Jose Mourinho is looking to make Chelsea a better team with the same players

Mourinho stated early in the transfer season that he didn't expect too much activity from the Chelsea end

Jose Mourinho has taken the time out during pre-season to talk of the challenge ahead this season. Much has been made of our rivals spending so far compared to Chelsea's but he sees that as challenge to his players to give more!

He said:

“Top clubs with top managers don’t buy bad players. I am not expecting them to buy bad players, I am expecting them to buy good players. I am not against it. I understand it and I accept it. I am not afraid.

“If someone said, ‘Jose, you can stop it,’ I would. I don’t want my direct opponents to buy, buy, buy and buy well. I would prefer them not to buy or to buy bad. But I cannot stop them. I don’t care.

“The market is inflated every year and we think the numbers are going to a dimension that cannot get more inflated? This season we are saying, ‘Oh look at this amount for Sterling’ but it will be worse next season — next season [when the Premier League's new £5billion TV deal kicks in] someone will pay £60million.

“Football is like this: One season, there is Financial Fair Play; the next there is a way to dribble the Financial Fair Play. We have only one chance to win, And that is if we can be better with the same people.

“It's a big challenge. To be better with the same people, the players have to be better individually than they were last year. So when they think, ‘Oh last season I did great’ this season it is not enough.

“John Terry - great season. This season it is not enough. Must be better. Fabregas. I don’t know how many assists last year. Fantastic. It is not enough. Because the others are going to improve with the players they are bringing in and we have to improve by ourselves with our work.

“Your direct opponents, they invest huge amounts. They try to get a better team with better players and try to recover what they feel belongs to them – titles. The other opponents who don’t play for the titles still play against the champions, and to beat the champions or to take points from them is an extra motivation.

“I cannot stop opponents making an assault on the banks to spend millions and millions. I cannot stop the others having a feeling that they are playing against the champions. I can influence my players on how to interpret their new status in the right way. They have to look at me and they have to see that my motivation is not the same but higher to work well and to demand from others the same.”

On improvements and additions

Paul Pogba is currently among the hottest prospects in Europe

Particularly when asked about Juventus’ Paul Pogba, he said: “I think everybody has an interest in Pogba. But there are things you can do and things you cannot do - I love the Eiffel Tower, but I can’t have the Eiffel Tower in my garden.

Mourinho also spoke about reinforcements and changes in the team. He commented: “We feel we have the tools to improve our team without a player like that. And the tools are ourselves.

“Can I coach better than last year? Can I make a better training plan? Can the players be better individually? Can the young players become better? The Oscars, the Willians, these guys. Can the older players, like John and Ivanovic still be better than they were last year?”

Spot on from the manager and you would have to agree. Chelsea were by far the better team in the Premier League last season and you could argue that we did not need to change much this summer.

You get the feeling that this season, there is the added motivation to really get even more from the players that did the business for us last season. People can spend as much as they like but as Jose says, we cannot control that.

What we can control however, is how the players train, how they work hard and how together they are prepared week in, week out to take on that challenge.

In my opinion there is no one better to do that than Jose Mourinho.