Jose Mourinho's Chelsea Are Great Champions Regardless of How They Play

The great Brian Clough, prior to his ill-fated spell at Leeds United, was famously unreserved in his damning criticism of Don Revie’s team.

His first training session after being tasked with bettering Revie’s achievements saw him issue the edict that the team, who had twice been champions under his predecessor, should “throw your medals in the bin because they were not won fairly", per The Independent.

Clough’s grievances weren’t without some merit—Leeds earned a reputation for foul play that was so pervasive that more than a few chants of “Dirty Leeds” have echoed around Championship grounds this season. However, it’s fair to say that they were still motivated by a touch of jealousy.

The same is true of the comments made by Arsene Wenger and Arsenal fans in general in the lead-up to and during their team’s dour draw with champions-elect Chelsea. Arsenal have long been vaunted as the country’s great entertainers, attempting to drag the supposedly prehistoric playing styles prevalent in the English leagues kicking and screaming into the beauty of the 21st century.

Rather than "dirty," the jibe of choice ringing around the Emirates was "boring." Wenger had set the ball rolling in the middle of the week by branding Chelsea's disciplined, somewhat defensively-minded 1-0 victory over Manchester United "the usual," per the Mirror.

While Chelsea have been, in many ways, a typical Mourinho side—studious and stoic in their defensive work, precise and lacking elaboration in attack—they have arguably offered up more entertaining fare than they did during the Portuguese's first spell at the club.

Only Manchester City have scored more than the Blues this season. They put nine past Swansea over two games and scored six at Goodison Park. In the Champions League, they also ran riot on occasion, scoring six at home to Maribor and five away at Schalke.

Meanwhile, much of Arsenal's renewed competitiveness has come from the introduction of a dedicated defensive midfielder. Aesthetics and success aren't mutually exclusive in football, but in the Premier League particularly, pragmatism and functionality must sometimes take centre stage.

Of course, there's also a certain beauty to seeing a strategy meticulously devised and then executed to perfection, something Chelsea did with aplomb to halt the Gunners' nine-game winning streak in all competitions.

Arsenal's fans have—since their last Premier League title in 2004—endured some of the most frustrating moments of any fans in the country, with the team's sensational football often serving to emphasise their shortcomings. Ultimately, the most consistently entertaining brand of football is winning football. It's a sentiment that Mourinho clearly agrees with:

Despite his protestations to the contrary, it's hard to imagine that Wenger wouldn't have relinquished some of his trademark flair to experience Chelsea's success this season.