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but they remain a shade of what we've seen from Chelsea this season.
Leading at the top by six points as we approach Christmas, Chelsea can ill afford to present City with the opportunity to make that difference any narrower.
The impact could be disastrous; having struggled early on while Chelsea remained unbeaten and charmed their way to the top, City could still be within touching distance. The momentum that would give them is significant.
Pellegrini needs his players to believe they can catch Chelsea; Mourinho needs his to show them they can't.
Get caught up in anything else other than winning matches and it will happen.
Last season was about Chelsea chasing the pack, playing catch-up in the title race without a strike force. They now have one, with Cesc Fabregas pulling the strings further back.
They're built to succeed, not fail.
Records? This Chelsea team is capable of so much more than that. If Mourinho fails to deliver something much more substantial than some impressive statistics this season, he would have failed.
His attitude on Friday tells us he is all too aware of that fact.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained first-hand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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