Master of the Mind Games.

After a lacklustre first half showing by Chelsea against Fulham during their Saturday lunch time kick off. Chelsea came out in the second half and put Fulham to the sword, with a 20 minute hatrick from German Andre Schurrle and another dazzling performance from the dynamic Belgian  Eden Hazard giving Chelsea a 3 – 0 victory over their local London rivals.

The turnaround in Chelsea's performance was put down to what the Gaffer must have told his charges during the break in the dressing room, but in typical Mourinho fashion during his post match interview with BBC he simply said,

“At half-time, I told them nothing—nothing—not a word. I walked in, then I walked out. I don't know if anyone else gave a team talk. I was not inside the dressing room. The second half was a great reaction to the worst performance of the season.

The second half was one of the best performances of the season. Schurrle is cold in front of the goal. “

Forget his airs of arrogance, love/hate relationship with the media, and certainly the tantrums he throws, you can’t fault his will and desire to win albeit his "defend - defend" tactics has drawn criticism considering the wealth of attacking talent at his disposal with the likes of Hazard, the Magical Oscar and the imperious Willian (referred to as a 'rare specimen' in one article..Laughable)

One of Jose's tactics he employs before and after games is his mind games. Wit-fully pilling pressure on his opponents, blaming the referees or take a few digs at opposing mangers of which Arsene Wenger has been on the receiving end of a few.

Mourinho has consistently insisted that his team are not favourites for the title despite sitting at the top of the pile with a four point lead over Liverpool and Arsenal and six ahead of City who have two games in hand. Constantly bemoaning the form of his strikers in Torres, Ba and Eto'o who for all their cost and experience have bagged a combined total of 11 goals between them to date in the League, that is one less than Chelsea leading scorer at the moment Hazard with twelve.

Manchester City are the bookmakers favourite for the title, with Chelsea second favourites, has led Mourinho to dish a few of his mind games at City when quoted as saying he would prefer to swap position with City. He was at work again before the sides met in the League, and while claiming City were favourites Chelsea came out victorious on the 2 occasions they met in the League putting an end to city envious home record in the league with  a hard fought 1 – 0 victory to Chelsea.

There might be truth in Jose’s words about his team not being favourites, think about it, with little less than 10 games to the end of the season and with a Chelsea side far from convincing (in my opinion), the title looks to be heading to Manchester (the blue half of course). Chelsea have the players and manager that posses the experience to pull through to the title, and the added advantage of an enviable midfield, but you dock your hats atimes for the way City have played this season, steamrolling their opponents at home.

Mind games or not, if Chelsea are gonna beat the odds and claim the title this season, which would undoubtedly be a huge feat to achieve, Chelsea trio of strikers need to step up to the plate and come good for the team this season while the midfield has to show the consistency in performance that defines champions.