Mourinho hopes to ‘smell top end of the league’

Matt Stead

Jose Mourinho says his target at Chelsea before January is to “smell the top end of the league”, while he has praised next opponents Tottenham.

Chelsea sit 15th in the Premier League table after a faltering title defence has seen them lose seven and win just four of their opening 14 league games.

On the other hand, Spurs are in the midst of the longest current unbeaten run in the league, and sit 5th. Mourinho is suitably impressed by Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

“When I watch them play it’s no surprise,” Mourinho said. “If they tell players or managers that they are fighting for the title I will not laugh.

“The team is very good. The manager is good, the players are good. They have good stability, they are playing well.

“I think they are a really, really, really good team.”

Despite Chelsea struggling so far this season, Mourinho hopes victories over Norwich and Maccabi Tel Aviv – as well as clean sheets in both games – can instigate a return to form.

“We need points the same way we needed them last season,” the Chelsea boss added. “At this moment we are far from the European positions. Every point can make a difference. We’ve lost so many points already, now we have to fight for them even more.

“Our only goal now is to try to get into position where we can smell the top end of the league.

“We can believe that in the second part of the season, we will be in the top positions.

“Big clubs, they cope with difficult moments. We build again, to have good moments again.”