Cup Victory over Derby Fuels Chelsea's Trophy Drive Heading into the New Year

There have been many comparisons with Jose Mourinho's Chelsea team from 2004/05 and its current incarnation.

That ruthless streak when it comes to winning games, the formidable defence, a striker who scores goals: The qualities are all there.

And then of course is their ongoing run in the Capital One Cup. The League Cup was the first trophy Mourinho won on English soil less than a year after he took charge.

The Chelsea manager used the competition that season to inject a feeling of pride in his players, giving them that first taste of what success really means.

It helped push them over the line in their Premier League charge and became the foundation for what followed.

Indeed, it was the first step on the journey to making Chelsea England's most successful club this past decade.

Watching Chelsea cruise to a 3-1 victory over Derby County in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday, it's become ever more clear this season will end with silverware in the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet. Just how much, is the question.

The first up for grabs is the League Cup, and Chelsea's momentum in the competition is growing.

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That 2004/05 feeling is back.

Chelsea haven't faced a team from the Premier League in the Capital One Cup yet, but when they control matches and assert themselves in the style they did against Derby, it's a brave man who will predict a team that can stop them from going all the way.

Chelsea were expertly professional at the iPro Stadium, suffocating the life out of a game that in the early exchanges threatened to have upset written all over it.

The weather was biting, the lights were on and the crowd roaring.

Derby were up and at Chelsea, desperate to pull off one of the shocks of the campaign.

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Come the interval, it was all but over, however. The teams may have been separated only by Eden Hazard's 23rd-minute strike, yet the expression of the Derby players told its own story.

Steve McClaren's men were flat when they trudged down the tunnel. They had been given the run-around and knew the second half would be a case of more to come.

And it was.

Chelsea continued to suck the air from this tie. When Derby thought they had got themselves back into the game after Craig Bryson struck on 71 minutes to half the deficit after Filipe Luis' expert free-kick, Chelsea wrestled control back and added a third through Andre Schurrle.

That's the ruthless streak.

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This is a team that knows how to win matches. Whether it's the Champions League or on domestic soil, Chelsea have an enviable habit of getting the most out of games, turning it on at the right moment when they need to.

We're close to the season's midway point, and it's a trait showing little sign of abating.

This win against Derby has added momentum to what's an already phenomenal pace Chelsea are setting.

Now in the semi-final of the Capital One Cup, Mourinho and his players can almost touch Wembley. They can smell the pitch's freshly cut grass, feel the weight of the League Cup trophy in their hands.

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At this stage last term, Chelsea had blown it. Facing Sunderland in the quarter-final, they should have progressed to a semi-final with Manchester United, ready to take charge of their season.

It all went wrong, though. Now we're seeing something very different.

 Cesc Fabregas told the Sky Sports cameras at full-time:

"

You can always get better, we know that. We're trying to improve in training with what the manager tells us to do. Everyone is really focused, they're professional, but now the next two or three weeks are very, very important in our season. We have to be up for it. Time will tell [how good a season this will be for Chelsea]. Time will tell, but it's all up to us. We definitely have the talent, the discipline, the courage to do it.

"

Chelsea are building something, and as the games come thick and fast, they will be relishing it.

Like a decade before in this competition, Mourinho's used the League Cup to empower his philosophy at Stamford Bridge.

Right now, he's getting the same result.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained first-hand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes