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JOSE MOURINHO

LONDON. — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes it is too early to compare his current side with his title-winning teams of the past despite a record-breaking start to the English Premier League soccer campaign. Saturday’s comfortable 2-0 victory at home to 10-man West Bromwich Albion extended the London club’s lead at the head of the table to seven points.

A return of 32 points from the opening 12 games marks the club’s best ever start to a season, surpassing the previous mark of 31 set by the 2005-06 title-winners during Mourinho’s first stint at the club.

Chelsea’s present-day vintage are already being tipped to be crowned champions in May and the manager described his side’s first-half performance at Stamford Bridge as “beautiful”.

“I cannot compare teams,” Mourinho said. “You cannot compare teams that have won everything with teams that have won nothing. And this team has won nothing. This is a new team.

“The other team finished a couple of years ago. We have now John Terry and Didier Drogba, and no-one else left. These guys have to win if they want to be seen as a great team. They have to win.

“It’s not just about playing beautiful football or being autumn champions. They have to win titles. And when they win titles, we can compare them to other teams.

“But obviously, when I use ‘beautiful’ in relation to the football in the first half, I am sure we all agree. Because the football they played was brilliant.” — AFP