The Blues found a rhythm that was hard to beat

Mourinho has been criticised for his bombast and controversial statements but what he’s done, in the process, is deflect the pressure, create a smokescreen that has allowed his players to focus on their football. Unique among the top-flight clubs, Chelsea have no stars in the team; their only star is the manager. The result: the team spirit, despite the fact that many of them are in their first season or two at the club.

More commendable, of course, is the fact that only now, after more than 50 games on the trot, are Chelsea showing signs of hitting the wall. Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool have all played roughly the same number of matches but their success has been largely in cup competitions where consistency is measured over 90 minutes.

Chelsea are 14 points clear at the top of the Premiership because they have been consistent right through the season, absorbing the most relentless pressure. Arsenal and Manchester United have strung together decent runs in the league — title-winning, in another season — but Chelsea hit the No 1 spot on November 6 and never looked threatened since.

Though this title was won by a mile, Mourinho knows retaining the Premiership will be tougher (Arsenal, for all their domination of the past three years, haven’t done it even once.) For one, the element of surprise will be missing; both Arsenal and Manchester United underestimated the threat Mourinho brought with him to Stamford Bridge.

He also knows that to win in Europe, which tops next season’s agenda, he needs a larger squad (contrary to pre-season predictions, Chelsea were remarkably shallow). Not just to provide cover but also allow him to employ different tactics; the dependence on their two wingers was shown up mercilessly by Liverpool.

The latest sounds emanating from Stamford Bridge indicate that Mourinho has his eye on a left back, a midfielder — preferably in the Gerrard mould — and a striker with a higher rate of return than Didier Drogba.

He will probably have them before the next season starts. But Arsenal, Man United and the rest will not be sitting idle either; next season’s Premiership should be far more fun.